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“What happened? Is someone giving you a hard time? Did anyone recognize you? Do you need me to come down there?”
Despite the rage still coursing through my veins, I smiled. His fatherly concern was rather heartwarming.
“Whoa, now,” I said in a joking tone. “Who do you think you are? My dad?”
He laughed.“Something like that. Seriously, though. Are you okay?”
I stood and made my way to the fridge. “No. I need to deal with things on my own. I know you want to help, but despite it being a colossal bad idea, I need to fight my own battles. If I don’t, I’ll never be respected around here.” I grabbed a bottle of water and a lemon pudding cup and started out of the kitchen toward my bedroom.
“I admire your strength and your independence, but you need to realize it’s okay to ask for help. You deserve to feel safe and happy. If someone’s fucking with you, tell me, and I’ll put a stop to it.”
That was the first time I’d heard him talk like that. He sounded defensive of me.
“Thank you,” I said. “If it gets to be a problem I can’t handle, I’ll tell you. Okay? I promise. Right now, I’m going to try to navigate it on my own. It’s only the first day. I still need time to adjust. I’m sure everyone will forget I exist soon enough.”
There was a brief pause.“If you say so. How’s Harper treating you?”
I choked on my pudding and coughed a few times. As expected, he immediately asked how I was. I cleared my throat. “Sorry about that. I’m fine. Uh, Harper’s… fine. She’s good. Nothing terrible.”
“Your parents raised a saint,” he said.
“Why?” I asked, confused.
“Harper told me the two of you got in a fight today.”
I groaned. “I see. What did she say? I need to get my story straight. I wasn’t prepared for you to test me.”
He laughed.“Apparently, you went after Damian, and she didn’t like it much. I could hear how mad she was, and I know you two don’t get along well. I asked her what happened, and she told me she hit you in the nose. She also said you were honorable and didn’t fight back.”
My eyes narrowed. “Well… I’m actually surprised she told you all that. Shocked, actually. However, I doubt very seriously she said the last part.” If I had to guess, she probably told him I was a fucking coward and wouldn’t fight her.
He snorted.“Maybe not, but that’s what I heard. You’ve told me about your past. You could have hurt her pretty badly if you’d fought back, but you didn’t. You could have taught her a lesson, but you didn’t. To me, that was honorable. Even in the face of all that rage and hatefulness, you stood tall. I love your sister. She’s my baby. But that doesn’t mean I’m blind. She has a temper.”
“Yeah, that’s no joke. I have the sore nose to prove it. It’s not broken or anything, though. It’s not even bruised, but it is sore. I’ll be fine. Harper and I will figure things out. I’m sure of it. It’ll take some time, but it’ll be okay.”
“Hmm…”He paused.“In the meantime, youmightwant to steer clear of Damian. Otherwise, I fear there will be no chance of you two figuring anything out. Besides, Damian isn’t someone I’d want either of you with, but try telling your sister that. It’s better not to argue because then she pushes harder. You’re more level-headed. I feel like I can tell you to steer clear, and you might actually listen.”
“That boy is a hot mess. I know you and his dad are besties or whatever, but that boy is a raging psycho. I actuallydon’twant anything to do with him. He’s the annoying jerk who wouldn’t leave me alone today. I didnotgo after him.”
I hadn’t meant for all that to come pouring out like that, but part of me felt relieved. It wasn’t a good idea to complain about Damian to Rick since it would be no effort at all for him to go straight to Sebastian over it, but Rick was kind of easy to talk to. After my fight with Asher, my filter was in pieces. I’d need a good night’s rest to repair it.
“Do I need to talk to Sebastian? Or Damian? Sebastian and I are close, but not close enough for me to allow his son to fuck with my daughters. If he’s messing with either of you, I’ll put a stop to it.”
“No, no, no. In fact, I think that would only make things worse. Like I said, if I need help, I’ll ask for it. I can handle Damian. Besides…” I smiled, deciding that since he knew the rest, there was no harm in telling him this part. “I kind of… laid his ass out today. He was messing with some kid, and I stopped him. It looked like he was going to grab me by the arm, so I blocked him and backhanded him. He was so surprised by it that it knocked him on his ass in front of a bunch of kids.”
There was a loud laugh on the other end of the call.“You’vegotto be joking! That’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard. That’s my girl! I mean, Damian’s like family at this point, but I know he’s a brat. If you ever meet Sebastian, don’t tell him I laughed so hard.”
I laughed, too. “Solid deal. Maybe don’t tell him I kicked his son’s ass on the first day of school.”
“Deal,” he said with amusement still in his voice.“I’m sorry to cut this short, but I have to get to sleep. I have early morning meetings, and I need to be rested. Otherwise, I tend to have no filter.”I laughed, finding that interesting and entertaining. I wondered if that was where I got that from.“I just wanted to check on you and see how you were doing. It sounds like it’s off to a rough start, but I trust you. You’re tough. You’ve got this. Just remember, if you need help, ask.”
“Thanks, Rick. I appreciate that a lot. I hope you have a good night and try not to tell off too many jerks in the morning.”
He laughed again.“Easier said than done! Good night, Tempe.”
“Good night.”
We ended the call, and I surprisingly felt a lot better. Talking to Rick was a lot easier than I expected it to be when all this first started. Despite all my worries and paranoia over everything, I was starting to see him as a father figure. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to bring myself to call him Dad, but I had to admit to myself that the possibility existed.
