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Just once.
Nothing dramatic.
Nothing threatening.
One step.
That was all.
Gerald stopped immediately.
Smartest thing he'd done all week.
The silence stretched.
Neither man looked away.
Dad quietly took the box from my hands.
Then retreated toward the barn.
The coward.
I was absolutely going to tell him later.
Gerald finally looked at me again.
"We need to settle this."
"No, we don't."
"You owe me a conversation."
The words hit like a slap.
Because there it was.
The thing I'd always hated most.
That belief.
That entitlement.
Like my choices didn't matter.
Like my answer didn't count.
Like I owed him something.
My temper snapped.
Fast.
"You know what?"
Gerald blinked.
Apparently, he wasn't expecting that.
