“Thanks, Brandy,” I said, meaning it. “Hey. Maybe we should hang out sometime. I may not be the best at friend stuff, but…”
“Sure. We’ll have to plan something sometime.”
“Scarlett?”
“She doesn’t like men, sir,” Brandy said, heat to her voice.
“That may be,” Caesar drawled, “but I’d still like a moment with my daughter.”
“Excuse me?” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “Parents don’t come to these things, so you may want to go now.”
“Brandy,” I sighed with my eyes closed. When I opened them, it must have clicked. “It’s fine.”
“The hell it is,” she hissed.
“Brandy,” I repeated, getting her attention. “I’ll be fine.”
She glanced at me, then him, then back to me. She didn’t like it. I could see her concern, but in the end she gave a nod and left me alone with a man I didn’t know what to do about.
“I like what you did with your hair,” Caesar said, stuffing his hands in his front pockets.
I ignored that, even though I did like it.
“You seemed happy today,” he mused, looking around him at the other people. “Well, until you knew I was here.”
“So you were following me?”
“I can explain,” he began.
“No,” I hissed. “You weren’t to be back here. All of this,” I waved my hand around the room, “was to be on my terms. I came here to find my footing in life. And I can’t do that when you keep popping up. Right now, Alan doesn’t even scare me. What scares me is that I can’t figure out who I am with everyone breathing down my back.”
He stepped a foot closer. “I’m here for my daughter. I’m trying here. God, am I ever. But you fucking won’t let me in. I just want some sort of relationship with you. You have one with just about everyone else. Hell, I knew Dominic came to see you.”
“How—"
“He needs more work at being subtle. I allowed him to come see you, Scarlett. Your mom even has more of a relationship than I do with you. You can’t even look at me. I want that to change.”
“It’s not going to. Ever,” I said, turning my back on him.
“Scarlett.” The one word was filled with command, one I couldn’t very well refuse.
“What?” I hissed over my shoulder. My hands clenched at my sides.
“Just give me one day. That’s all I’m asking. One day.”
“One day for what?”
“To prove to you how much I care about you.”
“No.”
“I’m not going to leave until you do,” he warned.
I didn’t bother to answer. I walked away, feeling his disappointment seep into me once more.
“You okay?” Sawyer asked when I reached her.
“Peachy.”
