“It makes sense now why you were so protective over him,” Isaac says with a slow, pained sigh. “I swear I never hurt him, Keaton.”
“And I still don’t fucking believe you,” my dad snaps.
“Stop!” My shout echoes around the entryway. “I’mthe one who gets to be pissed right now! Why do you think Isaac hurt him?”
My dad gives Isaac another glare before looking back at me. “Dylan’s mother passed away when he was seventeen. I offered him a job at my firm, but I never had the guts to tell him the truth. Still, I tried to be there for him as much as I could. Five years ago, he came to me practically in pieces, terrified, telling me he had to get out of town. He wouldn’t tell me why, but there were plenty of rumors about his relationship with Professor Kendall.” He cuts his eyes at Isaac again, a kind of slice that makes his hatred palpable. “I helped him leave, and I haven’t heard from him since.”
I can tell how much that kills him, but the fact he blames Isaac for it without any kind of proof makes me angry.
“So, what? You followed me here just as an excuse to attack him?”
“He attacked me first.”
“What?”
Isaac’s eyes close, and he bows his head. While I can tell my dad feels guilty, I’d describe the feeling that Isaac is giving away as shame. Similar, but somehow different.
My dad crosses his arms over his chest while pinning his gaze on Isaac. “Your turn.”
When Isaac’s eyes open and he scowls at my dad, I feel like I should be ducking to avoid all the daggers they’re shooting at each other. He looks at me, and his expression softens.
“I went to your father’s office when I couldn’t get a hold of Dylan, to see if maybe he was just working late, and he told me he was gone. I got…angry. I wanted him to tell me where he went.”
“I didn’t know,” my dad says. “He wouldn’t tell me where he was going.”
“And I’ll believe that when you believe me when I say I never fucking hurt him.”
“Alright, that’s enough.” For the first time since walking in on them at each other’s throats, my feet move as I take a few steps toward my dad. “You need to leave.”
His hands fall to his sides, and he shakes his head. “I’m not letting you stay here. Not with him.”
“I’m not a kid, Dad. You lost the right to tell me what to do when you kept a secret like that from me my entire life.”
He sighs, and his entire body seems to deflate. He stares at me for several seconds, clearly wishing he at least had the place to argue but knowing he doesn’t. “You’re right,” he says, and it’s still a strange thing to hear. Turning to Isaac, his eyes turn hard again, and when he speaks, it’s a slow, deep threat. “Hurt him, Isaac, and I swear I will fucking kill you.”
The tone in my dad’s voice is enough to send chills downmyspine. I’ve never heard him make a threat like that to anyone before, but the scariest part is that it sounds like hemeansit.
“My word may not mean much to you, Keaton,” Isaac says, “but I would never hurt Jackson.”
My dad doesn’t seem entirely convinced, but he’s hit a brick wall. Besides, if anything’s going to make me run away, it’s going to be all these secrets he’s been keeping from me.
Opening the door, my dad pauses at the threshold and peers back at me. “I really am sorry, Jackson.”
Even if I wanted to respond to that, he closes the door behind him before I would’ve had the chance. I look over at Isaac to see him lean his head back against the wall he’s still standing against, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling with each slow, deep breath.
“Should I leave too?” I ask, my voice suddenly smaller and more unsure now that my dad is gone.
He opens his eyes, and they find mine. There’s a visceral sadness in them that I’ve never seen there before. A kind of bone-deep exhaustion that comes from years of heartache and secrets.
“Please don’t.”
I take one step toward him, but he’s already moving, closing the distance between us. His arms come around me, strong and trembling, pulling me in until I can feel his heartbeat against my chest. Holding me tight as though he’s afraid I’ll disappear too.
Five years ago, I lostthe man I loved. He left without even saying goodbye, and I don’t know why. I’ve never gotten any closer to figuring out the reason he disappeared without a word. But the thing I’ve refused to say out loud all this time is…
I fear itwasbecause of me.
My arms tighten around Jackson. I’m afraid to let him go, worried the same thing might happen all over again.
