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I tugged on her arm, wanting her even closer. When she did as I’d hoped, I pressed a kiss against her cheek.
“Yes.” I kissed her forehead. “You’re fun and you make me laugh.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “And your motivation is sexy as hell. Most girls just want their MRS degree, but not you.”
She pulled away from my lips. “Their what? What the heck is an MRS degree?”
“Spell it out. Say it.” I raised my eyebrows, holding back my laughter as I waited for her to catch the joke.
“M . . . R . . . S . . . Mrs.” She tapped her finger against her lip. “Oh my God, like they’re married? What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’ve never heard that before, seriously?” I ran my thumb down her cheek, and her eyes closed in response to my touch. She was so pretty, and I didn’t think she realized at all how pretty she was.
“Huh-uh. Is that a real thing?” she asked, her eyes still closed.
I leaned forward and kissed her lips because I couldn’t resist them anymore. “It’s a very real thing. Some girls only go to school to find a husband.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said with a grimace, and I kissed her lips again. “What a waste of money.”
“Some people have more money than they know what to do with,” I said with a sigh.
“Like your dad.”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah. Like my dad.”
“I hate that he sets you up with girls. It sucks and it’s weird.” Her bottom lip jutted out in a fake pout, and I resisted the urge to run my tongue across it.
“At least it doesn’t happen very often, but I agree with you.”
“What happens if he tries to set you up now? Will you tell him no?” She leaned against my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm around her lower waist.
“I don’t know, Jess,” I answered honestly.
My relationship with my father was beyond comprehension at times. I felt like I was living in a shadow I could never escape or outgrow. No matter what I did, I was always in the shade of his presence.
Jess moved slightly, angling herself more toward me. “Really? You don’t know?”
“First of all, he doesn’t do it that often. And second, I’ve never been dating anyone seriously when he’s asked me before. So I’ve never had any conflict or reason to say no.”
“Until tonight,” she deadpanned.
“Until tonight.”
“Will you get into trouble for walking out on Carla?”
“I took her out. I did what he asked, but I don’t know. What’s he going to do? Force me to date her?”
Honestly, I had no idea what my father would do, but I prayed he’d let this one slide. I would never date a girl like Carla otherwise. She was a grade-A pain in the ass, a total snob, and I hated even being seen with her tonight. But her dad owned a bunch of television stations, and my dad wanted that account more than he wanted anything else.
“Only if you let him,” Jess said matter-of-factly.
The truth of her words hit me in the gut like a sucker punch.
I knew I’d perpetuated the fucked-up situation between myself and my dad by not standing up to him. It had always been easier to give in, to cave to the old man’s requests. It was easier not to start an argument, not to make my mother upset, not to be blamed for everything that went wrong in the damn house all the time.
It was times like these when I really wished my brothers still lived at home so I had more of a support system. Or that my mom would help me out for once, but that would never happen. She hated rocking the boat as much as I did.
“You know, Nick—” Jess paused as if she was gathering her thoughts. “All the things he’s asked of you so far are little things. Insignificant, really, I’m assuming. But I can only imagine that one day it won’t be so insignificant, because it won’t be what you want. At all. I think there’s going to come a time, like a defining moment, when you know that if you agree to what he’s asking you to do, it will change everything. And it will be the moment there’s no coming back from. You know what I mean?”
Sledgehammer, meet chest.
