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Nate narrows his eyes. “Not. Even. A little.”
Damn. He knows how to cut deep. Wonder where he got that from. “So, have you…reconsidered things?”
Nate scoffs. “Iknewit. I knew you wouldn’t be able to have just one conversation with me without bringing up the club.”
“Technically, I didn’t.”
“Okay, then.” Nate raises an eyebrow. “What things are you asking if I’ve reconsidered?”
I hold my hands up. “Okay, you got me.”
“Wow. Shocking.”
“I just have to ask. The way we left things, I thought I might never…” I control the tremble at the back of my throat. “I thought I might not see you again.”
Nate won’t look at me. If he did, he might realize I’m a person with feelings, not the monster who gave him that ultimatum three years ago. I’ve changed a lot. I’ve had to. Abigail and Jack can attest.
“I know it hasn’t always been easy having me as a father–”
“Whatever this new tactic you’re using is, it’s fucking manipulative, okay? So, cut this shit out.”
I furrow my brow. “What?”
“This whole, ‘Oh, I’m a good guy, I’ve just made mistakes’ thing. You’re not going to make me feel bad for you.”
“It’s not a tactic. It’s…it’s how I feel.”
Nate’s laugh is cold. “Yeah, okay. I’ll believe that when pigs fly. Everything is a tactic to you, Dad. You do whatever you can to get what you want. Always.”
I’m a shrewd businessman. That would be a compliment coming from anyone else but one of my own children. “Nate, I’m really trying here.”
“You fucking stalked me to the beach and want to talk to me about the club. That’s not trying. It’s fucking sadistic.”
Frustration and rage war inside me.
I’ve been trying so hard to maintain an even temper, but how am I supposed to do that when he’s insulting me at every turn? I want to fix things, but I’m only human. I’m still me. And he’s pushing my buttons. “You can’t speak to me like that.”
“Of course, I can.”
“I’m yourfather.”
“And I’m a grown fucking man!” Nate seethes, blue eyes wild. “If you cared to pay attention, you’d know that. I am trying to live my life, not yours. And you couldn’tstandthat. So, I left. And you couldn’t stand that either, and now I’m back and you can’t standthat,so–”
“I love that you’re back, I just want you to let me in!”
Nate makes a noise of disgust. “As if you’ve earned that.”
“I shouldn’t have to earn it, I’m–”
“Stop using the fact you’re my dad to justifyanything. All you did was fuck someone without a condom.”
“Don’t–” I bite my tongue again. What’s the use? No matter how I try to defend myself, he’ll find a way to discredit me and my feelings. “Nate, I just want to fix things.”
My son stares at me. So much anger in his lithe frame. “I have spent my whole life trying to figure out how to be a man that loves anything. I never had that. Never had a dad who gave a shit–”
“That’s not true.”
“Never had a male father figure at all–”
