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Max
It’s barely been two minutes since I said goodbye to Sloane and it feels like forever.
What the fuck is wrong with me? Since when do I start acknowledging feelings and shit like that? When did I grow a vagina, for fuck’s sake? I jog down her front steps and pull out my keys. I parked my car farther down the street, so that way her—
“Hello, Max.”
Dad won’t see it. I paste a smile on my face and twist in the direction of his less-than-thrilled voice. “Hey, Mr. Camarena. It’s nice to see you.”
He folds his arms over his massive chest. I’m about his height, but he’s got me in girth. The man could easily smother me with his hulking body, and that’s saying a lot since I’m not exactly a featherweight.
“I noticed your car here this morning when I went out for the paper.” He narrows his eyes at me.
“Oh, yeah, well, I followed Sloane back here after her shift at the hospital. Where I met her. Because I wasn’t here over night.”
He nods and says nothing, so I just keep letting my mouth run. “So, the paper. Did you see anything good? Any news to report? I didn’t get a chance to read it before I left my house this morning to meet Sloane at the hospital.” I hope he heard it the first time, but just in case he didn’t, I thought it was good to repeat myself for good measure.
His lips purse. That’s never a good sign. “News, news, news…let’s see. Other than finding out my daughter is still spending time with you, no. I can’t say there was anything equally eyebrow-raising.”
At least he didn’t see my car the last time I showed up in the middle of the—
“Oh, other than finding your car here the first time you showed up in the middle of the night. And if memory serves, you didn’t meet Sloane at the hospital after her shift that time because she wasn’t actually working that day.”
Fuck me. Does he have hidden security cameras out here or something? Some fancy system Sloane doesn’t know about? I wish I knew how to hack a network.
Shit, I wish I had a computer…
“Yes, well I, um, I had a new video game I wanted to show her, and—”
“At three o’clock in the morning? Must have been some game.” He creeps closer, a menacing look on his face and I actually shake a little bit. I hate myself for it, but I’m sure it makes him chuckle inwardly. Because on the outside, he looks ready to tear me apart with his bare hands, a death sentence I’d very much like to avoid.
“Sir, I know what you might be thinking, and I understand your concerns, but…” But what? Say something! It doesn’t matter what! He won’t believe you anyway, but it’ll buy some time before you need to take off when he grabs that metal pole sitting on the side of the road and smashes your skull in with it! “…but I assure you there was nothing going on other than a little competition. Er, video game competition.” I shrug and force a smile. “What can I say? She’s my best teammate.”
“Max.” He steps closer and drops a hand onto my shoulder. The weight of it pounds me into the ground like I’m a nail and he’s a very fucking powerful hammer. “Let me tell you something. You may think I live under a rock, but I assure you that I am very aware of the comings and goings of my daughter and her guests. And let me tell you something else…she doesn’t have overnight guests, for video games or anything else.”
“Well, uh, this was a very unique situation because, um, the team we were competing with is in, um, China, so it was afternoon for them. That’s why we had to play so late here in Jersey. See, it’s all because of that time difference.”
“Do you really expect me to swallow that bullshit?” He leans his face close to mine, his eyes narrowed to slits. Speaking of slits, I bet he’d like to slash the shit out of me right now.
Please don’t be packing a fucking knife, Mr. Camarena…
“Actually, I could just take a look at the security camera feeds from inside of her place if I wanted the truth. What do you say? Maybe we should take a look at those together.”
“That’s sick!” Oh, Christ. I didn’t mean for that to slip out.
His face twists into a grimace. “Really. I can’t imagine why if all you were doing was playing a video game!” He fists the sides of my coat. “I know what you’re all about, Max. I know what you do, and I know where you do it. I do not want my daughter anywhere around it or around you, for that matter.”
“Listen, Mr. Camarena, I know you hate me.” I eye both of his fists on me and it doesn’t look like they’re letting go anytime soon. “Believe me, I get how you feel. You’ve never really tried to hide it, just saying.” He pulls me closer by my coat, gritting his teeth. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be a smartass or anything. I’m just telling you I could always sense your hatred of me. It’s pretty strong right now. Like, stronger than the Force.”
He pushes me away, letting go of my coat. I straighten myself out and rake a hand through my hair.
“You’re not good enough for my daughter. You never cared about her feelings, and I don’t want her involved with your lifestyle. You think I don’t know who you really are?” He points to his own chest. “I know better than anyone because I used to be just like you.” He inches toward me. “Yeah, me. How about that? But you know something? I realized it wasn’t worth losing everything that was important to me and I got out before I couldn’t. Are you smart enough to do that, Max? Because if you’re not, then stay the hell away from my daughter.”
“You have to trust me, Mr. C. Can I call you that?”
He actually snarls a response.
“Um, okay, Mr. Camarena. Please believe me when I say I’d never do anything to hurt Sloane. She’s an amazing girl, but you obviously already know that. I will never put her in danger.”
“You can’t make that promise. You know it as well as I do.”
“I will make that promise. Right now.” Even though he’s right. He knows what always comes first. I do, too, but these days, she’s winning out. And that puts my head on a chopping block.
