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“Rose, I just want to talk to you.” I paused. “Please.”
I held my ear against the door and I could hear her voice talking quietly.
“I know, Daddy.” There was a sniffle in her words and I felt horrible that I’d caused her to be so upset. “I’m trying, I promise. It was just one time, next time I’ll focus better. I’ll try harder.”
My heart hurt for this girl. From what I’d gathered about her family, there was a lot of pressure on her to do well in school. I understood that parents pushed their kids because a lot of the time they needed it. But the level of stress her father was placing on her to succeed was completely ridiculous.
“Okay, I’ll see you soon,” she said sadly. “I love—” She didn’t finish the sentence, instead sighing in defeat.
I decided to just go for it and slowly creaked the door open, popping my head around the corner. She was sitting in the center of her bed, her knees pulled to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them, one hand still gripping tightly to her phone. This was not the girl, who just a few hours ago, had sassed herself out of her room wearing a killer outfit and pushed me to go out.
“Rose?”
Her head shot up like she was surprised and hadn’t heard me knocking or open the door even though I hadn’t exactly been quiet about it. She pulled her hand up and wiped the back of it across her nose before clearing her throat, in what I figured was an attempt at straightening herself out and pushing away the emotion.
“Hey,” she said softly, moving her legs so they were folded criss-cross style and sitting a little taller.
I took that as an invitation and moved forward, sitting at the edge of her bed and smoothing my hands over the soft blanket that was folded there. “I didn’t mean to ruin your night. I’m sorry,” I said, finally finding the words. “I hope you get that I was just watching out for you.”
She sat silently and I wondered if she was even going to acknowledge my apology. Her eyes stayed downcast even as she spoke. “I know,” she whispered quietly. “I’m not used to having someone look out for me.”
The corner of my mouth turned up sadly. I knew what that was like, having no one to be there for you and tell you‘no’when you’re making crappy decisions. When there’s no one who steps forward to protect you when someone’s putting you down. I’d been there once. It was very much learned the hard way until I had enough balls to stand up for myself. And even then, I still struggled sometimes. That’s where friends came in, Harmony still felt the need even from miles away to stand and be my voice, my protector. It’s what friends were for. But it was obvious now that Rose lacked in that department too.
“What are friends for if they don’t intercept when you’re about to make a huge mistake,” I said with a smile even though she was still avoiding my eyes.
I saw her drag in a deep breath as she finally looked up at me, tears shining and making her eyes sparkle. “Those guys were pretty weird, huh,” she joked, even as tears trailed down her cheeks and she plastered on a fake smile.
I grinned. “Honey, we need to get you better taste in men.”
She giggled, a sob hitting her at the same time. I thought about hitting her with some questions about Blizzard, but I knew this was definitely not the right time for that conversation, so I stored it in the back of my mind for later.
“So I took Deacon up on his job offer,” I told her, rolling my eyes.
“Are you going to accept the invitation to the party in his pants that he keeps subtly throwing your way too?” My mouth fell open and I just stared at her, watching as the smile on her face got broader and broader until she started laughing.
“That’s not even funny,” I exclaimed as she fell back on the bed.
“Oh please!” she snorted. “That boy’s got a hard-on for you the size of Texas.”
I smirked. “You know who else has one the size of a small country?” She looked up at me and I wiggled my eyebrows. “A certain outlaw biker whose name begins with B and ends in lizzard.”
I saw the deep flush that coated her cheeks before she pulled the pillow from behind her head and tossed it at me. The girl had a good throw.
With that, I knew we were fine.
