“I don’t share and I won’t be shared.Does that answer your question?”
I nod.
“You done being mad now?”
I nod again.
He scrutinizes my expression and then shakes his head and chuckles.“Brant always said you were stubborn as all hell,” he mutters, tucking me back up against his chest.“Not like he could talk since he was stubborn as shit.But he loved to bitch about how recalcitrant you were.”
I smile at that.He did like to complain about me being stubborn.As if I didn’t get it from him.He was as hard-headed as they come.No one told him no or got in his way when he wanted something.He’d give you the shirt off his back, but if pushed far enough, he’d dig in his heels out of sheer spite.
He’d be furious if he knew about me and Rhys.I sigh sadly, deflating like a balloon at the thought.Guilt pricks at me, but I push it away.It’s too late to take it back now.I’m not even sure I would if I could.My dad was my hero, but he’s gone.No amount of wishing will change that or bring him back.But Rhys and I are still here.And we have to pick up the pieces the best we can.Maybe he wouldn’t approve of us being together.But I know he would want us to be happy.Rhys makes me happy.Somehow, that has to be enough.It’s all I have to offer because I can’t live my life for him.I have to live it for me.
I don’t want to end up like Marnie, angry at the world and pushing everyone away.If I don’t find a way to make peace with my dad’s death, that’s exactly how I’ll end up.I have so much anger inside me over it, so many unanswered questions.But Rhys grounds me.He brings me comfort and happiness.With him, I finally feel like I’m living again.
It has to be enough.
“What are you thinking about, songbird?”Rhys asks.
“Marnie.My dad.”I sigh, swirling my hand through the water.“You never did tell me what happened with her the other day.”
“We talked.We came to an agreement.The end.”
I snort, pretty sure he’s editing out a whole lot.“Is she doing okay?Does she look…happy?”
“She’s Marnie,” he says.“She looks beautiful.Your dad would love to see her carrying his kid.”
“Yeah,” I whisper.
“She claimed she canceled your cards to help you,” he says after a minute.“In her mind, maybe she actually thinks that.Who the fuck knows with her?”
“She was right.”
He grunts.
“She was,” I say softly.
“She wasn’t right about the tuition.She said you lied about that.”
“I did not!”I gasp.
“I know.”
“I don’t understand her.What did I ever do to her to make her hate me so much?”I scowl at the water, genuinely perplexed.“I’ve never been anything less than nice to her.”
“You exist, songbird,” he says, rubbing my back.“That’s enough for her.”
I crane my head back to look at him, surprised by the venom in his voice.“You don’t like her, do you?”
“Nope,” he says without hesitation.
“Why not?”
“She hurt you.”
He’s not lying, but he’s not telling me the whole truth either.It’s another secret.I see it in his eyes.The silent acknowledgment that this goes deeper, that there are entire volumes he isn’t saying.That I’m missing entire chapters of subtext.That worries me.
What is he hiding?
