Page 25 of Wild

“Sounds fun.”

This, right now, is too easy. I don’t want to like him. I want to hate him. It would be better for both of us. Despite myself, despite him, I don’t. There’s something about him, about us, that clicks.

As the sky darkens from sunset into the dark blue color of night, the lights around the deck twinkle. Below the deck is another seating area and a stage where local artists sometimes play. I can’t help but wonder what the gathered crowd of college students would think of the song The Wild has been working on. It’s a ballad. Slow, sad, but uplifting in a strange way. A reminder we’re never alone, even when we think we are, someone is thinking of us. Someone is in our corner. Someoneseesus for who we truly are even when no one else does. I’m surprised they’re releasing it as their first single, it’s a risk, but it’s a beautiful song and my dad seems confident.

My dad.

If he knew I was here, with Hollis, he’d be mad at me but he’d skin Hollis alive. I know I’m an adult. I can hang out with whomever I want. I’m not afraid of my dad, not in the least, but I hate disappointing him and it’s what I’d do if he knew what I was up to. Who I’m spending my time with.

But having dinner with Hollis doesn’t mean I’m going to jump into bed with him.

My dad might not trust Hollis, but what aboutme?Can he not trust me to make my own judgment call? Does he have so little faith in me?

He’s your dad, Mia. He can’t stand the thought of you with anyone. Get used to it.

It’s true. I could be eighty years old and he’d come back from the grave to tell me I couldn’t date. Sometimes I think he’s even more protective of me than Adalyn when it comes to the male sex, and I’m sure it stems from what happened with my sperm donor—the fear he felt at the thought of losing me. What he fails to understand is one day when I meet the right guy, fall in love, and get married he’s not losing me, he’s gaining something entirely new.

“What’s wrong?” he asks and my thoughts evaporate like smoke.

“Nothing—I was thinking.”

“About what?” He leans back in the barstool, completely at ease.

“My dad,” I admit. “I wish he could understand I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m going to leave the nest one day.”

“I was wondering … why do you still live at home? It seems like your life is here and a nearly hour drive each way every day sounds exhausting.”

“Some days I want to get an apartment here and stay,” I confess out loud for the first time ever, and to Hollis of all people. “But … I love my mom, dad, my sister and brother … leaving them feels permanent somehow. Like I know once I move out, a part of my life is over.”

“It’s all a part of growing up,” he agrees. “It’s not easy being an adult.”

“It’s not. Some days I wish I was a little kid again. I miss the naivety of childhood.”

“Don’t we all.” He smiles easily.

Our waiter finally appears with our food and my stomach grumbles. I love food. I can’t help it—food is life.

My phone vibrates beside me. It’s a text message from my dad.

Dad: Have you left yet? Drive safe.

I bite my lip, pondering my response. I hate lying, but what choice do I have?

Me: Not yet, grabbing a bite to eat with Kira.

Dad: Okay. Let me know when you start home.

My dad is the biggest worrywart on the planet, but I appreciate that he cares. A lot of people don’t have parents who do.

Across from me, Hollis arches a brow. “Was that Daddy Dearest?”

I turn my phone over. Sliding it away. “Yes.”

“Is he always like this or is having us in town making him extra anxious?”

“Mm,” I hum. “Pretty much always.”

Hollis smirks. “So, what you’re really saying is that we’re nothing special?”

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