Page 35 of Thanksgiving With Dad's Best Friend

“You want to stay here? When he’s turned into some kind of…some kind of…savage animal?” he scoffs loudly. “So that’s it, is it? You have more loyalty to him after a few days than you do to your own father.”

Tears spring to my eyes. “I have to follow my heart, Daddy. I’ve been waiting a long time to feel this way about someone, I don’t want to throw that away. Please reconsider…you don’t understand what’s happening between us.”

“Oh I understand, alright. He’s taken advantage of a pretty young girl and he thinks he can get away with it just because he’s some big shot.” Dad shakes his head at Flynn, who is curling his hands into fists. “You’re not the man I thought you were. If you have any respect for me, you’ll let her go before someone really gets hurt, and I’m not talking about you throwing your weight around.”

“She’s mine,” Flynn growls. “I’m not letting her go for anything.”

My father glances between the two of us. The tension is the air is heavy and suffocating. I feel like I can’t breathe. I’m helpless to get through to either of these men, the two most important men in my life are locking horns and I can’t seem to please either of them. I feel sick at the thought of betraying my father…but in my heart, I know it would kill me to walk away from Flynn right now.

“I see how it is,” my father hisses. He looks me dead in the eye. “Just so you know, Lexi…this has hurt me so much more than your mother managed to. And that damn near broke my heart beyond repair. Your choice to stay here…well, I guess I can’t stop you. But don’t you dare come home to me again. You’re a stranger to me now.”

I sob quietly, gasping for breath. “Dad…no…please…we can talk about this.”

He shakes his head. “No. We can’t. I’m leaving now. Don’t try and follow me…and don’t come home again.” He laughs bitterly. “You know what? I thought you two were an abomination of a relationship…but I was wrong. You’re both cruel enough to match perfectly. Thank you for showing me the truth, that I can’t trust anyone on this damn planet.”

Sobs hurt my chest as he turns his back on us and walks downstairs. His words are like daggers to the heart. As I watch his frame disappear from my sight, I know in my heart that I’m watching him walk out of my life for good. I’ve been disowned and my father is stubborn enough to never go back on that.

When we hear the front door slam, Flynn rushes to me and scoops me into his arms, rocking me as I cry. I can’t seem to stop. This pain is like poison to my heart. It’s breaking me in half. I let him stroke my hair and I opt to embrace this pain.

I guess it’s nothing less than I deserve.

CHAPTER 11

Flynn

Last night was a mess of anger and tears and pain. Despite my anger at Eddie, I feel the hurt of his rejection too. While Lexi was mourning the loss of her relationship with her father, I did my best to comfort her, but it was clear to me that she was inconsolable, and no wonder. If it’s hurting me this much to lose my best friend, I can’t even imagine what she’s going through.

Now this morning, I’ve woken up first and Lexi is still asleep. It sucks that the first night we’ve been able to sleep next to each other was tainted by the argument last night. And part of me is worried that this whole ordeal is going to be enough to send Lexi packing. She might run away to try and mend her relationship with her father, and I couldn’t possibly blame her for that. After all, he’s been in her life forever. He raised her and put her first all of his life. She’s only known me for a few days. And even though I feel the strength of the connection between us, I know it’s possible that she’ll give it all up just to make things right again.

And no matter if it destroys me, I have to let her know that she can do that. I can’t be mad at her for it. Besides, her happiness has become my one and only priority. I don’t want her to resent me for ruining her relationship with her Dad. If she leaves now, we can both hold on to the bittersweet memory of what we shared together. Maybe that’ll be enough to carry her through, even if it leaves me destroyed.

Lexi stirs beside me and she moves to cuddle into me. I can tell she’s awake, but not ready to talk. I hold her close for a long time, stroking her hair. We don’t say a word, but I’m hoping that my touch does the talking. She knows I’m here for her, at least. And I hope she knows I’d sacrifice anything to make her happy.

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