“I believe you, but that’s not really what this is about, is it?” Gunnar wasn’t naïve enough to believe fifteen- and seventeen-year-old’s weren’t making out, and much more, every day. But when it was his daughter doing it, he couldn’t deal. He still thought of her as his little girl, and probably always would. “This is about you two getting in over your head, not just physically, emotionally too. You know this isn’t the time for that, Nick. You’re probably heading off to college soon, right?”
“Hopefully.”
“Good.” One less thing to worry about. “So, why start something with Keegan if you’re not even going to be here to see it through?”
Nick raised a shoulder. “No offense, Mr. Williams, but—”
“Gunnar.”
He blushed. “Uh, no offense, Gunnar, but at our age, it’s tough to think past tomorrow, ya know what I mean?”
“No.” He looked him in the eye. “You know why? ’Cause when I was your age, I wasn’t thinking about what college I was going to go to on my daddy’s dime. Hell, I didn’t even know who my daddy was. I was thinking about how I was going to scrounge up enough money for my next meal. I was thinking about which one of my friends might let me crash on their couch, or how I was going to get a job and not get kicked out of school.”
“Sorry,” Nick said, leaning against the porch post. “I didn’t mean—”
“Hey, it’s okay. I get it.” He raised his hand. “You don’t have those problems, and I’m glad you don’t. But you’re going to have even bigger problems if you don’t think before you act, kid. Tell me something.” He waited until Nick looked at him before he asked, “You think things would have gone any further if Gianna and I hadn’t walked in when we did?”
Nick looked like he was hoping he’d fall through the porch as he muttered, “I don’t know what would’ve happened.”
“Oh yeah? You got a condom?”
“Jesus.” He swiped a hand over his mouth. “No. I mean, I don’t think things would’ve gonethatfar.”
“Then you’ve never been with a girl?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“So you have.” Which meant he was probably hoping it would happen again. Withhisdaughter. Gunnar tried to remind himself he was just a teenage boy doing what teenage boys do, but when he thought about his daughter, who he tried so hard to protect, making a split-second decision that could ruin her entire life, he saw red.
“Look, I don’t think you’re a bad guy.” Had it not been for Gianna’s relationship with Sage and Wes, he probably would have come down a lot harder on him. But he had to remind himself he wasn’t in L.A. anymore, and in small towns, everyone knew everyone else’s business. “I just think you’re too old and experienced for my daughter. When the time is right, which hopefully won’t be for a while if I have anything to say about it, she needs to find someone her own age.”
Nick looked at Gunnar a long time, but remained silent.
“You obviously want to say something to me,” Gunnar said finally. “So, just say it.”
“You don’t know how I feel about her. And you don’t know that some guy her own age would take better care of her than I could.”
Gunnar stared at him, a little stunned to be challenged, as he waited for Nick to plead his case.
“Just because we’re young, you think we’re too dumb to know what we want. The same thing happened to my parents,” he said, sounding bitter. “My parents gave me up for adoption just ’cause my grandparents told them they could never make it. But they did make it. They’re married now and successful and—”
“Nick, what the hell are you saying, that you’re in love with my daughter?”
He squared his shoulders, looking Gunnar in the eye, though he could tell he was terrified. “Yeah, I guess I am.”
“You guess?” Gunnar couldn’t even call him to task because he’d already shown more courage than Gunnar himself had throughout his entire relationship with Gianna. He’d found the guts to express his feelings. “You don’t sound too sure of yourself.”
“I just know that I’ve never felt like this before,” he said, linking his hands behind his neck as he turned in a slow circle. “Sure, I’ve been with girls before, had girlfriends, but Keegan’s different. She’s amazing, man.”
Gunnar had to smirk and he held his hand over his face to hide it. Suddenly, he wasn’t talking to him like his girlfriend’s scary father anymore. He was talking to him like he was one of the guys, and Gunnar realized maybe his daughter could do worse than Nick.
“You’re right. She is pretty amazing.” At least Nick realized that.
“When I first came here to live with my parents, I wasn’t so crazy about it either. Not that I was from L.A. or anything, but still, I missed my friends and teammates and school. And my adoptive parents. I missed them too.”
Gunnar suddenly realized Nick hadn’t had it as easy as he’d assumed. “You said something about your adoptive parents? What happened to them?”
“Well, my dad died.”
