Page 65 of Bullet
“You good?”
“As good as one can be when they’re completely mortified.” She laughs.
“Shit happens.” I shrug.
Adalyn looks around the room. “This place is so cool. How long have you worked here?”
“I actually don’t work here full-time. I work next door at the tattoo shop, too,” I tell her without thinking about it.
“I’ve always wanted a tattoo,” she says wistfully.
“What’s stopping you?”
Adalyn’s face scrunches up. “Let’s just say my dad isn’t the biggest fan of body art and self-expression.”
“Well, that sucks,” I say, making her laugh.
“It does, it totally does.”
“If you want, I can take you next door and get you hooked up,” I offer.
“I would love to, but I can’t. He would really lose his mind.”
“I take it your dad is one of those.”
Her nose scrunches up. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“Has he always been that way?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I didn’t know him until a few months ago when he came back into my life.” She shrugs.
“Damn.”
Adalyn sighs. “Tell me about it. I feel like all I’m doing lately is trying to appease him. Which is embarrassing now that I say it out loud…”
“Hey, I get it. I have daddy issues, too.” I wink, making her laugh.
“Honestly, I don’t know if that makes me feel better, but thanks for trying.”
“I’m serious. I used to be super close with my dad, but then my mom died a few years ago, and shit just fell apart.”
Her eyes fill with sympathy. “I am so, so sorry, Harlee. I can’t imagine.”
“It’s okay,” I lie, feeling uncomfortable. “So did you move here to reconnect with your dad?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to, but my mom kind of forced my hand. She thought it would be good for me to have some male influence in my life,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Do you like him at least?”
“Yeah, he’s nice.”
I’ll give her credit if it weren’t for the fact that her voice wobbled, I would have bought it. She’s totally scared of him, I know it. Which pisses me off. Adalyn is so sweet, she doesn’t deserve to be scared of someone who’s supposed to love her and protect her.
“Enough of the awkward family drama, tell me what’s happening between you and Jake,” she says, changing the subject.
Part of me hates her using that nickname. Like she has something special with him, but I know that’s not the truth.
I groan.
