Page 108 of My All American Girl

His eyes flashed dangerously. “Stop. This is the military. You could both be court-martialed for this.”

“Only if there’s proof,” I interrupted quickly.

A hurt look crossed his face. “Is that what you’ve become? Someone who sneaks around in the shadows, living a lie every moment of every day, just to save her own skin?”

His words were like daggers in my heart. I faltered, falling silent.

“Sarah, I raised you to take responsibility for your actions. To be the kind of officer that leads by example. What happened to that girl?”

“Dad, that girl grew up. And she realized that things aren’t always black and white.”

His eyes bored into mine, a myriad of emotions reflecting back at me. There was plenty of disappointment, but above all was pain. “You’re throwing away everything we worked for,” he said, a bitter note creeping into his voice. “I’m not so foolish to believe women aren’t held to different standards in the military. Serious women know they have to fight that stereotype by watching their every move. You can’t afford even a little gossip.”

I rolled my eyes. “There is no gossip, and it’s people like you that make it difficult for women to avoid those stereotypes. How dare you imply I’m sleeping my way to the top? That’s disgusting and not true. Shame on you for even suggesting it. My skills in the air got me here, not my skills in the sack.”

His expression hardened further. “You will not speak to me that way, Sarah. You’re my daughter, and you will respect me.”

Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. “I do respect you, Dad. But you need to understand that I’m my own person. I need to make my own choices. If I make a mistake, that’s on me. And only me. You made lots of mistakes. Don’t act like you were born perfect.”

He stared at me for a long moment, his face unreadable. Slowly, he nodded. “You’re right,” he conceded, his voice low and gruff. “I wasn’t born perfect. No one was. But that doesn’t mean you should make the same mistakes I did, Sarah. I worked my ass off to get where I am. I paved the way for you. You can walk that path, but you have to carry that weight. I laid it out and you are screwing it up.”

I crossed my arms over my chest defensively. “And how do you know it’s a mistake? Because you say so? Because it’s not the path you would have chosen for me?”

“No,” he sighed deeply, a tired note in his voice. “Because it’s a path that could cost you everything you’ve worked hard for.”

My eyes narrowed. “Just because our paths aren’t the same, because I’m not doing exactly what you think I should do, it doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”

“You are wrong, and I want no part of the mistakes you are making.”

He turned and walked away, leaving me to stare after him. There was nothing more to say. He wasn’t going to hear me. It was over.

I turned around and saw Dean waiting for me. He was watching us, but I was glad he stayed back. That had to happen between my father and me. I didn’t want to make things worse for Dean’s relationship with my dad. That was a whole other situation to deal with.

“What happened?” he asked, his voice soft. “Should I sleep with one eye open?”

I shook my head, feeling the tears burning my eyes. “He’s still furious. He thinks you’re distracting me.”

Dean pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly. I let myself accept his comfort for a brief few seconds before I pulled back. We were still on base, and even if my father knew, our secret still couldn’t get around.