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“Do you even hear yourself? I’m not a child! I can vote, drink, and fuck whoever I want,” Lyla says, throwing that f-word right back at me. “Your threats won’t change that.”
“If you’re not a child, then stop acting so goddamn childish.”
She lets out a huff of laughter as if I’m the one who hurt her tonight. “Didn’t we just have a conversation where you encouraged me to date?”
“Not him.” Anyone but him would treat her better, not use her as some stand-in for the woman he really loves. Fuck, is that how I treated Holly? As just a stand-in for the woman I lost?
“Well, I’m sorry, Dad, but you can’t tell me who I can or can’t see.”
I stare at her, wishing she could see the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts, and it takes tough love to prove it. “Then pack your shit.”
“What?” she gasps in disbelief.
“You either have to live by my rules, or you have to leave. Those are your two choices.”
“Isaac?” my mother says. She tries to grab my arm, but I snatch it away.
“I’ve made my decision.”
“You can’t be serious,” my mother huffs. “It’s late. You’re making a rash decision you’ll regret.” Sighing heavily, she says, “Listen, why don’t we all just take a deep breath to cool down? It’s been a long day. We’re all tired.”
“You…you are such a hypocrite!” Lyla yells at me, making me wonder if she knows. If she knows about Holly.
“How am I a hypocrite?” I ask when she jumps out of bed to go to her closet and begins throwing clothes into a bag.
“Lyla, stop. Put the clothes back in the closet, and go to bed,” my mother tells her.
She doesn’t pause, just keeps filling up that bag.
“It’s okay for Laurel to marry him and cheat on him, screwing tons of men while he’s serving our country, but I can’t sleep with him? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“That’s your problem. You can’t see it, but it makes perfect sense to me!” I assure her. One day soon, maybe any minute now, she’ll realize it too.
“Lyla, Isaac…” Mom tries again, but Lyla’s shouts drown her out.
“Why not? Because he’s the wrong kind of outlaw biker? You didn’t have any problem shoving Thane down my throat!”
Holly said Lyla was lonely. I want her to have someone in her life to love, someone I can trust not to hurt her.
“The Savage Kings are a bunch of assholes who think they rule the world!” I explain to her.
“That’s not a reason for why I can’t see Barrett again. So, why can’t I, huh?”
“He’s wrong for you. You’ll just have to trust me on this.”
“Sorry, but that’s not a good enough reason,” she says, hefting the bag onto her shoulder as she snatches up her phone, laptop, and purse. “It’s way past time for me to move out. I’ll be back for the rest of my things in a few days.”
“Please don’t do this, Ly,” Mom begs me.
“I’m not doing anything. He is. This is what he’s made me do by trying to control me,” she tells her, pointing her finger at me, blaming me for Fulton screwing her over tonight. “I’m sick and tired of it. I was never going to stay some innocent little girl to make you happy.”
“You’re not going to whore yourself out in my house either!” I yell.
“Isaac!”
I cringe, hating myself as soon as the words come out of my mouth. It’s bad enough I slut shame Holly. I won’t do that to my daughter. “I’m sorry, Lyla. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just…I’m worried about you getting hurt,” I explain honestly.
Ignoring me, she says, “Goodbye, Grandma. I’ll call you later,” then gives her a kiss on the cheek before she stomps out the door.
