Page 19 of Scarlett and the Kiss Thief

“Oh you mean like that call me Daddy comment?” he said with a laugh. “That was funny.”

“It wasn’t funny. It was gross. And what would mom think?”

“She’d laugh too. She knows my heart belongs with her.” He spotted Sophie in the hallway. “Do you need a ride home, Soph?” my dad asked.

“Nope.” She shuddered, holding back another gag and then ran into the bathroom.

“Are you sure she’s okay? Should I call her dad?”

“No, she’s fine. She’s just having trouble swallowing some news.”Ew. Why did I word it that way?

My dad shrugged. “Well, this is going to be a fun year,” he said as we made our way out of Empire High.

I froze in my tracks. “Wait, you said you only took this job for a year. Where are you teaching next year?”

“We’ll see what happens.” He smiled down at me.

Hell no.“You can’t follow me to college, Dad.”

“Who said anything about following you to college? That would be very controlling of me. And I’m certainly not controlling.”

He was the definition of controlling. Why else would he be here?

“Come on. Your mom has ice cream waiting for us. She had a feeling you’d need it after my surprise. I don’t know why.”

I laughed. Because there was nothing else I could do. There was no way my dad was going to quit teaching here. If anything, my stupid outfit had solidified his need to insert himself into my life. And the fact that both Axel and Jacob had been staring at me during class. Had they really been? Or was my dad just overreacting?

“This is going to be the best year ever,” my dad said as he opened up the car door for me.

As I climbed in, my phone buzzed.

I pulled it out and saw a text from Sophie: “This is going to be the worst year ever. Your dad is totally going to cock block me with Mr. Halifax, isn’t he?”

I shook my head. It was definitely going to be either the best or worst year ever. I just didn’t know which one yet. But I didn’t think my dad was going to interfere in Sophie’s love life. I looked down at Axel’s varsity jacket. He was 100% going to interfere in mine.

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