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“Didn’t think it was. You have mischief written all over your face.”
Shit.
I didn’t think I was that easy to read.
“Go on then. What have you done now?” he prompts before pulling Layla to sit on his lap.
The man can’t go two seconds without putting his hands on my sister. It’s sweet, even if it is a little nauseating at times. I mean, for all intents and purposes, he is my dad, and just imagining him and my sister getting it on is all sorts of gross, but I’m sure all kids feel that way about their parents.
“I haven’t done anything.” I huff. “But thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“You haven’t done anythingyet.Emphasis on the yet. So spill it,” Alaric states knowingly.
“Whatever.” I roll my eyes at him. “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, you know how spring break is next week—”
“Yes, and we agreed you were going to spend it with us,” he chimes in.
“Can I please get two sentences in before you interrupt me again?” I huff in irritation.
He opens his mouth to protest, but luckily Layla comes to my rescue and covers his lips with hers to shut him up. Once she’s certain her husband is good and subdued, she breaks the kiss.
“Be good, husband,” she teases him and then whispers something in his ear that has his eyes smoldering.
Like I said, it would be cute if their PDA wasn’t so gross.
“Fine. Lay it on me, kid.”
“Thank you,” I reply. “So as I was saying, I know I promised I’d come home for spring break next week, but Cara invited me to spend it with her at the Hamptons. Her family is going to spend it there, and you guys know how boresome they are. Cara needs me there with her for moral support. It’s only a couple of weeks. I’ll call you every day if that makes it easier for you.”
My dad ponders my request before he sets his gaze on my best friend.
“Is this true?” he asks outright, needing to hear it from the horse’s mouth.
“It would be nice to have Zoey with me. My parents are having a party this weekend, and I don’t do parties so well. If Zoey is with me, then it might be more bearable to attend.”
Technically, it’s not a lie.
She would prefer if I was with her up at the Hamptons, and maybe me not going makes me the shittiest best friend ever. I’ll make it up to her somehow.
“I don’t see why Zoey can’t go,” Layla chimes in, giving her two cents.
Alaric isn’t as easy to convince though. “I don’t know,” he mumbles, eyeing me and Cara with suspicion.
“What kind of trouble can the girls get into at the Hamptons?” Layla adds.
“If you’re asking me that, then you don’t know your sister. Zoey can get into a lot of trouble.”
“But I’m not going to,” I lie. “Come on, Dad. It’s only two weeks. Cara needs me. It’s not like I’ve never been there before.”
“For a weekend, fine. Two weeks is a long time,” he argues worriedly.
“She said she’d call every day, and if she does get into trouble, she’s just a car ride away. Let her go, husband. Let her be there for her friend,” my sister says, running her fingers lovingly across his stubbled chin.
I remain silent, watching his hard demeanor chip away under my sister’s loving gaze. When he finally relents and nods, I do cartwheels inside my head.
“Fine,” he concedes but points a menacing finger at me. “But you FaceTime us every day, and if I so much as catch a whiff of a boy there with you, then I’m driving up to Cara’s mansion and bringing your ass back home. Got it?”
“No boys. Got it,” I reply.
