Page 58 of Don't Call Me Daddy
“Okay, people, enough with the water!” Jett says into the microphone rather calmly, considering the circumstances.
Again, I’m starting to wonder what really goes on here in Ashford Falls.
“Ricky and Janice, you guys can dry-hump all you wantafteryou help clean up this mess you made. Come on, people. The party’s over. Grab a squeegee, and let’s get these tables back to where they belong. You want to have a rave, that’s fine, but I’m too understaffed to clean this up by myself, and I happen to know where you all work.”
Everyone grumbles as the lights flick on, and they all start cleaning up the mess … like it’s just another regular Friday night.
“I should help clean …” I start to move, but Leo grabs my wrist and slowly shakes his head.
“I told you to wait in the car. You’ve done enough for one evening. Can you please just listen for once?”
“But … I?—”
“I said, go wait in the fucking car, Ivy,” he barks. Then, in a calmer voice, he adds, “I’ll be right there after I settle up the check with Jett.”
I cower a little under his glare. I don’t think I’ve seen Leo this mad … ever … and since I make it my daily challenge to annoy him, I find that truly terrifying. “Okay … yeah. I’ll, uh … I’ll just go wait in the car.”
He doesn’t say anything, but I feel his eyes on me as I hang my head in defeat and head to the car.
I know I’m in trouble … I just don’t know what that means.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Leo
I didn’t speak a word to her the whole drive home. My hands hurt from gripping the steering wheel as I seethed with anger and annoyance.
I’d left her alone for less than two hours. I had known she was going to be a handful the moment I asked for her help, but I don’t think anything could have prepared me for this. She’s insufferable. It’s like she’s trying to get a rise out of me with everything she does and everything she says. Like she was created by God himself to be the fucking kryptonite that would bring me to my knees.
How could she do this to me? And what the fuck am I supposed to do about it when every fiber in my being is screaming at me to lean in and let myself out of this cage?
I don’t think she could’ve picked a more inconvenient time if she tried.
Getting out of the car, I slam the door behind me. I stomp up the steps two at a time, trying like hell to get my temper under control. I hear Ivy’s heavy breathing behind me as she runs tokeep up, my steps taking at least two of hers as she jogs up the stairs. I’m not even winded.
“Leo, wait. I’m sorry, okay? Aren’t you going to at least hear me out?” She bends over, propping her hands on her knees as she tries to catch her breath.
“What’s to tell, Ivy?” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You were bored, so you decided to make things more fun, right?”
I take a step toward her, but she doesn’t move.
“You did what you always do, and now, I’m the one who’s going to have to explain to my dad why we have to pay for Jett’s restaurant to be professionally cleaned and why half the town had their tits out at a company event. Do you have any idea how big of a mess you created? Do you even care?”
She coughs out a bark in between her pants for air and begins to pace, her arms held over her head.
“You’re so goddamn selfish. You never stop to consider how your actions affect anyone but yourself. Do you even feel remorseful, or is this some kind of game for you?”
She shakes her head, tears welling in her eyes, but she doesn’t speak as she stumbles and leans against the front porch railing.
Something’s not right. Are her lips turning blue?
I move toward her, my heart kicking up a notch as worry rises in my chest. “Ivy, what’s wrong? Can you not breathe?”
I tilt my head and move in front of her as she claws at her throat, a panicked expression forming behind her eyes.
“Asthma attack,” she says between coughs, then wheezes some more.
I look around, holding her steady. “Fuck. Okay, do you have an inhaler somewhere? Do you keep one on you? In your purse or something?”
