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“Are you going to be happy with UCLA?”
“Of course I’m going to be happy with it.” I shook my head, feeling like I was about to walk into yet another battle about what college I was picking. “Can you just accept that I’m going to UCLA without questioning me? I want to stay here, close to my family and to you. Is that so hard to believe?”
“No, of course not,” he grumbled. “But you’ve been talking about Georgetown since you were ten, Lucy. If you’re staying because of me, I want to make sure that you’re going to be happy.”
“Actually, I’m staying for me, so you can relax.” I pushed up onto one elbow. “Are we still on for three o’clock?”
“All set.” He paused for a second before speaking again. “Are you okay?”
“If you tell me you love me again, I will be.”
“I love you. Always,” was murmured in my ear and I couldn’t help but melt at my favorite words being spoken from his lips. “I’ll see you in a few hours, sweetness.”
“Can’t wait. Bye, Harris.”
Tossing my phone on the end of my bed, I forced myself to get up and shower. Leaving my hair damp, I dressed and went down to have breakfast with my family. Over the next few hours I was kept busy with calls from everyone wishing me a happy birthday. Even Caleb and Angie sent me a text telling me they hoped I enjoyed my day.
The Jacobson twins and their father had left the day after Christmas, much to Kin’s disappointment. After the argument that was heard around the world—because the paps had made sure of it—Carter and the twins had thought it would be better for Kin if they left a week early. Seeing how upset Kin had been over the last week, m
y mom and Aunt Emmie had only had that much more reason to hate Jillian Montez. I seriously feared for that chick’s social standing if she didn’t slack up on Kin. Aunt Emmie was not someone you wanted as your enemy when your goal in life was to become as popular as a Kardashian.
I wasn’t even completely sure what the disagreement had been about. Kin hadn’t wanted to talk about it and I had refused to believe anything the tabloids had to say about it. They never printed the truth and I wasn’t about to hurt my friend by looking at one of those damn trash magazines.
At two o’clock, I started getting ready. I left my hair curly today but with enough product in it to keep it in cheek. I pulled the craziness into a ponytail and then started on my makeup. Harris and I were doing the only thing I really wanted to do today.
Getting ink.
When he’d given me my Christmas present, I’d known exactly how I’d wanted to spend my birthday. He’d given me a necklace with a silver and diamond Celtic knot charm on it that represented friendship. I loved that necklace and hadn’t taken it off since he’d helped me put it on. I’d asked him the next day if he was up to getting the friendship Celtic knot inked with me and he’d been more than willing.
I loved that it was something that we could do together, that would mark up both of us as belonging to each other, without being something cliché. We were getting them on our wrists, his on the right and mine on my left, because he wanted them to line up when he held my hand. I’d already told my parents, told them the meaning behind the matching ink we were getting, and they’d had no objections to it. Not that it would matter if they had. I was eighteen today and they no longer had a say in whether or not I got a tattoo.
At a quarter to three I went downstairs, knowing that it was time I told my dad. I didn’t know what Harris and I were going to do after our tattoo appointment. He’d mentioned dinner and then maybe back to First Bass for a little while. I was hoping he would bring me home himself tonight, but didn’t know if that was going to be possible or not.
I found Dad in the living room with the twins. We still had another week off from school for break so the boys were soaking up all the TV time they could get in. As I walked into the living room, the boys decided it would be fun to tackle me.
I went down just a few feet from the couch in a pile of arms and legs as they started tickling me. “Stop,” I squealed. I was probably the most ticklish person on the planet and my brothers exploited that fact. Often. “No, don’t. Luca you little… Lyric I thought you loved me.” I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. “Daddy, please!” I wheezed out.
“Okay, boys, let your sister up.” He pulled Luca off of me and Lyric got up on his own, but they were both grumbling about having to end their fun.
I lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch my breath. I was sure my hair was a total wreck, but I wasn’t worried about it. Finally, Dad offered me his hand and helped me up. I tugged down my shirt and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Daddy, you love me, right?”
“That’s the stupidest question you have ever asked me, Lucy.” He hugged me tight. “I love you more than anything in the world, baby. You know that.”
Yeah, I did. And I was going to exploit that fact times a million. “And you want to make my birthday special, right?”
Ever-changing brown eyes narrowed on me. “Of course.”
I smiled up at him, giving him the look I knew he would never be able to say no to. “If I started dating Harris, you would be okay with it, right?”
I expected him to go stone still and then Hulk out on me. Jesse Thornton was without a doubt one of the most overprotective fathers in the world. I’d always known that the first guy I wanted to date would end up crippled and in a nursing home somewhere under twenty-four-hour guard supervision so that Jesse didn’t get to finish the job of murdering the poor bastard.
Weirdly enough, none of those things happened. His face actually relaxed into a smile. “Yeah, baby. If that is what you and Harris want to do, I’ll be okay with that.”
I blinked up at him, sure that I hadn’t heard him right. “Really?”
He gave me another tight hug and stepped back. “Of course, Lu. Actually, I’m glad you two want to start dating. I know I give the boy a hard time, but he’s the only guy I could ever willingly let you go to.”
A mixture of relief and surrealism washed through me. I’d had so many arguments ready to convince him that Harris was a good guy and that me dating him wasn’t going to be as bad as he might think. Now that he was telling me so calmly that he was all for my relationship with Harris Cutter, I was at a loss for words.
