“I have nothing to give you. Nothing. You took it all, remember?”
My mother looks away, knowing that I know it was her who forged my signature.
I try to keep my voice as calm as can be. “You stole my check.”
“You gave us that check,” he reminds me.
“Don’t sit there and pretend I’m talking about the one-hundred-dollar check. I’m talking about the thousand-dollar check you guys took and forged.”
My father smirks.
“My rent bounced.” My body shakes with nerves and anger. “And now I have to pay for new tires since insurance didn’t cover it.”
“We all go through tough times.” He looks over at my mother.
“Yeah, everyone goes through tough times.” She looks pointedly around. “But it looks like the tough times are behind you now.”
“This is not my house,” I hiss at them, wondering how much longer he’s going to be.
My father gets up and grabs the empty beer bottle, pulling every last drop out of it. He sidles close, his voice lowering. “You need to ask that man of yours to take care of you. And he needs to make sure he takes care of us.” He points to me. “It’s only fitting since we took care of you all your life.”
I want to yell and scream at the top of my lungs, but I need to get them the fuck out of here before Theo comes back.
“Yes,” my mother murmurs, getting up, “it’s only fitting that you help your poor folks out, now that you’re rolling in dough.”
“I’m not rolling in anything,” I snap in a near whisper, not wanting Theo to hear. “I work every single day, like everyone else. And every time I think I’m getting ahead, the two of you”—I point at each of them—“come in and fuck up everything.”
“Watch that tone.” My father’s eyes are beady as he looks at me. “We’ll leave for now. But next time we see you, it would be nice if you helped your poor folks out.” He looks toward the hall to the bedroom. “I would hate to go directly to the source. How would that look?”
He walks past my mother, head high. She gives me one more sly look before she follows him out. I hang my head because it’s the only thing I can do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
THEO
I stand at the entrance of the bedroom, as far away as I am going to let myself be from her and her parents. I saw the look on her face when she saw them there. There was no fucking way I was going to leave her alone with them.
“Don’t sit there and pretend I’m talking about the one-hundred-dollar check.” Her voice is low and filled with anger. “I’m talking about the thousand-dollar check you guys took and forged.” I close my eyes and ball my fists by my side. “My rent bounced.” I put my head back and look at the ceiling, trying to stop myself from going in there and kicking them out of my fucking house. “And now I have to pay for new tires since insurance didn’t cover it.” The guilt that she would have had to pay for something that was my fault cuts me at the knees.
“We all go through tough times.” There’s not an ounce of love in her father’s voice.
“Yeah,” her mother sneers out, “everyone goes through tough times. But it looks like the tough times are behind you now.”
“This is not my house,” she hisses at them.
I can’t hear anything else, not until the front door closes. I enter the kitchen to find her alone, with her head hanging down. “Hey.” I wish I could see her face.
“Hey.” She doesn’t turn.
I hug her from the back, kissing her neck.
“Theo,” she whispers, and her hands reach to hold my arm around her chest. My other arm is wrapped around her waist, my hand on her stomach. “That was . . .”
I bury my face in her neck, not sure what I should say. The minute I opened the door, and he told me who he was, I got a feeling up my spine that this was not good. But these were her parents, and I wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize my relationship with her. It was up to her, and I would follow her lead. “Are you hungry, baby?” I ask, not wanting to upset her before she’s about to eat.
“I was, but I’m not anymore.”
I close my eyes and try to fight back the need to go after her parents and tell them to never fucking come here again. “Want to talk about it?”
