Before he gets a chance to though, my dad throws a punch that lands right on Alaric’s jaw. I immediately head toward the two. “Dad! What are you doing?”

He doesn’t pay any attention to me though as he grabs Alaric and shoves him back against the counter. Alaric just lets him like he knows he deserves this. I swear my dad is about to throw another punch, so I reach out and pull him backwards. “Dad! Stop!”

He doesn’t try to go after him physically again, but he is shouting at him. “You fucked my daughter!”

Alaric wipes the blood from his cut lip. “I’m sorry. I never intended to let this happen.”

My dad just keeps yelling. “No, I’m sure you didn’t since you were only thinking with your dick.”

Alaric stands straight up now. “It won’t happen again."

I feel like the whole world stops and the wind is knocked out of my chest. I didn’t exactly know what was going on between me and Alaric, but the past couple days I thought it was something more real. It feels like his words knocked a hole in my chest.

I can feel my eyes sting with the threat of tears. I can’t let him know I thought this was more than just sex. My eyes lock on with Alaric’s, and I know he can see the hurt on my face. I roll my eyes to try to cover up what I’m feeling. “See this was a bad idea. I can’t stay here. I’m going to go stay at Angela’s. I have her spare key.”

I grab my overnight bag that I brought over here and run out to my car and leave before either one can stop me. The moment I pull out of the driveway, I feel the tears running down my cheeks. I can’t believe I was so stupid. Caring about someone like Alaric. What was I thinking?