I look at him, eyes pleading.
‘I know you probably think you do, but—’
‘Daddy. I love him. We’re going to find a place together.’
He looks at me and slowly shakes his head. In response, I nod mine.
He fingers the corner of the wooden desk. ‘I was always too nervous to ask you about boyfriends before. You never mentioned anybody, apart from that one fellow in London.’
‘Owen,’ I mumble. ‘But AJ is the first man I’ve been in love with.’
‘This is what I mean. Do you not think you’re going a little too fast?’
‘I’ve known him since high school, Daddy.’
‘And he rides a motorcycle? Is it safe?’
‘He bought me my own helmet. He’s very safe. He takes good care of me.’
‘And are you…’
I look up.
Dad flushes red. ‘Are you, um…’ He clears his throat. ‘Taking precautions?’
Oh god. Heat rushes to my mortified cheeks. The skin on my neck prickles. Was there ever anything more cringeworthy? ‘I’m twenty-three. Not sixteen. I know about the birds and the bees. Ugh. Look, AJ and I are being careful. Don’t worry, Daddy, I’m not going to get pregnant.’
‘Okay. Good. That’s… as long as you’re…Well, it sounds serious, so I’d like to meet him one day. Properly.’
‘I’d like that too. But not here. And just so you know, I know Evelyn would rather we broke up, but even if people find out about it, I’m not breaking up with him. She can go to hell.’
‘Hollie, please.’
‘I don’t like the way she treats you.’
‘I know she can be a little… demanding. She’s in a high-powered job.’
I shake my head. ‘That shouldn’t be a green pass to treat you like dirt. You should start standing up to her a little more, like you did just now.’
He says nothing in response. Just balls up a fist and bounces it off his knee, as though he knows he’ll pay for his own insolence.
There’s another long silence. I can’t be here any longer.
‘Will you drive me home?’ I ask, and he nods his head.
I close the door to the apartment, and for a moment, rest my head against it.
It’s done. It’s out in the open. And that’s what matters, no matter how it went down.
Dad was subdued on the car ride back to Eastvale.
‘I’ll start moving my things out of the apartment,’ I said quietly on our arrival.
He nodded. ‘There’s no hurry,’ he muttered. ‘Get some rest.’
I yawned in response, then squeezed his hand, before getting out of the car.
In my bedroom, I collapse on the bed, face down, and I’m asleep before I know it.
