Page 65 of RomeAntically Challenged
The comment was meant to hurt, but Annie didn’t think Paisley realized just how much power she had over her dad—who didn’t move, except for his hand tightening around the bill of his ballcap.
Annie knew Paisley’s comment was spoken in anger, but the words hit Emmitt so hard he flinched. His face went blank and he stared blindly through the windshield. Annie’s heart broke for him. Although Paisley would probably forget the whole incident in a month’s time, for Emmitt her words were Sharpied into his heart. Every future decision he made as a parent would be impacted by this moment. Whenever he was confronted with a hard situation, he’d question himself.
“Are you seriously blaming this on me?” he finally said. “I know Levi and Gray would have asked—they made that fuc . . .abundantlyclear when no one knew where you were.”
“You could have texted to find out. Or called and I would have told you where I was. You didn’t have to come barging in and threaten Sam or embarrass me in front of everyone!”
“You threatened a teenager?” Annie asked.
“He’s eighteen and I didn’t threaten him, just enlightened him on how things were going to be moving forward.”
“No,” Paisley argued. “You came in all President of the Cock Block Committee when nothing was happening.Nothing!And now nothing is ever going to happen.”
Emmitt’s grin said he wouldn’t be losing any sleep over that.
“We were just hanging out,” Paisley continued. “With his friends. And then his sister came out, and he introduced us, and the minute we started talking, the guys acted like we weren’t even there. I think Sam just invited me over because his sister’s a freshman and doesn’t have any friends and he thinks I’m nice or something. So all that ‘This is over’ BS only made me look stupid. He’s just a friend, even though I thought maybe it was more. Basically he’s never going to speak to me again, if that makes you happy.”
Annie looked in the rearview mirror right as Paisley’s lower lip began trembling. But no matter how hard she tried to keep her emotions at bay, she’d clearly hit her breaking point and burst into tears. She was no longer trying to hide her feelings or interested in talking to her father. In fact, she slid on a sweatshirt and pulled the hood over her head, cinching it around her face.
Annie was uncertain how to proceed. This was clearly a family situation and she wasn’t family. Then again, Emmitt had come to her for help, not to mention her heart ached for Paisley. The poor girl had been caught, tarred, and feathered in front of half the varsity football team. She’d just experienced her first heartbreak—in a very public forum—and, more than anything, needed her dad’s reassurance.
Annie reached over and gently squeezed Emmitt’s hand, letting him know that she was here for him. His chest rose, then fell, and after a few breaths he gave her a little squeeze back.
“It doesn’t make me happy, P,” he finally said, his voice three octaves lower than it had been moments ago. “Seeing you upset would never make me happy.”
Paisley didn’t answer, just let his words hang in the air while she stared out the window and silently cried in the back seat. Emmitt looked as if he was debating between grounding her for life and buying her a convertible to get her to stop crying.
Annie let the silence go on for another few streets before she had to say something. She glanced again in the rearview mirror and saw Paisley curled into herself. Emmitt looked about as miserable, only he wasn’t crying.
“What if he does talk to you again?” Annie asked, and before Paisley could answer, Emmitt was already shaking his head.
“Are you crazy?” Emmitt shot her a hard look. “He’s eighteen. She’s fifteen.”
This time she shot him a look before returning her attention to the rearview mirror. She waited until Paisley met her gaze before saying, “What if he did talk to you again, and he wanted to be more than friends? Your being underage is a natural concern for your dad. Especially when you weren’t up-front about today.”
“If I was up-front, he would have said no,” Paisley said with a sniffle.
“Heis sitting right here. Andhenot only knows teenage boys, he knows the law. Sam is eighteen and you’re a minor. End of story.”
“I can only imagine how flattering it would be to have a senior guy ask you to hang out,” Annie said gently. “How embarrassing it would have been to explain that your dad wouldn’t let you come over. But if you love someone, you have to trust them. One doesn’t work without the other. Do you love your dad?”
“Sometimes.”
“Then you need to trust that he’s doing what he thinks is the right thing for you.”
“He thinks the right thing is for me to die a virgin.” Paisley sat forward. “It’s my body, my choice.”
“Not until you’re eighteen and living on your own,” he said.
“Can’t wait!”
Silence filled the car until it was thick enough to choke on. No one said a word, not even when Annie pulled into the driveway and put the car in Park. She undid her seat belt and turned to face Emmitt. He didn’t turn her way, so she just waited until he finally looked back. When their eyes met, instead of being pissed, he took a deep breath and then gave a small, defeated smile.
“I’m trying my best to see why this is such a big deal,” Paisley said.
Emmitt closed his eyes, and Annie could almost see him counting to ten.
“Seriously?” He turned in his seat to face his daughter for the first time since they’d gotten in the car. “That’s your takeaway?”
