I flinched at her voice but didn’t turn around. “Don’t worry about it.”
“But he said he was staying?” She swatted me with a dishtowel.
“Isaiddon’t worry about it.” I brushed past her and stomped back to my room to wallow and work out plans to end Ren and his tattoo parlor.
“I swear, you get more like your father every day.” She sighed, a sad sound.
Guilt ate away at me. I pivoted to go to the kitchen so I wouldn’t make her feel worse.Fuck.What had I been thinking? I dragged out a chair at the table and flopped down into it. “Perhaps I should be more like him.”
“Don’t joke about that!” She followed me to the table and sat down with her plate, already heaped with steaming mac and cheese.
But I was serious. Dad wouldn’t take a direct attack lying down, and I wouldn’t, either. I spun his ring on my finger and licked my lips. Not now that I knew how good KC tasted.
Well, I did sort of win, right? Next time I saw Ren, I’d tell him he needed to move his second-rate, trashy tattoo parlor far away from PD’s.
I squirmed uncomfortably in my chair.
“What’s wrong, hon?” Mom smiled at me.
“Nothing. I just need a shower,” I mumbled.
She hummed in agreement.
What a long, weird,almostgood day.
8
KC
Panic was hot and heavy in my chest, a poison that spread and infected every molecule it touched. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, and my hands trembled as I stared down at them. For a freaky second, it felt as if they belonged to someone else.
I groaned and fell back on my bed, scrubbing my palms over my face. How did this happen? I’d gone over to Oli’s house to give him a lift home and maybe smell food I wasn’t allowed to eat. Not get a blowjob from him.
I’d kissed him.
Gotten naked for him.
Put my dick in his mouth.
Fear flared and expanded behind my rib cage. I slammed the heel of my hand against my sternum. Oli wasn’t a random guy. He was practically Barber’s son. Barber loved him and took care of him. I’d basically used him as a hole, then run like my ass was on fire. I’d seen the devastated look he’d given me as I’d bolted. What kind of person was I?
Not this.
Neverthis.
“KC, are you home?” Pa’s voice echoed around the living room, loud and confident, and my stomach swooped.
Gathering the energy to use my voice, I took a deep breath. “Yeah, Pa. In my room. Relaxing.”
A few seconds later, the door opened, and Pa stuck his head in with a frown. His eyebrows furrowed and his lips pursed in a suspicious pout. “Relaxing?”
Shit. Yeah, that sounded stupid coming from me. I hadn’t done anything close to relaxing since I’d started college. That was one of the many things Pa had nagged me about. He’d worried I was pushing myself too hard, notrestingenough. He always said you couldn’t be in top form physically if you were constantly pushing yourself to the limit.
“What happened?” he asked bluntly, concern etched into the slim features of his face. He shoved open the door and crossed his arms. He scanned my bedroom, searching, and I suspected he was checking to see if anything—oranyone—was the purpose of my break in routine. “Do you have someone in here?”
I groaned and sat up, ignoring my pounding heart. “Pa.”
He held up his palms, a smile quirking the corners of his lips. “I’m not worried. I’ve given you the sex talk and made sure you’re safe.”
