Page 78 of The Twisted Beats

My dad half rolls his eyes and releases an irritated sigh. “I understand, Brendan. You’re excused since you didn’t lie, but stay out of it next time.”

“I’ll try.” Bren stands and gives Callum and me an apologetic wince. “Good luck.”

My dad waves Bren off. “Go. I have some things to discuss with these two.”

Bren leaves the room while Callum and I shift arounduncomfortably on the other side of the couch under my dad’s contemplative gaze.

“We’ll talk about what was going on upstairs in a minute.” He turns to Callum. “First, you need to realize there’s no excuse for Livianna missing?—”

“Daddy, it’s not his fault. I made Callum take me out today. He wasn’t going to, but I demanded it.”

He takes my hand in his. “Lily, I could’ve said no.”

“But I insisted. I refused to go to work and I told you that.” I try to burn the message into Callum’s eyes to go along with my story. “You were going to take me out tonight. Since your uncle scheduled a concert, you had to cancel and break my heart.”

Callum’s brows crease together. “But that wasn’t what hap?—”

“I know it wasn’t your fault. I’m not hurt anymore. After I demanded it, you took me out and showed me the time of my life. You made me happier than ever.” I squeeze his hand tightly and face my dad. “He didn’t want to, but I was a river of tears, Daddy.”

His shoulders relax and he peers over at Callum. “You can’t let her skip any more work. I appreciate you trying to make her feel better, but you two have obligations and responsibilities. You aren’t like normal teenagers. People are counting on you.”

“Agreed. You have my word, sir. I won’t do it again.” Callum glances at me. “She was upset because of me and I didn’t like it. I was just trying to make it up to her.”

“And you did.” I lean over and kiss him on the cheek.

My dad clears his throat. “Livianna, your agent called your mom.”

Callum and I turn to my dad. He continues, “The tabloids have pictures of you and Cash out today. They’re running a story this week.”

Callum tenses. “What does that mean?”

“The studio is going to find out why Livianna wasn’t at work, so she needs to take responsibility for lying and make it up to them.” My dad gestures to me with the dip of his chin.

I roll back my shoulders with a fire in my belly. “I’m a teenage girl who works all the time. When I’m not, I have tutoring. When am I supposed to have a life?”

My dad leans over, rests his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped together, and glances between Callum and me. “Livianna, you have a two-month break coming up. You could’ve waited until then.”

“I don’t want to wait. I’m his girlfriend and want everyone to know it. Why is that so wrong?” I cross my arms.

Callum runs his palm over my knee. “There’s nothing wrong with it, but we should’ve waited.”

“Why? Because you don’t want anyone to know.” With my heart pounding, I turn to him. “Is that why you made me wear a wig?”

He grits his teeth. “No. I did that so you wouldn’t get in trouble.”

“Yet here I am and I don’t care. I’m not ashamed of being with you today.” I swallow the tears getting ready to fall. “Why won’t you fight for me and prove you don’t regret it?”

“Livianna, that’s enough,” my dad interjects. “He’s trying to get you to see that you two need to be more careful. You’re both in the public eye and that changes things.”

I blow out an irritated puff of air and shake my head. “So I’m supposed to pretend we’re not dating?”

“Calm down. You’re missing the point.” He peers over at Callum. “She wants you to take her out. That part is fine.”

Callum nods. “I want to take her on a proper date. It doesn’t matter to me who knows.”

“There’s a time and place for that.” My dad stands and strides over to the fireplace.

I follow him, trying to get himto make eye contact. “Are you saying that I have to wait for two weeks? That’s not fair, Daddy.”