Page 25 of All I Ask
Her eyes lift, meeting mine with curiosity so deep. “What?”
“That’s my something real. You make me smile.”
To that, her lips turn into a huge grin. “I’m glad we were forced to become friends.”
“Me too.”
She snuggles into my chest and I rest my chin on the top of her head. “I miss you, Der. So much.”
I swear I hear her sniffle, but she coughs quickly after that so I’m not sure. “I miss you too, but we’re never really apart.”
“No, I guess not.”
I lean back, press my finger under her chin, and lift it. “You will never have to know what it’s like not to have me, not unless you decide I’m too much of a pain.”
She smiles softly, the moonlight shining down on us. “Never.”
She’s my something real. Hell, she’s my everything that matters.
Chapter Nine
Derek
Present
“You will not behave like this!” I tell Everly as she rolls her eyes.
“Whatever.”
“I’m serious. You don’t know these people. You show up and the first day you decide to be nasty just because?”
Everly picks at her nails and then slams her hands on her bed. “You moved me here!You!You don’t get to tell me that I have to be nice to some dork! She actually thought I would sit with her?Please.Like I want to be friends with the losers on day one? No thank you.”
When did my sweet girl with big brown eyes and a smile that could melt even the coldest of hearts turn into this?
While I would love to say her newfound nasty attitude started when Meghan died, that would be a lie. She was already becoming this creature I didn’t recognize before then; I think her mother’s death sped up the transformation. Suddenly, Everly had every excuse to be mad. I watched her go from one extreme to another, unable to help stop her anger.
“You have no idea if she was a loser, she was being nice! Besides, how do you know anything about Teagan anyway?”
She shakes her head like I’m an idiot. “Don’t be dumb, Dad. I heard Mom talk about her.”
I jerk back, confused and pissed at the same time. “When did…?”
“If she hated her, then so do I.”
I close my eyes and count to four. I need to be calm. “Your mother didn’t hate her.”
“Not what I heard.”
“You’re thirteen! What could you possibly hear anyway?”
“Mom always talked about your slutty friend from back home.”
Anger begins to fill me, but also guilt. I let this happen. I allowed Teagan to be the villain in our story. It wasn’t Teagan who did Meghan wrong, it was me.
At first, I did as Meghan asked, letting Teagan go, focusing solely on my marriage.
I pushed aside the conflicting emotions I felt for Teagan because that’s what I needed to do to keep my wife.
