Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155405 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 777(@200wpm)___ 622(@250wpm)___ 518(@300wpm)
“I… don’t want to move back home. I mean, some part of me does, but we can’t. If we have to move out after a single week of living here, I think that would be catastrophic. I don’t know how easy it would be to ever get her back here.”
Hayden nods, his expression grim. “Yes, that was my thought as well. That’s very early to fail. Makes the whole thing seem like it was a bad idea—and not one you’d reconsider later.”
To be fair, it was.
I don’t say that.
Instead, I clear my throat and consider how to approach the rest.
He helps me along by asking a question to guide me. “How are things with Landon?”
“He’s challenging,” I say, quite diplomatically, if I do say so myself.
“Yes,” Hayden agrees dryly. “But has he done anything to make you feel unsafe?”
“His existence makes me feel unsafe,” I say, more honest than I expected to be with his father. “But I’m managing it.”
“Did he do anything to upset you at the party last night?”
I drop my gaze, my heart kicking up a few speeds. Hayden may be requesting honesty, but I don’t see how I could be that honest. There are so many layers to it. Now, it’s not even as simple as, “yeah, the jerk pounces on me every chance he gets so I have to do an increasingly difficult sequence of diligence to ensure he never gets me alone—and it has only been one week.”
Even if he only knew Landon kissed me last night, wouldn’t he be extremely weirded out? I mean, he is marrying my mother. I can’t physically bring myself to speak the word, but if all goes according to plan, Landon will become my stepbrother at the end of all this.
This is so fucked up.
I haven’t allowed myself to think it that clearly before, and I don’t like it.
But it is what I signed up for, and it’s inevitable if Mom and Hayden are going to be married.
Sighing, I say, “Wherefore art thou Hayden Atwater?”
His lips tug up. “I’m afraid a rose by any other name would still be Landon’s father. The party,” he nudges.
I don’t want to talk about the party. I’m tired just thinking about it, and there’s no way to admit what happened even under Hayden’s veil of confidence. Something like that he would have to tell my mom, jokes about attorney-client privilege aside.
“He had a few drinks at the party,” I admit reluctantly, my cheeks instantly heating with the sense of being a total narc. “Please don’t tell him I told you that. You can’t punish him. I know he’s not allowed,” I add quickly, “but if he thinks I’m tattling to you, that will just make things worse for me.”
Hayden nods his understanding. “I assumed as much when Malek texted that he’d just bring him home in the morning.”
“Obviously, when he drinks, he turns into red kryptonite Clark and does dumb shit, so he did some dumb shit, but I’d prefer not to get into the specifics. The point is… yes, last night was a bit rough.”
His head continues to nod almost absently, his gaze fixed on a spot across the room as he considers it. “Your mom could sense it. It was the most peculiar thing. She wasn’t there, she had no reason to believe…”
I nod, too. “She’s been really dialed in since the break-in. I think it’s her guilt for missing all the calls and texts. She feels like she should have sensed something was wrong and gotten there earlier, but she was distracted.”
“By me,” he says grimly.
“Yes.”
Hayden sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. After a moment, he says, “Parker, I understand your desire to shield your mother. I know what happened over the summer was very traumatizing for both of you. But I’m going to be as clear as I can be: if anything like that happens to you again, under my roof, your mother will never forgive me.”
I nod grimly, briefly glancing at my lap before returning my gaze to him. “I know. I’m doing my best here. I’m on your team, I’m just… Your son isn’t,” I say honestly. “He’s working against me every step of the way.”
“Landon and I have a complicated relationship. Ever since his mother died…” He trails off, then restarts and summarizes in a firm way that urges not to pry. “I probably could have handled it better.”
I shrug one shoulder with awkward sympathy. “It’s a difficult situation to navigate. I’m sure you never thought you would have to handle something like that when he was so young.”
“No. And a loss like that isn’t something I intend to endure again in my lifetime, so hopefully it’s nothing I have to muddle my way through again. But it happened, the damage is done. Obviously, it runs very deep, and to be honest,” he sighs, “I don’t have a single clue how to fix it. He’s so angry, so closed off. He doesn’t want to repair the relationship, and he certainly doesn’t want me to marry your mother. Historically, when Landon doesn’t want something, there isn’t any length he’ll avoid if it means getting his way. Historically, I don’t let things get in my way, but…”