Page 83 of Angel

“You don’t make any sense, Rip. I’ve never been with anyone except you.”

“It was your fucking nephew, okay. I didn’t realize he was your nephew, and I thought…”

Oh God. My stomach lurches where I’ve not eaten anything that wasn’t covered in chocolate for days now. This is…worse than I could ever have thought it would be.

“So, you go off to fuck someone because you thought I was banging my nephew?” There goes any hope we have of making this work. I don’t want to get in a fight with him and he go fuck every girl he meets because he’s mad at me. A hollowness settles in me that leaves me feeling burnt up and fragile like a leaf in a fire.

“I didn’t fuck anyone!”

“Sure you didn’t!”

“Was that why you were so upset? Because you thought I went off to fuck someone else.”

I take off running. All that is on my mind is getting to that front door, so I don’t have to answer his question. I make it down the stairs just fine but when I yank the door open a yelp is jerked out of me and I am staring at the coach who is just as shocked to find me on the other side of the door as I am to find him.

“Miss Tandy.”

It gives Rip time to catch up with me. He comes up behind me with no shirt on, which I know because I back right into said bare chest when the coach comes in.

“I think the three of us need to talk.” The words are quiet but firm. He doesn’t shout them or demand them, he just says it in a fatherly way that leaves no room for argument.

“I’m not pregnant!” I blurt it out before I can stop myself. “And I can’t be his tutor anymore.”

I also have rampant verbal diarrhea and can't seem to keep my mouth shut.

“So, there’s no reason for us to talk about anything. It was nice to meet you, but I have to go.”

Steel bands wrap around my waist and lift me from the ground. Rip’s arms.

“You’re not going anywhere until we clear this up between us, sweetheart. I have no problem tying you to my god damned bed if I have to.” He starts for the stairs. “Can you give us a few minutes, Coach? Come on in and relax. Kitchen’s that way. Help yourself.”

He tips his head towards the kitchen and then starts up the stairs. I wiggle and squirm to escape but he moves us, so I am draped over his back. He takes the steps two at a time and doesn’t let me go until he’s tossing me on his bed.

I try to move quickly so I can stand on the other side of the bed but I’m not quick enough. He lays his weight over me, trapping me.

“You were crying because I hurt you, weren’t you?”

“I wasn’t crying.”

He rolls us so he can swat my ass.

“Don’t lie to me, baby.”

Don’t lie to him? Is he even listening to himself?

“I wasn’t…stop! Rip, stop!

Chapter Twenty-One

Rip

“Rip! Rip, don’t you even think about…!” I roll her over so I can spank her curvy little ass again. This time I rap both sides before rubbing the cheeks of her ass and rolling her onto her back.

“I was upset, okay!” She cries out the admission and I settle over her so I can hear everything she has to say. “I was upset. I missed my friend…who decided to leave me so he could fuck people the whole weekend. I understand you want me around when it’s beneficial for you, but as soon as I’m not useful, as soon as you don’t need me, you walked away.”

Is that what she thinks happened?

“I understand. I cared and you…were just doing what you do -playing around, keeping things light, and being a generally lousy human being. It was my fault for caring too much. And I’m the one who should be sorry because I understood what you were, and I did it anyway.” She turns sad eyes up to mine. “Guess I didn’t learn my lesson in high school after all.”