Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116232 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 581(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
“What?” His face contorted as he refused to accept what I was telling him. “No, Charlotte. He tried to take advantage of you.”
I shook my head. “No, Dad, please listen to me. He wasn’t doing that at all.” It wasn’t enough to convince him, so I had no other choice. I sucked in a deep breath. “Noah’s my boyfriend.”
As my father tried to grapple with that information, it was like it shut down his brain. His posture was stiff, and his expression was unreadable. My gaze darted to Noah, who stood several feet away, but it might as well have been miles. He looked like he might throw up, or bolt, or maybe do one, followed immediately by the other.
“Him?” My father’s voice was full of horror. “No.”
I turned so I was facing my dad, and it came from me in a rush. “I’m sorry we kept it from you.”
But his furious gaze went over my head and to the man behind me. “No,” he repeated, only this time it contained enough force it pierced my heart. “Absolutely not. Whatever it is you think you two have, it’s over. Done.” His focus returned to me, and I shivered from his icy tone. “You will not see him again, you understand me?”
Everything had spun out of control, and I folded an arm over my stomach, trying to hold myself together. “But . . . but . . .” Hot tears sprang into my eyes, blurring my vision. “But I love him.”
Breath was pulled into Noah’s lungs in a sharp sweep.
Which was surprising to me since I couldn’t seem to find any air at all. I sank my teeth into my bottom lip and risked a glance at him. I both did and didn’t want to know what his reaction was to my sudden declaration.
He wasn’t looking at me, and he wasn’t looking at my father either.
Noah’s guilty gaze was pinned to the floor in front of him, and my heart plummeted to my toes. He did nothing. Said nothing. It was like he thought if he stood still and was quiet enough, maybe we’d forget he was here.
It wasn’t a shock he didn’t feel as strongly about me as I did him, but his total lack of action or defense? That was pretty fucking surprising, not to mention hurtful. I felt abandoned.
On my own.
But I needed to deal with one problem at a time, and the issue with my father took priority.
I was no longer a stranger to seeing disappointment in my dad’s eyes, but the expression he wore now was new. He peered at me like I was a spoiled child throwing a tantrum and he was fed up with it.
“You don’t love him, Charlotte,” he said plainly. “I know you think you do, but you’re young and don’t know any better.” When I opened my mouth to argue, he lifted a hand to cut me off. “I’ve been here before with you telling me you love a man who’s much too old for you. Don’t bother telling me ‘this time it’s different.’ I don’t want to hear it.”
Oh, my God. It wasn’t fair to compare Noah to Zach in any way, but that was all my dad saw right now.
“When you came back, I had only one rule.” Frustration spilled from my father. “And, goddamn it, you couldn’t even follow that.”
His disappointment was crushing, and I wanted to wilt beneath the weight of it. My feet ached to move, to run away and not have to deal with it. In a moment of weakness, my gaze flitted to the door.
“That’s right, run away,” Zach taunted in my head. “It’s what you’re good at.”
I pulled my shoulders back and lifted my chin, standing my ground. “I know. I’m sorry.”
Could he see how badly I meant it? How much lying and sneaking around had made me feel like shit? God, I wished I hadn’t been so scared and had talked to Noah, tried to convince him that we needed to tell my parents. At least then my father wouldn’t have found out in the worst possible way.
I pictured Preston, wearing a smug look as he reminded me that he’d tried to warn me.
“I am so tired of giving you chances, only for you to disappoint me time and time again.” The weary expression on my father’s face hardened. “You will end this, come home right now, and maybe—maybe—we can work through this.” He glared at the other man, like it was all his fault. “But if you choose him over your family . . .” He sighed. “Then, Charlotte, I guess we’re really done this time.”
Suddenly, I was back in my college apartment, standing between Zach and my father. I’d screwed up then, and my father had offered me a lifeline, but I’d been too stubborn and embarrassed to accept it. Unwilling to face consequences. But I wasn’t that same girl now, and—