Dad steps behind Mom and puts his hand on her shoulder in reassurance. His eyes cut to me. “We know she’s the reason you got arrested.”
Color drains from my face.
My mind goes entirely blank.
Reaching behind me, I hold the marble counter with a firm grip to steady myself.
For fuck’s sake. My parents were the last people I wanted to know.
The non-serious look in his eyes tells me that he isn’t lying. He knows what happened. Somehow, he has the details.
But how?
With a heavy gulp, I try to wet my parched throat.
“What the fuck do you mean?” My tone is low and dark as it slices through the veil of tension suspended between us.
“She is the reason?—”
“You’re wrong. She isnotthe reason.” I grit out.
The instinct to protect her comes naturally. My body reacts before my mind and heart can decide.
“You don’t need to lie to us.”
“I’m not.”
Dad’s eyes soften for a second. “Why don’t you tell us what isreallygoing on?”
“We know you’re in trouble,” Mom chirps in.
There is a lot of ‘we’ going on as if they have talked about me for long hours, debating arguments to understand why I was locked up in a cell for beating up a stranger. Almost as if they care about me.
Mom moves closer to me. “We can help you.”
I scoff. “I don’t need your help.”
Her face crumples, the glimmer of light vanishing from her eyes.
Looking at Dad, I say, “And nothing is going on. Whoever gave you this information, they are fucking wrong.”
Dad sighs heavily. “Then why don’tyoutell us what happened?”
“I beat up a man because he pissed me off,” I reply. At least, that bit isn’t a lie. Hope’s dad made me so angry that I didn’t hesitate to climb over him and hit him like a madman. I regret that I didn’t do some serious damage. Like break his hand or fingers so that he couldn’t touch my girlfriend ever again. Maybe I should have hurt his tongue so that he wouldn’t spew bullshit to her that makes her feel small and worthless. Because his fucking words hurt her more than his hits ever did.
Dad arches an eyebrow. “A man who is the father of your girlfriend.”
My blood goes icily cold, the chills spreading in every corner of my body.
Tension wraps around my body like steel chains, tightening with every rugged, fast breath that I inhale. My muscles achebecause of how tightly wound up they are, my jaw locked in its place, and the centre of my chest burns with rage.
My fists shake, the tremors impossible to control. “What did you say?”
His lips press together. “We know what happened, son.”
Anger flares through me as I push off the counter and straighten. “You don’t know anything.”
He nods. “I did some research and found out everything.”
