Page 103 of Bad For A Weekend

“Sit down.” I pat the spot next to me. He sits facing me, an ankle resting on his knee. “I don’t know how to start.”

“From the beginning.”

With a sigh, I open up and tell him everything from my severe anxiety when Owen started to how he could talk me down and relate to me. I explain how things started to shift between us and how he took me to The Grove. When I talk about those early times, I find myself feeling for the first time in a long time. It’s good to talk about how we fell in love.

Dad winces when I tell him about our first kiss, but to his credit, he stays silent and unjudging. It isn’t until I get to Tulum that my smile fades, and Dad’s nostrils flare. To him, I’m sure it sounds like Owen is responsible for my night on the town, but I see it much differently.

Of course, I don’t get into all the sex Owen and I had. It wouldn’t do either of us any good to go there, but I’m sure he can read between the lines.

That leaves graduation. When I delve into that, I cry.

“He told me it was over a couple of times before then, but he really meant it that time.”

Dad brings me in for a hug. “I’m so sorry. All of this was going on, and I had no idea. Well, that’s not completely true. I had my suspicions that you two had gotten a little too close, but I never imagined this.”

“I’m sorry I kept it from you.”

He pulls away. “It’s probably good you did because I would’ve clocked the bastard, and he’s much bigger than me. It would’ve hurt. A lot.”

I laugh through my tears. “Are you mad?”

He blows out a long breath. “Yes, but not at you. He took advantage of you and had a position of power over you. It was unethical and immoral.”

“I knew that’s what you’d think, but if you saw us together, you’d think differently. Heknewme, Dad. It was like he saw inside my soul. Without me even telling him, he knew.” I wipe my eyes. “We called it the deepest and darkest—the stuff you don’t want to say out loud because you know it’ll disturb people. But he got it, and his love healed me in a way nothing else could.”

“Baylor, you’re really young. Wait a few years and you’ll see how wrong—”

“No. I won’t.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree.” He looks me over. “Were you safe?”

I groan. “I’m not pregnant if that’s what you mean.”

“No, I just... you never really know someone’s past.”

“I do know,” I bite out. Seeing his flinch, I soften my tone. “I know, Dad. We spent a lot of time just talking. Did you know that he worked at that high school where they had the mass shooting four years ago?”

“No.”

“He was the one who shot the student, saving who knows how many kids.”

“That’s commendable.”

“After that, he had so much anxiety, he couldn’t return to work. That’s why he could relate to me. He spent the last four years in therapy.”

“I can tell you care about him a lot.”

He’s pacifying me, and it’s pissing me off. This is why I wanted to talk to him while Owen and I were together. But were we ever together? It’s not like I ever had a moment where I called him my boyfriend.

“Well, you wanted to know why I’ve been upset. That’s why.” I stand and walk to my door. “I need to help direct the movers.”

“Baylor, get back here,” he says in his fatherly tone that rarely gets used, so I obey.

“What?”

“You need to give me a minute to process this because all my head is latching onto is that I let a grown-ass man be alone with my teenage daughter, and now she’s telling me she’s in love.”

“Just forget it. It doesn’t matter. He’s gone and isn’t coming back.”

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