Page 17 of Infatuated as They Come
“Holly, please,” I said, eyes shutting for a second.
“I don’t wanna leave you alone with him,” she said softly, and I could hear the clear worry in her voice.
“I can handle him. I’ve been handling him my whole life; I can handle him now.” Being able to take on my own father in a fight wasn’t exactly something I wanted a medal for, but it was the flashes of Holly’s bruised skin that kept consuming my brain. I couldn’t let him get close to her. Iwouldn’t. My hands gently grasped her hips, pushing her further and further down the hallway.
“What if he does something?” she asked, peering over my shoulder. “Just come with me. Do you really need to talk to him?”
“Aren’t you gonna let me say hello to your friend?” I heard Dad call out behind me.
“No,” I answered, eyes still stuck on Holly as I kept guiding her away fromhim. “Holly, please. Please get in the truck.”
Bright, white teeth chewed at her bottom lip as she gently took the keys from my hand. “But…”
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Don’t fucking talk to her,” I bit out, my hand on Holly’s back as I led her to the door.
“It looks like you two are together,” he said. “I don’t believe it.”
“Uh, what’s that supposed to mean?” Holly asked.
“There’s no way you really want my boy. Look at you. Look at him!”
“Excuse me?” Holly called out, her little bouquet of bluebells hitting the floor. I did my best to avoid stepping on them and felt my jaw tick when I saw that my dad had no problem pressing a heavy foot to the petals.
“I get it, son, I get it,” Dad said as I held the door open for Holly. “You don’t wanna embarrass yourself in front of your little girlfriend.”
Holly scoffed, looking over her shoulder as she moved down the stairs. “I love your son a lot. He’s really special to me and I hope one day that you get to see what I see.”
She was real sweet for trying, but nothing and no one was getting through to him. The man hated me the second he set his eyes on me.
“You can do so much better than him. Come on,” he said. “You’re gonna run off with someone else eventually. May as well do it now.”
“That’s not gonna happen,” Holly said sharply. There was some fire in her voice that I couldn’t help but be proud of. She spun around, leaned up on the tips of her toes, and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I’ll be in the truck. Be careful please.”
I watched her closely, making sure she was inside and safely tucked away before I turned back around. Dad made a move down one of the steps and I quickly pressed a hand to the metal doorway, shaking my head at him. That was as close as he was getting to Holly.
“You wanna talk? Fine. We’ll do it,” I said, keeping my voice clear and blunt. “But not in front of her.”
He nodded at me. “I won’t embarrass you in front of her.”
I huffed, moving up the stairs and slamming the door behind me. Hollydidn’t need to see me and my dad in the middle of whatever was about to happen.
“Where’s all my shit?” he asked, arm outstretched as he pointed at the close to empty living room. “What the hell did you do? I leave for a couple months—”
“A couple?” I interrupted.
“And you let the place get fucking robbed or something? Where is everything?”
“I made sure this place stayed standing. Where the fuck have you been?” I asked. “What happened to your brother and his wife dumping their kid here like they never wanna see him again?”
He looked behind him towards the hallway. “Where’s your cousin?”
“None of your fuckin’ business.”
“He get tired of you and leave? Like that girl out there is gonna?”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Brodie got into college in case you’re wondering. A really good school too. Full ride and everything. Would have been nice if he had another family member besides just me to congratulate him on that.”
