Page 92 of Surrender
He wasn’t going to lie to her and had no reason to. He wasn’t a kid, hadn’t been one when he pursued and began to date Colbie. Dallis also didn’t care what she thought about his age one way or another because they were both consenting adults.
“I’m nineteen.”
He watched as Denise’s eyes widened, and he saw Carter stop his fork halfway to his mouth from the corner of his eyes. Cameron didn’t seem to mind, nodding as if she understood something before giving Cassie more ketchup. Drew already knew Dallis was younger than Colbie and had already made comments as if he knew Colbie had been Dallis’ teacher at one point. So, his reaction was to continue to eat his food.
“What?!” Denise exclaimed, and Dallis bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at her outburst. “When…why…wh-”
“Sorry, I’m late.”
Dallis had only heard that voice a handful of times, but he would not forget it. His attention snapped to the backdoor to see Will standing there, and Dallis’ eyes twitched.
“You aren’t late because you weren’t invited,” Colbie stated.
“I was. Denise thought it would be nice for me to come by and-”
Dallis hadn’t even realized he’d gotten up and made his way to Will until he was punching him in the jaw. He’d been serious when he said he was sick of the other man disrespecting their relationship. Clearly, whatever entity that Will believed in had failed him because he’d shown his ass up in Dallis’ presence.
He hadn’t realized how hard he’d punched Will until the older man fell. “Get up,” Dallis demanded through gritted teeth.
It was probably childish that he’d hit Will seemingly unprovoked to everyone in attendance apart from Colbie and his parents, but he had been provoked. While he wanted nothing more than to beat his ass, he wanted Will to fight back while he did so.
When he stood to his feet, Dallis punched him again. “You stalked her to a restaurant.” Another punch. “You showed up on Christmas day uninvited.” A fourth punch. “You came to my house.” A fifth punch. “You sent her flowers even after learning she was with someone.”
Allowing him to fight back had filtered from Dallis’ mind as fast as it entered. He could vaguely hear Denise telling someone to stop him and Drew responding that he was sure Will deserved it. Dallis also knew his parents would not intervene. They’d always allowed him to handle his own problems unless he asked them to step in. It wasn’t until Dallis remembered there was a child present that he got himself together.
Dallis felt a touch on his back and knew it was Colbie; she took his wrist, preparing to lead him inside but stopped when Denise spoke.
“You chose this violent child over Will. A grown man that could give you so much.”
“I didn’t choose a violent child. I left a manipulative one. I chose a man that puts me first in every aspect, and I’ve never had reason to question or wonder if he’s being honest and genuine with me. You’d think as a parent you’d want that for your child,” Colbie countered.
“Colbie Lynae, I cannot accept this. Will is the-”
“You know what, mom, if you like Will so much, why don’t you date him? Since he’s so fucking great.” Colbie cut her off. “You don’t have to accept it, but it isn’t going to change.”
“She’s right, Denise. If she’s happy, that’s all that matters.” Carter stated. “I’ve never understood why you would want her with someone who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants regarding other women.”
Dallis didn’t’ hear anything else said as Colbie pulled him into the house and to her bedroom. She motioned for him to sit down as she went into the bathroom. Colbie returned with a first-aid kit, and Dallis hadn’t noticed until then that he had a couple of cuts on his knuckles. He allowed her to clean them, and he could see the silent conversation she was having the entire time.
When she finished, she returned to the bathroom before coming out and sighing softly. “I can’t believe she invited Will, and I’m willing to bet her coming back inside before we ate was to unlock the front door for him.”
Dallis didn’t say anything because Denise probably had. Colbie kept a chain and lock on her back gate entrance because it was broken and wouldn’t stay shut. Dallis made a mental note to fix it sometime over the summer.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Dallis questioned, confused.
“I knew this could go badly with my mother, but I didn’t think she’d invite Will, and I just wanted everyone to get along. I wanted them all to like you, even my mom.”
Dallis stood and made his way to her. “Baby, I didn’t need them all to like me. I didn’t need any of them to like me,” Dallis told her, placing his forehead against hers.
It was true; he didn’t need them to because he knew he made Colbie happy, and that was all that mattered to him. However, it was nice that they did. Well, aside from her mother, which was fine by him.
“I love you, and that’s all that matters. The way I feel about you and the way you feel about me. Not any outside source.”
“You love me?”
Dallis furrowed his brow, pulling away to look at her. “I thought I was making that pretty obvious, baby.”
