Page 128 of Anyone But Her

Chapter Twenty-Four

Luke

"How DARE you go after my daughter!" Lou yells in a voice so loud I'm sure the neighbors heard.

I stand up. "I'm sorry. I really am."

He walks up to me. "I gave you one rule. One fucking rule! The only condition for you living here. And you couldn't follow it. You went behind my back and did the one thing I asked you not to do."

"I know, and I understand what you have to do and why you're doing it, but just let me say this. I love your daughter. I have for a long time. When you told me to stay away from her, I tried. I really did. But I couldn't. Taylor couldn't either. She felt the same way about me as I felt about her and things just happened."

"Don't you try and blame this on my daughter! This was you! All you! You could've told Taylor to stay away. Told her you weren't interested. Told her you wanted someone else. If you'd done that, this never would've happened."

"I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't lie to her, knowing how she felt about me and how I felt about her. She means everything to me. Mr. Tuckerman, I know you don't want to hear this, but I really do love her. I love Taylor more than anything in this world."

He points to the door. "Get out of my house."

"Can't we at least talk about this? I know you're angry but if we could just sit down and talk then maybe—"

"There's nothing to talk about. I made a rule and you broke it. You broke my trust. I've done everything I can to help you and this is the thanks I get."

That hurts. It really does. Lou has become like a father to me and I feel horrible that he feels like I did this to harm him or betray him.

"I'm really sorry," I say.

"Sorry isn't good enough. I want you out of this house. And I don't want you calling my daughter or having any kind of contact with her."

"I'm sorry but I can't do that. I respect your opinion but I'm not breaking up with Taylor. I love her."

"I don't care if you love her. Do you really think I want my daughter with a boy who lies and goes behind my back and disrespects my rules while living under my roof?"

He's right. I did all those things but that doesn't mean I'll stop seeing Taylor. I can't give her up. I love her too much. But I do need to leave.

"Can I have a few minutes to pack?" I ask.

"You have five minutes."

He goes outside, slamming the door behind him.

I check my phone and see a string of texts from Taylor.

Are you okay?

Is he kicking you out?

Don't leave. Let me talk to him first.

You're not texting back. Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?

I'm getting scared. Text me back!

I text her. I'm fine. But I have to leave. I'm packing my stuff.

Luke, no,she texts back. Let me talk to him. I'll calm him down.

It won't work,I text. He's too mad.

But this isn't fair. It wasn't just you. It was me too.

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