Page 144 of Promise Me Nothing
But he chuckles instead, the sound testing my nerves.
“Whether you want to talk to me or not isn’t really a concern of mine,” he replies. “I don’t know when over the course of your entire life you’ve been led to believe that you get to pick and choose if you want to talk to me. But if that has somehow been communicated, let me help clear that up right now.”
There’s a pause, and I know he’s building up the theatrics.
“You. Will. Answer. When. I. Call.”
I turn to face him, my chest heaving with the exertion of pummeling my fists into the bag. Resting my gloved hands on my hips, I glare at him.
“Get. To. The. Point.”
He smirks. “Such hostility, Wyatt. I thought you would have gotten that temper under control while you were off fucking your way through San Francisco.”
“Well, clearly my horrible character flaws were nurture, not nature, then, huh?”
At that, he laughs. Actually laughs, his hands falling by his side and his head tilting back.
“Ah, Wyatt. You’ve always been my favorite, you know? You’re a lot like I was when I was younger. So intense. So full of emotion. Once you learn to stop letting that emotion get the best of you, you’ll be able to accomplish so much more.”
“Yeah, well, the last thing I ever want to be is anything like you, so I’ll happily hold onto my emotions instead.”
He licks his lips, and for a split second – a modicum of a moment – I think I’ve said something that actually hit the intended target.
But his expression changes so quickly, I can’t tell.
“Calloway Foundation is christening a new building that will house a local adoption organization,” he says, taking a few steps around the garage workout space, examining the different machinery and toeing the medicine ball so it rolls a little bit off to the side.
“I couldn’t care less about what Calloway Foundation is doing,” I respond, not liking the way he peruses everything.
“I don’t remember asking for your opinion,” he says, rounding his way back to the garage door that’s open to the street, his voice as calm as I’ve ever heard it. He tucks his hands into his pockets. “You’ll be expected to attend, give a little speech, share your own adoption experience and how much it… benefited your life.”
“Not a chance in hell.”
His head tilts to the side as he assesses me. “Are you telling me no?” he asks, and I do hear a hint of surprise in his voice.
I can’t remember the last time I told him no. I might have always been the rebellious one, but I’ve always shown up where he told me to be, even if I did it gritting my teeth.
But this time? I’m not having it.
I have so many more important things in my life right now, so many other things going on that need my time and attention. I don’t plan on giving any of that to a man who treats our family like we’re expendable.
“I’m telling you no.”
And it feels good, a kind of pressure lifting off my chest that I’ve never realized was there.
“Well, that’s not really an option for you,” he says, and I spin away, rip my gloves off my hands.
“Just as a reminder, in case you’ve forgotten. I’m a fucking adult. You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore.” Even just saying those words makes me feel like a little kid, like an immature brat screamingI don’t wanna.But I mean them exactly as they sound.
There’s a pause, a heavy one, and I can almost hear my dad shift in that silence. His mind changes course, decides on a new route to get what he wants.
“I’ve been hearing quite the interesting little rumors floating around town,” he says, and I feel like I’ve been doused with cold water. “Something about Ivy’s trashy father having another daughter in town.”
I stop moving. Nearly stop breathing. Then I turn around and glare at my father, knowing that whatever is about to come out of his mouth is going to make me want to launch across this room and extract years of anger out on his worthless body.
“Ah. Now I have your attention,” he says, crossing his arms, one lifting up to scratch at his chin, like he’s some kind of evil dictator thinking over his plans. “Tell me. Is it that blonde I’ve been seeing around town. The one working at Bennie’s and living with Lucas?”
I feel my stomach tilt.
