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“Ah.” Jake shifted me so I was straddling him and cupped my face. “Angel, I don’t think you have anything to worry about with Ryder. He’s a shitshow right now, thinking you hate him. I almost feel sorry for the guy. Almost.”
“They were arguing like… I don’t know. They were just going at each other like they were the only two people in the world.” I ran my fingers over his buzzed hair and sighed. “I don’t want to hurt him, though. I just got scared. If there’s still something there between him and his wife, demon that she may be, I don’t want to get in the way.”
“You want my honest answer?” He grinned at the look I gave him. “I’ll take that as a yes. Okay, Fi… I hate my ex-wife. There’s not an ounce of me that still even likes the woman. Hate is a strong word, sure, but I hate her. She’s a terrible person and if it wasn’t for my daughter, I would’ve gladly never met her. But I still want to win every argument that comes up between us. I still have that gut reaction to win and it sometimes probably looks like passion, but it’s pure stubbornness and anger born out of resentment.”
I tried to keep a straight face but something about that answer made me laugh. “That was very honest.”
He pressed a kiss to my jaw. “I’m an honest guy.”
“I guess I should talk to Ryder.” I pretended to reach for my phone and laughed in Jake’s face when he rushed to grab my hand to stop me. “I’m kidding! I’m not going to call him right now. I’m on a date with you, Jake, and I’m glad to be here. With you.”
Running his hands into my hair, he brought my mouth to his and kissed me. Slowly, gently, masterfully, he moved his lips over mine until I was out of breath and halfway to wanting to marry him. He only pulled back far enough to press his forehead to mine and smile at me.
“I’ve been busy figuring things out with the band and I haven’t seen you as much as I want to. Don’t think for a second that I care less than those other two fools.”
I wanted to mold myself to him and become a part of him in that moment. After being sad all night and feeling rejected, his words soothed that old ache and felt like a cool breeze on a hot day. “My door is always open for you.”
“Yeah? Even in the-” Jake stopped talking and let his sentence fall away as he looked at something behind me. His jaw tightened and he eased me off his lap. “Sonofabitch. I’m sorry for what you’re about to see, angel.”
I hurried to my feet after him and watched as he made his way across the grassy hill we were on. He looked like an avenging angel and I could practically see smoke coming out of his ears. I wasn’t sure what was happening but when he stopped next to a group of kids and hauled one of them off a girl and to their feet, I winced and rushed over to hopefully stop whatever was happening.
“Dad! Stop! He’s my boyfriend!” The young girl shouting slurred words at Jake stood up and stumbled towards the two much larger men. She grabbed Jake’s arm and tugged but it did nothing to break Jake’s grip on the boyfriend. The much older boyfriend, from what I could tell.
“Your boyfriend? Lucy, what the fuck? You’re fifteen!” Jake shook the guy. “How old are you?”
Lucy, with flushed skin and glassy eyes, seemed to understand that she was in a bad spot. She looked at the guy and then down at the ground. “I’m sorry.”
“Fifteen? She told me she was nineteen! Sir, I’m sorry! I didn’t know. I swear to god I didn’t know.” Choked words meant to save his ass did the job and the guy took off as soon as Jake dropped him.
“Lucy.” Jake turned back to his daughter and took a deep breath. “You’re drunk.”
There were several other girls that looked to be around Lucy’s age on their own blanket behind Lucy and they all giggled while staring at Jake. He didn’t seem to notice. His eyes weren’t budging from his daughter.
“I know. I’m sorry, Dad. I…” Lucy looked up at me and tears filled her eyes. “I want to go home.”
“This is Fiona, my girlfriend. Fiona, this is my daughter, Lucy. Will you take her to the car, Fi?” When I nodded, Jake tucked his finger under Lucy’s chin and lifted her face so she would face him. “Go with Fiona. You and I will talk later. Right now I’m going to make sure your friends’ parents know they need to come collect their drunk teenagers.”
Angry mumbles came from the once giggling girls and I quickly took Lucy’s hand to pull her away and save her from hearing her so-called friends making rude comments about her. I pulled her to the spot Jake and I had been sitting and gathered our stuff. She took the blanket when I handed it to her and hugged it to her chest.
“Dad’s going to murder me.” Her bottom lip wobbled. “He probably hates me.”
“Not a chance in hell.” I led her towards the parking lot. “He’s mad but that doesn’t change how much he loves you.”
“I just wanted to have fun. I never have any fun. I study all the time and I just wanted to be a kid!” In her drunken state, she did not care that I was someone she’d just met. She was letting everything out. “He’s so worried I’m going to be like my mom that he freaks out anytime I mess up even a little bit! I’m not my mom, though. I’m just me! I’m Lucy. You know?”
I nodded. “I know. You’re just Lucy and that’s all you can be.”
“He wants me to be an accountant or something! And my mom! God, my mom. She just wants me to be whatever will get her what she wants. Did he tell you that he’s not my real dad? She tricked him. She uses people. She uses me. Do you know my mom?”
I rolled my lips into my mouth and cleared my throat as rage for the little girl hit like a wildfire. “I don’t.”
“I don’t want to be an accountant. I want to be a drummer, like my dad. My dad’s so cool.” She gasped suddenly. “He called you his girlfriend! You’re dating my dad? Wow!”
“My son wants to be a drummer, too. He’s only six, but maybe you two could have drum sessions together sometime.” I smiled down at her, feeling a wave of emotion for a young girl who’d been through so much already. “And I am dating your dad. He’s a pretty cool guy.”
“Dad won’t let me be a drummer.” Lucy’s face paled and she dropped the blanket to hold her stomach. “I’m going to be sick.”
And she was. A lot.
