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“Would you like to explain why you thought it was a good idea to interfere with my relationship?” Panther asked.
“Interfere?”
“Yes. Telling Solo to cut me off? Why would you do that?”
His father took the artfully folded napkin from his plate, snapped it straight, and laid it on his lap. “Surely you know better than to come into my house with accusations you can’t back up.”
“So you’re going to lie to my face and say you didn’t tell Solo to leave me alone? Seriously?”
“I never said such a thing. And certainly not in those terms.”
“That’s bullshit,” Panther said, his skin flushing an angry crimson. “At least be honest about what you’ve done. About what you say.”
“I believe my words to Mateo were that he should do the right thing.” Captain Hughes turned his penetrating stare on me. “Interesting that you interpreted what I said as an opportunity to break things off with my son.”
What…the fuck.
I wasn’t often at a loss for words. “Excuse me?”
“If I remember correctly, and I always do, I asked you a series of questions you couldn’t answer about the future of your relationship with Grant. I told you this isn’t what I would’ve wanted for my son—”
“Which is none of your business,” Panther interjected, but his father continued.
“—and that I expected you would have his best interest at heart—”
“You told me to ‘do the right thing,’” I said, getting annoyed now.
Captain Hughes nodded. “I did. But not once did I tell you what that was.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but what he’d said struck me right in the chest. Had I really jumped to the conclusion that he hated me and wanted me to end things with Panther before graduation? I mean, it had definitely read that way to me at the time, and I never had reason to think otherwise. Obviously he wasn’t a fan of mine. He’d definitely said the thing about not wanting this for his son, but I’d assumed the “this” in question referred to my relationship with Panther, not anything else. What else could he have meant? Of course I’d take it the way I had.
I thought back, replaying our run-in in my head, and trying to pinpoint when he’d alluded to breaking things off.
Had he actually ever said it?
The roar of blood in my ears was all I could hear as my heart pounded faster, sweat beading on my brow.
No. No way. It was impossible that I’d read the whole thing wrong, that I’d formed an assumption that wasn’t true. Right?
Oh, Jesus Christ.
I looked at Panther and got out a single word: “Fuck.”
“What?” Panther asked, reaching for my hand. “Tell me.”
My mouth was suddenly dry, and I reached for my water only to realize Panther’s mom hadn’t returned with the drinks. A mix of emotions roiled inside me, and I wasn’t sure which was going to come out first. I turned toward Captain Hughes and said, “But you hate me.”
“Hate is a strong word. I don’t hate anyone.”
“You severely dislike me, then. You don’t think I’m good enough for your son.”
Captain Hughes inclined his head. “When you’re a parent, you’ll realize no one on earth is good enough for your child.”
“Especially me, though. That’s what you meant when you said you wouldn’t have chosen this for Grant. You meant us together.”
“That wasn’t a question.”
I set my jaw. “And that wasn’t an answer. Sir.”
The tension in the room ratcheted up a notch as we stared at each other, Panther’s head going back and forth between us like he was wondering whom he’d have to hold back first. It wouldn’t go that far—I did have some modicum of respect for his father’s rank, after all—but I wanted him to clarify what he’d meant.
Seconds felt like hours ticking by, and then finally Captain Hughes sighed. “There’s something the both of you need to understand. Wanting the best for your child is not a crime. Life is difficult, our jobs are dangerous, and adding something that would’ve had you banished from the military only a short while ago…makes me nervous. I’m sure your parents would’ve agreed with me, Mateo, and while perhaps they would’ve been quicker to accept your choices, they weren’t in our line of work and they wouldn’t fully understand the repercussions. Just like the two of you wouldn’t, having never experienced the backlash I saw firsthand. I know you think I disapprove of the two of you together, but that’s simply not true.”
Any second now, the enormity of what he was saying would kick in and my brain would explode.
Any second now…
“Then…” Yep, there it goes. Brain officially short-circuiting. “I don’t understand. What was that day in the store all about? Because, yeah, you may not have come right out and said it, but you led me to believe one thing, when…what? You meant another?”
