God, I wish I could stop being so fucking difficult. I wish that I could make these life changing decisions so easily, but I have to be sure. It’s my first day off in over a week, and I plan on actually taking care of myself. Maybe I’ll get a haircut and a manicure.
When my doorbell rings, my heart sinks in my chest.
My immediate thought is it’s Alexi. He told me one week, and it’s been eight days. But when I open the door, it’s far worse.
My dad stands at my stoop with a disapproving scowl on his face. He’s in his early sixties, though you wouldn’t be able to tell. The man is an all overbearing Alpha. He still has a full head of hair—that he colors. It’s dark like mine, and I can see a few grays scattered around his temples. While I’m the spitting image of him, when I look at him, all I feel is dread.
The only thing I feel from my father is his dissatisfaction with me. I’m looking at the reason why I never feel good enough. I wish I was brave enough to slam the door in his face, but I could never. Technically, it is his house anyway.
“Well, Piper, are you going to invite us in?”
I look to his left, and his girlfriend Tess is there. She’s a Beta and kind enough, but I have no idea what she sees in my father besides his money. Personally, I don’t think there's enough money in the world for anyone to put up with his ass.
“Of course, come on in.”
“Hi, Piper.” Tess waves at me. She’s closer to my age than she is to my dad’s. I give her about three more months. Dad’s girlfriends usually only have a life cycle of about a year and a half until he gets bored or she gets too old, in his eyes.
My dad looks around the townhouse with a sneer on his face. It feels like he’s making a list in his head of everything he disapproves of or thinks is tacky.
“I didn’t realize you were in town,” I say, breaking the silence first.
“Peter has a conference in New York, so we thought we would swing by and say hi,” Tess says cheerfully. My father looks down at her like she’s an idiot. Her expiration date dwindles down every time she speaks, the poor thing.
“Oh, that's great. I just wish I would have known you were coming.”
“I had assumed you’d be working,” my dad says. Ah, that makes more sense. He could just text me and say he attempted to stop by. Then he would be able to complain about how I wasn’t around to see him. Nothing I do is ever good enough.
“Right, it’s actually my day off.”
“Then we should get dinner,” Tess says. My dad glares at her. Oh, yeah, the poor girl is like expired milk at this point.
I swallow and look at my dad. “I could order in, or we could go somewhere.”
“What would be faster?” he says, and I contain every ounce of frustration coursing through me.
“There’s a pho place really close, and they’re fast. I can go and pick it up.”
“Very well,” my dad says, sitting on my couch and turning on the TV. Tess looks around like she doesn’t know what to do with herself before sitting down next to him.
They let me know what they want, though I know my dad will complain about the meal in some fashion as I call and place it.
“I’ll be right back,” I say. I barely even get a head nod or a grunt of approval before I leave the house.
Some fucking day off.
I treat the walk to pho like it’s a death march. Diep looks surprised to see me here on a Friday but is friendly as always as she hands me my order. I might walk slower than necessary on my way home. The longer it takes me to get the food in, the quicker he’ll want to eat and get the hell out of here. The sooner he leaves, the sooner I can breathe again.
I open the gate to my walkway when I hear my name being shouted, and I turn to my left to see a smirking Alexi.
“Fuck,” I mutter, and he picks up his strides to meet me as I’m fumbling with my bag to open the door.
“Piper, it’s been a week.”
I sigh and look up at him, but he doesn’t look pissed at least.
“You really like me?” I ask him, a plan in motion.
“I do,” he says with a smile.
