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“And you don’t?”
Pressing the beer bottle to his lips, he drained it. “I don’t know, Finn. Maybe.”
His eyes lit up, and I followed his gaze. Melissa was walking back, with Rory next to her. One looked happy as hell, the other looked like she was on the verge of tears.
I walked up to Rory and took her hands in mine. “What’s wrong?”
A single tear rolled down her cheek, and my world came to a crashing halt. I wanted to hurt the person who’d caused her to cry.
“Take me out of here.”
Jerking my head back in surprise, I looked behind her to see her father glaring at me. “What happened, Rory?”
She shook her head and attempted to not fall apart. “Please, Finn. I need you to take me out of here.” Our eyes locked, and I’d never felt so helpless in my life. But if leaving with her would help, I’d do it. No matter how wrong it felt.
Wrapping my arm around her waist, I turned to Colton. “I’ll see ya Monday.”
He nodded and flashed Rory a smile. “It’s going to be okay.”
I couldn’t help but notice how sad her eyes got before she forced a smile. “I know it will.”
With a quick nod of my head to Colton, I ushered Rory out of the room and the hotel. The moment we hit the cold fall air, Rory drew in a deep breath.
“Baby, tell me what happened.”
She shook her head. “Not here,” she whispered, and covered her mouth to keep from crying.
I handed the valet my ticket. “If you could hustle and get me that car as soon as you can, I’ll make it worth your while.”
He took one look at Rory and sprinted off. I couldn’t help but keep checking over my shoulder for Captain Adams to come walking out. It was pretty fucking obvious that things hadn’t gone well.
Rory grabbed my hand and turned to me. “Where are we going?”
I had planned on taking her camping. Wes was in town for a few days, and had set everything up for me.
“Um, I was going to take you camping, but if you want me to bring you home…”
A look of horror washed over her face. “No! I want to be with you. I need to be with you, I don’t care where. Should I change?”
Reaching my hand to her face, I gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. “If you want to stop by your place first and change…All I really know is I want to slowly take that dress off you.”
Her eyes lit up and she gave me a real smile that caused my damn stomach to drop. “I want that too, but I want it where you were planning on surprising me.”
The valet pulled up and jumped out of the car. I quickly opened the passenger door and helped Rory in. I shut the door, pulled a hundred out of my wallet, and handed it to the kid.
“Dang, dude, thanks a million, but this is too much.”
A quick slap on his back, one more “Thank you,” and I jogged around the front of my car. When I got in, I turned to see Rory full-on crying.
Putting the car in drive, I headed to my parents’ place. I hadn’t wanted to risk the chance of being at a campground and a storm blowing in. It was the end of October; a cold front would have made camping miserable. Besides, what better place to camp out than the woods I grew up in? I reached for Rory’s hand and kissed the back of it.
“Everything’s going to be okay, Éan.”
She turned to me and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I know,” she whispered.
My chest ached knowing I couldn’t take the pain away. I’d have done anything to keep her from crying.
When I pulled out onto the highway, a strange feeling washed over me.
Nothing was okay.
Chapter 36
Rory
Difficult choices
AN HOUR EARLIER
I followed my parents out of the ballroom and into another room. Holding my breath, I heard the door shut and my father inhale deeply, then somberly speak.
“You knew?”
Spinning around, I saw he was glaring at my mother. I instantly regretted asking her to keep my secret from my father. She lifted her chin and replied, “I did.”
My stomach dropped when I saw my father’s face turn red. Swallowing hard, I took a step toward him. “I told her and asked her to not say anything. I promised her I would tell you, and I was going to tell you earlier, but I didn’t get the chance to.”
His hands rubbed at his face as he let out a frustrated laugh. “That’s great. You know how I feel about this, Chelsea, and you kept it from me.”
“Rick, you are being stupid about this.”
“Stupid!” my father shouted, causing us both to jump. I don’t think I’d ever heard him raise his voice to either of us. “My daughter is not only dating a firefighter—which, I might add, I specifically told her she was not allowed to date—but she’s dating him!”
