Page 99 of Pucking Forbidden

“I can do both!” I insist. “My grades are perfect, Dad. I haven’t missed a single lecture, and my prep scores are higher than they were last month. I just…I wanted something for myself. Something I actually enjoy. That keeps me busy. That I don't have to rely on you for.”

His jaw tightens. “Something you don’t have to rely on me for? Hadley, look around you.” He gestures around my apartment. “Who do you think pays the rent on this place? Who pays your tuition? Who is funding the very future you are currently trying to jeopardize for a minimum-wage hobby?”

“I appreciate everything you do, I really do,” I answer through gritted teeth, stepping closer. My eyes search his for even a fraction of understanding. “I just need a little bit of breathing room. I need to be a person outside of a classroom. Please, just listen to me…”

“No, you listen to me,” he growls. “You’ve been lying to me! You told me you were going to focus on your studies. You are too young to understand what you want long-term. You’re letting yourself get distracted by the romanticized idea of independence. You’re completely blind to the reality of what it takes to build a real career. This little stunt ends today.”

Something inside me snaps. The quiet, compliant girl who always bowed her head and accepted his lectures vanishes, replaced by a raw, white-hot spark of defiance. I’ve spent the last few weeks watching the friends around me taking charge of their own lives. Watching Julian face down his own demons. I’m done being a passenger in my own life.

I am not a child anymore.

“No, it doesn’t end today,” I declare, my voice ringing out clearer and louder than it ever has before. I push back, hard. “I am twenty-one years old, Dad. You want to cut me off? Fine!”

Dad narrows his eyes at me.

“You wouldn’t make it a week,” he states flatly. “You rely on me for too much.”

The words seem to slice deep into my sternum, a physical ache that makes it hard to draw air. His roof.

“I’m doing what I want, and I’m done talking about this,” I whisper, tears burning hot behind my eyelids.

He blinks, clearly surprised.

“Excuse me?”

“I said … I’m done. I love you, but we’re not talking about this anymore.” My voice shakes with a mix of fury and heartbreak. Before he can say another word, I turn on my heel and storm down the short hallway into my bedroom. I slam the door shut so hard the frame rattles, then lock it so he can’t follow me inside.

I press my back against the wood, sliding down until my knees touch my chest, burying my face in my hands. Outside, I hear the heavy thud of his loafers walking to the front door. He pauses, his voice muffled but crystal clear through the drywall.

“You’ll see I’m right when you finally grow up, Hadley.”

The front door opens and shuts hard.

Silence settles over the empty apartment like a suffocating blanket. The reality of what I just did crashes down on me in waves, and the tears spill over. I cry into my knees for what feels like hours, the raw hurt of his words echoing in the quiet spaces of my room.

When the crying finally tapers off into hollow, exhausted breaths, I reach for my phone. I speed-dial Lainey.

When she doesn’t pick up, I momentarily panic, but then remember she has a big exam today. Of course, her phone is probably off.

I’m not sure what else to do, so I go to dial Julian, but before I even bring his name up on the screen, another call comes in.

It’s Stacey.

“Oh, thank God,” I murmur, answering the call.

“Hadley! Hey, sweetie, how are you?”

“Hey, Stace,” I whisper, my voice cracking.

The line goes dead silent for a beat, then Stacey speaks in a concerned voice. “Hadley? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“No,” I choke out, a tear slipping down my cheek. “My dad…he’s here in Denver. We just had a horrible fight. He found out about the job at the rink and he…” I swallow past the massive, aching lump in my throat. “He told me I had to quit…that if I’m living under his roof, I have to follow his rules…”

“Oh, hell no,” Stacey snaps, her usual gentle tone hardening into pure steel. “Hold on. Do not say another word. I am putting you on hold for three seconds, Hadley. Don't you dare hang up.”

The line clicks. True to her word, it’s not even a minute before my phone screen lights up, transforming into a massive group FaceTime. One by one, the boxes pop up, revealing the girls. Skyler is sitting at her work desk, wearing big gamer headphones with a mic next to her. Grace is at her kitchen island with a cup of coffee. Sutton is looking up from a stack of paperwork at her desk. Rylee is on her couch, a giant bowl of popcorn in her lap.

“Okay, everyone is here,” Stacey declares, her face filling her frame as she looks at me with deep concern. “Hadley is on speaker. Hadley, honey, tell them what you were just telling me.”