Page 68 of Ruled Out

“Drop it, Dad,” I grit out, anger beginning to swirl in my stomach.

“You were a conquest to him, Mia. He’s a bad person from the wrong side of town. You know the drunk that killed your mom was also from South Boulevard, right?”

I press my lips together and shake my head at him, looking down into my half-finished coffee. “You’re a snob—you know that? You weren’t exactly from a good part of town when you met Mom, but I didn’t see Grandpa judging you.”

Dad checks his watch again, grabbing his cap and jacket from the back of his chair. He pulls it on and then reaches into his wallet, pulling out a twenty-dollar bill for the check. “I also didn’t sneak around behind his back for months and then leave her brokenhearted when I got caught.”

He sets the bill down on the table and offers me a warm smile, clearly trying to avoid an argument.

“I don’t see that he had much choice since you threatened murder and then kicked him off the team.”

Standing from his chair, he rounds the table and leans down, setting a chaste kiss on top of my head. “Still defending him, even now. Move on, Mia.”

When I push back my chair, it makes a squeaking noise across the floor. I grab my jacket and bag from the back of it and follow him out of the café.

Once outside, I turn to look at Dad, who thumbs behind him in the opposite direction. The freezing wind whips around us, blowing my hair across my face. Moments like this are when the pain of losing my mom feels the harshest. I know if she were here, I’d be able to talk to her about Jessie.

I know she’d see it from my point of view.

I know she wouldn’t just give him a chance; she’d tell my dad to back off.

My eyes start to blur as I blink several times to hide my emotions. “Good luck with the game tonight.”

I can tell he wants to say more, and as he watches my eyes glaze over, he knows he’s upset me. Graham Jenkins has never been a mean person, but Mom’s death definitely changed him. Bitterness and anger found their way into his personality and never really left. If anything, it’s grown worse over the past seven years.

At twenty-two, I should be able to talk freely with him, and he should respect my decisions, even if he doesn’t always agree with them.

When Mom died, it was like time stood still, and in my dad’s eyes, I stopped getting older. Maybe continuing to treat me like a fifteen-year-old was—and still is—his way of hanging on to the past and keeping me protected, all at the same time. What he failed to realize is I did a lot more growing than the average teenager.

As much as his overprotectiveness has held me back from pursuing whatand whoI want in life, I don’t have it in me to hurt him further. My breaking from his Dallas chains hit him hard enough, and telling him that I’m involved with Jessie again without him losing his shit feels just about impossible.

I step forward and reach up to kiss him lightly on the cheek. “Talk soon.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

JESSIE

S

So, I got your text, but Dad showed up at my dorm building. Then he took me for coffee and grilled me about you. I’m grabbing my overnight stuff, and I’ll be over.

I’m halfway through prepping the salsa for the ground beef tacos I’m making for Mia when her text comes through. I wipe my hands on a towel and quickly unlock my phone.

Graham is here?

Me

Shit. Does he know?

S

No. But surprisingly, Tara covered for me after I told him I’d been studying early at the library. She knows I’m seeing someone, but not who. I’m getting in the taxi now. See you soon.

Have you had dinner?

No. When I did make it to the library, I worked through the day and forgot to eat. Starving!

I made tacos.

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