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“So pick.”
“Right now?” I sat upright, suddenly cold. Talking about choosing between them was one thing, but doing it at a moment’s notice was quite another.
“No. Don’t be absurd. Unless your choice is me. And I regret to inform you I am not an option.”
“Alas.”
She rolled her eyes. “But if we’re both being honest, when I say: Secret, which man do you choose? There is already an answer in your mind. But you’re not ready to admit it.”
And in the moment, when the words were spoken, I knew she was right.
Because I had my answer.
I was just afraid of it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“This is a Mars bar.” Sutherland inspected the bag of candy I’d brought him.
“There’s also an Almond Joy in there. And some peanut butter cups.”
“But Snickers satisfies,” he protested.
I sighed, wondering if this was what it would be like to have a teenage son. “Keep digging, Dad. There’s one in there. I think I bought every candy bar in the place.”
I’d stowed the bagged blood from Calliope’s place in his fridge and prepared a fresh glass for him, but he was far more interested in getting his sugar fix than drinking what would actually sustain him.
Holden, who had been wandering around the apartment, reappeared in the living room and sat next to Sutherland on the couch.
“You know, all of Brigit’s clothes are still here,” he observed.
I hadn’t checked. Chances were good my father had done little to personalize the space. That would imply he had a personality to put into it. I think whatever lit the Sutherland part of his brain had flickered out after he tried to kill my mom.
If I was supposed to use my parents as a guide for how to embrace my inner monsters, they were likely the two worst role models I could have been saddled with. A traitorous werewolf and a crazy-ass vampire. No wonder I hated my heritage so much.
“What’s your point?” I asked Holden.
“There’s a lot of nice stuff in there. Most of it is your size. Except…you know…” He held up two hands in front of his chest to indicate breasts. Which Brigit had had in spades and I certainly did not.
“Are you suggesting there’s something wrong with my—?” I stopped myself short when I remembered the other party in the room was, for better or worse, my father. Holden seemed to realize it at the same moment because he dropped his hands right away.
“You’re talking about breasts,” Sutherland informed us.
“Unfortunately,” I admitted.
“You two are lovers.”
Oh dear God, I hoped this wasn’t going to become a much, much too late birds-and-bees discussion.
“Yeah.” I sighed.
“Oh. An Oh Henry!” He tore into the yellow wrapper and munched on the chocolate bar contentedly, his previous thought process erased by the chocolate-coated peanut goodness of his candy.
Saving Holden and me from one intensely awkward conversation with my teenage-looking father.
My phone buzzed, further extracting me from the scene. I made my way into Sutherland’s bedroom and stood in front of the closet, which was still crammed full of Brigit’s clothes. Something would need to be done with them, but I didn’t know if I could stomach the idea of wearing her things.
I checked the caller ID screen on my cell, and my heart leapt when Calliope’s number showed up. Since I’d just left her place, I couldn’t imagine what she’d need with me so soon.
