Page 16 of Finish Line
As I walk out of Church, Minx’s voice quickly grabs my attention.
“You screwin’ my dad?” Is she talkin’ to Athena?
“What? No! We just met a couple nights ago.” Yup and Athena sounds terrified.
“Then why are you here?” Minx snaps at her. Fuck.
“Minx! Back the fuck down,” I shout at her. I move to Athena’s side.
“You have some explaining to do,” Minx says to me before storming past me.
I turn to Athena, looking her over. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she says in her soft voice. “I was coming to look for some breakfast. I didn’t mean to upset her.”
“Oh, Goddess. You didn’t upset her.” I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear then turn to the girls. “Sienna, Tink, can you get our guest somethin’ to eat, please?”
“Yup,” Sienna says.
“You got it, Prez,” Tink adds.
I turn back to Athena. “I’ll be back in a few. I need to go talk to my daughter.”
She gives me a curt nod and I go after Minx, finding her in my office.
“You wanna explain who the hell she is and what she’s doin’ here?” She doesn’t even wait for me to shut the door before layin’ into me.
“You better lose the fuckin’ attitude, or did you forget who the parent is here?” I ask her.
“One minute you tell me you’re not seein’ anyone and the next some floozy walks out of your room in your t-shirt.” Minx folds her arms over her chest.
“Damn it, Minx. I do have a life, ya know?” I drop to the couch and let out an exasperated sigh. “She’s the bartender from the other night. Somethin’ happened last night that spooked her enough for her to drive an hour out here at midnight.”
“Good ol’ damsel in distress.” She rolls her eyes.
“It ain’t like that,” I bite out.
“How do you know if you just met her?” she shouts.
“You forget how old I am? I’ve been around, seen some things. Learned a lot along the way. Readin’ people is somethin’ I’ve always been good at,” I say. “Why you think I let Raze get away with pursuin’ you?”
“This ain’t about me and Raze, Pops.”
“No, it’s about you tryin’ to parentme,” I tell her.
She lets out a sigh. “You’re my dad. I worry about you.”
“I know you do, baby girl.” I gesture for her to sit by me and she does. “And I love that you do, but I need you to give Athena a chance.”
“You like her, huh?”
“Yeah, I do. I’m hopin’ she’ll give me the chance to get to know her more,” I admit.
“You haven’t been with anyone since mom,” she whispers.
“And no one will ever take your mom’s place. I haven’t met anyone who ever made me feel anything close to how she did. Until now.”
Minx leans into me. “I want you to be happy, Pops.”
