"No. That's not?—"
"That's exactly what you did. You took away my ability to make my own choices about my own body. You—" My voice breaks. "You're no different than Thad."
"Don't say that." His voice is fierce, his eyes darkening angrily. "Don't compare me to him. I'm nothing like him."
"Aren't you? You're both trying to control me. You're both trying to take away my choices. The only difference is that you'redoing it because you claim to feel something for me, and he's doing it because he thinks he owns me."
"It's not the same…” His voice is pleading now, begging for me to understand, but I’m too angry, so angry that I start to cry, despite how badly I want to keep from humiliating myself any further.
"It is the same! Don't you see? You're both—" I stop, tears streaming down my face now. "You're both trying to trap me. To keep me from having any agency over my own life."
"I'm trying to keep you with me. That's all. I'm trying to make sure you don't leave."
I see the moment he hears his own words, when it strikes him what he’s doing. His face crumples, his entire body folding in as he approaches me, hands held out. I back up, and he stops.
“I’m sorry.” He almost gasps the words. “Fuck… I fucked up. I’m sorry. I don’t… I’m not used to this. To caring about someone. Wanting something I might not be able to have. I feel insane, Savannah, and I know…”
He breathes in heavily, as if he’s on the verge of having a panic attack.
“You should go.” I feel guilty saying it, because looking at him, he’s coming apart at the seams. But what he did…
He looks stricken. "Savannah, please. I know I fucked up. I know what I did was wrong. But you have to understand—I love you. I'm in love with you. And the thought of losing you, of you going back to him, of you?—"
“Love?” I whisper the word, staring at him wide-eyed. “This is dangerous, Romeo. This is obsessive…”
“I know.” His voice is strangled. “You’re fucking killing me, Savannah. I can’t stop. I know I’m fucking this up, but I can’t?—”
My phone rings. We both freeze, staring at it as it buzzes on the coffee table.
Dadappears on the screen as it vibrates against the glass.
"Don't answer it," Romeo whispers. His voice is pleading. “Talk to me, Savannah?—”
"I have to. If I don't, he'll just keep calling."
"Savannah—"
"We're done, Romeo. This conversation is over. Just… go."
I grab my phone and head for the door before he can fight me on leaving my own dorm, my heart pounding, my hands shaking. I need to put space between us while he figures out how to fucking listen.
"Savannah, wait?—"
But I'm already answering the call as I step into the hallway. "Hi, Daddy," I say, trying to keep my voice steady even though I'm falling apart.
"Savannah." His voice is cold and angry, and my stomach drops to my toes. "We need to talk. Now."
In that moment, I know, with absolute certainty, that everything is about to get so much worse.
14
SAVANNAH
Idon’t even see Romeo leave my dorm. I’m too focused on the sound of my father’s voice as he says my name, the anger in it that tells me that everything is about to get so much worse.
"Savannah Marie Beauregard." His voice is ice. Pure, cold fury wrapped in the veneer of Southern civility. "I'm going to ask you a question, and I expect an honest answer."
My hands are shaking, but I try to keep my voice steady. "Yes, sir."
