“You can ignore what you want, when it’s only about you.”Winters poked my chest with a wide, manicured finger.“This affects my daughter.”
“I want to let it blow over too, Daddy,” Avery said from the safety of my hold.
“Well, the story’s spreading.”He frowned at her.“This isn’t some fairy tale.In real life, you have to protect what’s yours.I expect Buckner to step up and protect you from this slander.”
A stir in the crowd marked Winters’ bodyguard heading toward us, his phone in hand.Shit.I dropped my arm off Avery, squeezed her hand in warning, and went for plan B.“You don’t own me, Winters.”I was going to burn all my bridges with this man, but if things worked out, we wouldn’t need them after tonight.“And you don’t own Avery.Neither of us wants to speak out and so we’re not going to.If you don’t like being in the spotlight, you can wash your hands of Avery and let her go.Stop trying to keep her under your thumb.”
Winters folded his arms and glared at me.“Don’t you tell me how to handle my own daughter.”
“She’s twenty-two.She’s a grown adult.If she wants to live with a flawed guy like me, that’s her business.”
“You’re not flawed,” Avery protested.“You’re awesome.”
Winters barked a harsh laugh.“Not flawed?I didn’t raise you to stick your head in the sand, girl.And you, Buckner.Are you saying this accusation was true?”
“What if it was?”The bodyguard had almost reached us.I needed Winters focused on me.“All that matters is if Avery’s fine with what I do.”I glanced at her.“Are you upset with me for anyone I’ve slept with, Aves?”
“No, not at all,” she said firmly.
“So what you think is irrelevant,’ I told Winters.
The bodyguard said, “Mr.Winters—”
“Not now.”Winters focused the full force of his scowl on me.“You, Buckner, are you demanding that my daughter be okay with you sleeping with other men while you’re engaged to her?How dare you!”
“We weren’t engaged yet.”I cocked a hip, trying for an insolent tone.“And even if we were, there’s such a thing as open relationships.”
“No, there aren’t!”he thundered, shrugging off his bodyguard’s “Sir?”Winters stepped up to me, nose to nose.“How dare you disrespect Avery that way?”
I grinned and raised my chin, noting the moment when this six-foot-two middle-aged man realized he was trying to intimidate a six-five football player.“Are you going to stop me?”
He eased back but snarled, “I can and will!This engagement’s off.You’re not welcome around my daughter.Come, Avery.”He made a grab for her arm, but I swung Avery out of his reach.
“Ah, ah, ah,” I taunted him.“Grown woman.Her own choice.”Avery trembled under my hand, but we’d agreed not to back down.
“Avery.Get away from that man,” Winters demanded.
“No,” Avery said, softly but clearly, staring at the floor.“You should stay out of my life.”
“Iwhat?”He stared at her.“You live in my house, you eat my food, I buy the clothes you wear.Even thatridiculousstuff you call art that doesn’t support one tenth of your lifestyle— I pay for all of that.”
“I don’t want you to.”Avery jerked up her gaze to meet his.“I’m sick of you thinking your money owns me.I’m leaving and I’m going to marry the person I love, and it has nothing to do with you.”
“Doesn’t it?”Winters laughed.“You’re a useless girl with a very expensive hobby.What are you going to do without all your tools and toys?Clean his house and mend his clothes?You’ll be crawling back in a month.”
“You forget one thing,” I reminded him.“I made twenty-one million dollars in a single season in the NFL.I played eleven years.If Avery wants to do her art— which, by the way, is not a hobby, but her career— I can easily afford the equipment to help her.”
His huff told me he had forgotten for a moment that he wasn’t the only rich man in this conversation.“You’re a cheater, a man who slept with someone else while dating my daughter.You’re not worth the mud on her shoes.”Winters pushed away the bodyguard’s touch on his arm.“Wait your turn.”He focused on Avery.“If you marry this man, I’ll disown you.”
I asked, “Avery, have you ever been upset about anyone I dated?”
A little smile brightened her eyes, despite everything.“No, Miles, not once.”
“You!”Winters stared at her.“What kind of woman are you?You’d let him walk all over you?”
Avery shook her head and straightened her shoulders.“You want to know what kind of woman I am?You really want to know?”She glanced around at the crowd that had gathered, most of them clearly enjoying the drama in this boring venue, but when she turned back to her father, her chin was up.I squeezed her shoulder, then let go.This was Avery’s show.
“The kind of woman I am is a lesbian.The person I’m marrying is another woman.Miles is great, but he’s just here to give me support.I don’t care who he fucks…” She mouthed the word a second time, and I wondered if that was the first time she’d said it in front of her father.“I don’t care, because what Miles does with his dick has zero to do with me.”
