Page 32 of Riot Reunion
Once I’ve recovered enough to put one foot in front of another again, I hurry down the street and enter the first bar I come across. It’s warm inside. Too warm. The air is humid and cloying, pouring down my throat like syrup. A young girl with bubblegum pink hair and a nose ring asks me what I want, fluttering her eyelashes at me seductively. There was a time, not too long ago, that I would have had her naked ass perched on the edge of a sink in the bathroom, her panting pleas hot in my ear as I railed the ever-loving shit out of her. Now, I barely even notice that she’s female as I bark out my order.
“Johnny Walker. A double. Neat.”
“Ooof. Bad day, Cowboy?” she purrs. “You want ice?”
“No, I do not want ice. Have youseenoutside?”
She holds up her hands in mock surrender. “Coming right up, boss.”
She goes about fixing me the drink, flirting and laughing with the other patrons sitting at the bar as she does so, and I begin to spin out. It’s so hot in here; I might pass out just for the hell of it. At least that way, I won’t be conscious.
It’s all so fucking dumb. Chase is on the pill. Thisshouldn’thave happened. Shouldn’t have been able to happen. I should have worn a fucking condom. I should…have been fucking…smarter…
A second later, I have my double Johnny Walker in one hand and my cell phone in the other, screen unlocked, thumb hovering over the green call button. The name on the screen reads:
ROBERT WITTON
This is nota call I want to make, but I don’t see that I have much choice here. I smash the pad of my thumb against the small green circle, my body locking up the second I hear the ringing sound emanating from the handset’s speaker.
Five rings.
Eight seconds. That’s how long I have to decide if I actually want to do this or not. I still haven’t made up my mind when the ringing cuts off and Robert’s face appears on the phone’s screen.
FaceTime?? IFaceTimedthe asshole? God, today just gets fucking better and better, doesn’t it. Oh well. Too late to back out now. Presley’s old man smiles tightly at me from the other side of the camera, and from the look of his expression, heknows.
“I was wondering how long it’d take you to call,” he says stiffly.
“Oh? I’mshocked.” My voice drips with attitude. I can’t turn it off.
He huffs, glancing away from the phone. Deep, unhappy lines have carved themselves around his eyes and between his brows since the last time I saw him. The windows behind Robert are pitch black. His cheeks look hollow, the bags beneath his eyes pronounced under the stark overhead lighting. Looks like he’s in a kitchen of some sort. “Wait, where are you? The restaurant?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“What time is it there?”
“Nearly four.In the morning. The bread doesn’t make itself.”
Fairbanks is four hours behind Mountain Lakes. I’d feel bad about calling him so early, but the guy was up anyway, so fuck it. I’m not apologizing.
“Where areyou?In abar?” Robert asks, squinting at me.
“No.”
He suspects I’m lying, but what can he do about it? “Whatever. Come on, then. Spit it out. I’ve run this conversation through in my head a million times over the past two weeks. I’ve been trying to figure out how you’re gonna handle this whole thing. None of the scenarios I’ve imagined have gone very well, so…let’s have it.”
Twoweeks? I should have been the first person Chase told about this. I’ve been in the dark, worrying myself sick because I’veknownsomething was wrong, and her dad has known for twoweeks? I swear, if I wasn’t so stupid in love with the girl, I might be fucking furious with Chase right now.
Can’t focus on that, though. Not here. Not now. This entire thing is hard enough as it is. I down the rest of my drink, wincing as the alcohol burns a path to my stomach, and then I say what I need to say.
“I’m not waiting a year. Not now. You know I can’t. I want your permission.”
He looks at me blankly. “Permission for what?”
“You’re fucking with me.”
“Permission to impregnate my daughter?” he asks. “’Cause it looks like you went ahead and did that already.”
“Robert, you are out of your goddamn mind if you think I’m in any fit state to deal with this level of bullshit right now. I’m doing my best to be respectful—”
