Page 2 of Eros
“Drop the attitude, Janea. You live under my roof, and I would like to make sure my daughter is safe. Where are you going?”
I sighed. “To take some pictures,” I held up my camera, “then out of town with a friend.”
“A friend?” he asked.
He asked because I hadn’t been out with anyone since my mother got her diagnosis. Life just got in the way.
“Yes, Dad. A friend.”
“Is this friend someone we know?” Shannon asked.
As my father wrapped her in his embrace, I wanted to vomit at their show of affection. I should ignore her question, but if she wanted to be in my business, then why not share? I hoped it pissed her off. Of course, she wasn’t worth my time, but today I felt like being petty.
“Not that I owe you any kind of answer, but I have plans with Jake.” I grinned when anger flashed through her eyes.
“Jake?” my father asked. “As in Jake Steinfeld?”
“Of course,” I said cheerfully. “What other Jakes do I know? Anyway, we’ve made plans, so I won’t be back in the country until next weekend.”
He looked at Shannon, I assumed, to gauge her reaction because he knew they had been involved in a relationship since high school and continued to date while they were in college. I hadn’t even known they’d split up until one day Jake showed up at my apartment looking for her. The breakup devastated him. We had a long talk that day, but that was all that came of it.
“Things must be serious if you’re going out of the country?” he asked when his gaze landed back on me.
He probably didn’t recognize her anger, but he wanted to have a relationship with someone twenty-five years younger than him and my friend. That kind of betrayal I wouldn’t ever forgive, but I had to play the dutiful daughter for him right now. He couldn’t find out what I had overheard.
I shrugged. “We’ve been going out for a while.” I plastered a dreamy look on my face just to piss Shannon off some more. “We want to have some fun.”
“So, it’s not serious?” Shannon asked with her brow arched.
I laughed. “That’s none of your business.”
“Janea…” my dad warned.
“What, Dad? It isn’t. Who I date or fuck has nothing to do with her.”
“Janea, watch your fucking mouth. I’m still your father, and you don’t ever talk to her like that.”
I could see the satisfaction in her eyes.
“Anyway, if you’re finished interrogating me, I have to go so I’m not late. We have a long flight.”
“Where is he taking you?” my dad asked.
“He’s taking me to Belize. Now can I go?”
“Belize!” Shannon shrieked.
I looked at her like she was crazy, even though I knew what she thought without her saying it. Belize had been where she had wanted to take her honeymoon when she got married, supposedly to Jake, so I knew that would piss her off even more.
“Is that a problem?” I asked.
“Where are your bags, then?” Shannon said with a smirk on her face. “Jake doesn’t even like to fly.”
I really didn’t have a date with her ex-boyfriend, and we weren’t going somewhere for the week because Jake was a douche, and I didn’t sleep with my friends’ man. Of course, I could fuck him if I wanted to, just to get back at this bitch. He had been trying to get into my pants since I first met him at college. But I couldn’t be that petty. Not yet, at least.
“No, he likes to fly. He just didn’t want to take you anywhere,” I said, smirking.
Her face flushed even redder than it already was.
