AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Heavy sarcasm filled his father’s question, so he gave it right back. “Because I need money.”
“Then I suggest you bother with the job first.”
He met his dad’s steely gaze and sat forward on the chair. That funny feeling in his gut from earlier grew heavier. “What does that mean?”
“Your cards didn’t work because I cancelled them.”
He drew back in confusion. “Why would you do that?”
“It’s time to grow up, Merit. You need money—get a job like everyone else.”
Like everyone else. Hot indignation burned along the back of his neck. “Why do I have to do that when I have enough in my trust to last a lifetime? It’s not like I’m blowing through it or anything.”
“You haven’t earned one dime of that money. You went to school, but you haven’t done one damn thing with your degree.”
He had. Dad just didn’t know about it. Wasn’t about to tell him, either. Not now.
Now is exactly the time to tell him.
No. He wasn’t going to beg his dad for anything. All he’d ever done was hound him to be more like his brothers and sisters. Play sports like Asher. Study harder like Bells. Be more serious like Loyal. Get some ambition like Celia. Hell, any day now, he’d probably tell him to join the fucking Army like Grayson. Like he could measure
up to that when the guy had done three tours over in the Middle East.
The thing was, he wasn’t any one of them. He didn’t want to be them. And just once, he’d like his dad to acknowledge he was his own person. Ask him what he wanted to do instead of tell him what he should do.
“Are you happy?” his dad suddenly asked.
“I was.”
For the most part, anyway. He wouldn’t tell him he’d been bored lately. Restless. Aimless.
“Better question might be, do you feel good about yourself? Are you proud of the man you are?”
What the fuck is this? Was he not man enough for his own father?
His gut tightened and a heavy weight pressed on his chest as he clenched his jaw.
Dad ran a hand through his silver-threaded hair, then leaned forward to brace his elbows on the desk while clasping his fingers over the calendar. “I’ve given you more than enough time to step up, Merit. Probably too much. But it’s time you stand on your own two feet. Learn what it feels like to earn your way through life. It’s going to make all the difference.”
“What the fuck do you know about that, Dad? You don’t really know anything about me or how I feel.”
“Watch your language.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?”
His father’s gaze narrowed in warning. “Dead serious.”
Mid-senior year of high school, his parents had taken his car away for three months until he got his grades back to straight As. His dad had the same stern expression now as back then. Merit might have glimpsed regret, too, but that didn’t mean a damn thing.
“Fine,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “I’ll start volunteering somewhere, like at the foundation with Loyal and Grayson. Does that count?”
“Only if you can get them to pay you for your work.”
“That would totally defeat the idea of volunteering. That’s not fucking noble enough for you?”
The regret in his father’s face vanished as his expression hardened once more. “Your cards are cancelled and your accounts are locked. Man up and earn a damn living, son.”
“You’re really cutting me off, just like that?”
