Page 112 of The One
And that reason was hanging on the edge of my tongue.
But as our stares stayed locked, my throat closed.
My lips shut.
My eyes burned with emotion.
My chest felt like it was going to cave inward.
“I was upset,” I said to him.
“Youwere upset?”
“And, yes, I was angry, but?—”
“Youwere angry?”
My hands were sweating so badly in my pockets. I took them out, and they fell at my sides. “I’d just pulled Penelope out of the water and performed CPR?—”
“I don’t need a goddamn play-by-play. I already know how you killed my daughter!”
He stepped toward me, and I backed up a few paces, the accusation vibrating through me.
“Do you know what you’ve done to this family since you came into Lainey’s life? You brainwashed her into becoming obsessed with you. She couldn’t ever feel settled in New York and begged me every day for two years to move back to LA. And once we got here, USC was all I heard about. My daughter should have picked Stanford, but, no, you convinced her otherwise. Not anymore, Rhett. You’re out of her life, out of our lives, and none of us will, thankfully, ever see you again. And if you try, I’ll fucking kill you!”
What?
I’m … out of her life?
But how?
And if I try … he’ll kill me?
Lainey was leaving for college in a few months.
Where we were going to be together.
“Lainey isn’t going to USC?” I asked.
“No.”
No?
“She isn’t going anywhere near you!”
That couldn’t be true.
It … wasn’t possible.
I needed to talk to her. I needed to see if she was okay. I needed to know why she wasn’t speaking to me. I needed to hear if what her dad was saying was true.
Mr. Taylor wasn’t going to allow me to see Lainey.
So, I was left with no other choice.
While he aimed his finger right at my heart as though it were the end of a gun, shouting, “Now, get the fuck off my property,” I used my skills as the fastest wide receiver in my high school’s division and quickly swerved around him, running for the stairs.
“Get back here right now!” he yelled from behind me. “I’m going to call the police!”
