And after a certain amount of time, that led to all of my prior boyfriends tossing me aside.
By now, it had become far more of a problem. Almost any guy who met Dad got scared.
Understandable. Dad could be scary.
One ex-boyfriend said I was a tease. I wasn’t, but after the way Rafferty shoved me aside, I’d shattered. I had a very difficult time trusting men, and an even harder time deciding if the timing was right. I’d dated a guy for two months, thought I was ready to take the next step with him, but he ended it because I hadn’t put out yet.
Yeah. That left a bitter taste in my mouth.
I didn’t want perfection. The first time had a reputation for hurting - and sucking, but not the good kind.
Then I moved to Gainesville, and I was too busy for much more than school, work, and sleep. Between semesters, if I went to Riot MC parties, every man there knew Dad… which made me as untouchable as Simone, the president’s daughter.
It wasn’t easy being the daughter of the Sergeant-at-Arms. Mom always said Dad had the friendliest eyes she’d ever seen, but to teenagers, Dad’s eyes were deceptive because with his size and gruff, rumbly voice, he was straight-up scary.
Ines encouraged me to make time for the occasional party, which was how Porter and I met. He was only the fourth guy to meet Dad. Porter had sensed something was different about me, but after seeing Dad in his cut, on his maroon Harley… a confused look had crossed Porter’s face. Rather than talk to me about his confusion, he kept quiet. I would learn a few hours later, he’d made assumptions. Thewrongassumptions.
I swallowed as much of my pride as I could and looked out the passenger window. “We hadn’t gone there, Tee. I had wanted to, but we both had roommates, and I’m a little…” I shook my head not wanting to overshare or admit to my inexperience. “Anyway, he made the assumption that a biker’s daughter had to be easy and I’d been holding out on him for nothing.”
Slowly, I turned my head to sneak a glance at him. Rafferty looked about as uncomfortable as I felt. The truck filled with the sound of his sharp inhale. “Why in the hell were you planning to move in with him?”
I shook my head. “That was all his plan. It so happened that my lease was expiring around the same time as his. He swung by to take me out one afternoon, and pulled a bait-and-switch. Rather than go bowling, we went apartment hunting. Nobody would have known if your sister hadn’t called me and interrupted a leasing agent telling us about a one-bedroom luxury unit.”
That earned me his side-eye. “A luxury apartment? Really, Lex?”
I held up a finger. “His idea, not mine. That was one of the first signs that he and I might not be totally compatible. He wasn’t realistic about money. Then he judged me for being a biker’s daughter, and we went our separate ways.”
He stayed quiet.
I grabbed the bag of pistachios, opened it, poured a couple in my hand, and held them up to him.
“No, thanks. You never told Cal about this?”
I aimed a serious look at him. “He doesn’t need to know.” I tucked the bag of nuts into my purse. “It’s over.”
Nope.NowI had Rafferty’s side-eye. “Heoughta be ‘over’.”
My eyes went wide as I stared at him. “You don’t mean that.”
He arched both brows. “How many times did you tell him to stop when you were in the car today?”
“I didn’t keep track.”
“Once is all it takes, and you know it's true because we were both there whenmymom gave us that hella awkward sex talk.”
My lips trembled as I held back my laughter.
“Shit’s not funny, Alexandra.”
A strangled half-chuckle escaped when I spoke. “It actually is, if you remember half of what Aunt Trixie said to us and how she said it.”
Rafferty shook his head.
Suddenly, he stared at me. Reading me like he always did. “Did he touch you?”
Ireallydidn’t want to share that with him. “My head hurts. Can we go now?”
It was like I didn’t speak.
