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I laughed quietly.Whoops. “I’m always hungry.”
He hummed and ran his fingertips down my spine, his other hand carding through my hair. “So I’m gathering.” He gently squeezed my ass cheek. “We’ll get up and get breakfast once we’ve showered.”
I lifted up a little and rested my chin on his chest so I could look down at him. His dirty blonde hair was a mess on his head, and his blue eyes were still coated with sleep, so he hadn’t been up long. He also hadn’t shaved, so he had scruff along his jawline and around his mouth. It made him look rugged and even fucking sexier.
“Where do we go from here?” I asked him, forcing myself to brave this conversation. The only reason I could in the first place was because Conan had promised me we would deal with my dad.We. That had to mean something, right? That meant he was sticking around. It had to.
Conan hummed, his fingers still sifting through my hair. God, I loved it when he did that. It felt so good, and it soothed me on such a soul-deep level. “We’re going to shower and get breakfast before we hit the road again. When we get home, we’ll talk to Tyler and tell him what’s going on between us. That you’re mine and I’m not fucking letting you go.”
I just about melted into a puddle at his promise of not letting me go. I washis. And it felt so damn good to belong to him. He calmed me, and he understood me. He supported what I wanted to do with my life and didn’t bat an eye that I wanted to do online classes. He didn’t care that I was introverted and didn’t do well around a lot of people.
But I knew Dad would feel like we’d tag-teamed him if we both came to him at the same time about this. Even though my heart raced and my skin got clammy at the thought of talking to my dad about this, I knew I needed to come to him first. And hell, for betraying him like this, it was the least I could do.
But he wouldnotmake me change my mind about Conan. No one would. I washappy, and no one—not even my dad—was going to rip this happiness from me.
But fuck, I could already see his disappointed face in my mind, and it made me cringe.
“Talk to me,” Conan commanded, his fingers tightening in my hair for a moment to ground me.
I blew out a soft breath. “I think I need to talk to Dad on my own first. There’s a lot he and I need to talk about.”
Conan frowned at me. “I don’t like it, Fletcher. You don’t have a great track record of standing up to your dad. And he makes you anxious.”
I sat up, straddling his hips. His morning wood was thick and solid beneath me, but we both ignored it. This conversation was more important than having sex again, though the idea was sorely tempting. “I need to be an adult at some point and tell him my plans. I know he’s not going to like it, but it’s my life, and he needs to eventually accept that.”
Conan sighed, his hands spanning my waist. “I don’t like it, but I’m trusting you to stand your ground against him, Fletcher. Don’t let Tyler steamroll over you.”
I nodded. “I won’t,” I promised him. If there was one thing in this world I wanted, it was Conan. And with him, I would be able to chase my dreams. Find my place in the world.
It made me anxious to have to do this, but it was past time for me to stand up to him and be my own person. Dad couldn’t keep having this hold on me for my entire life.
I’d been to Conan’s place numerous times before from all the times Dad had brought me with him when Conan had home time. He lived out in the country off a state highway so he had space to park his truck. A couple of years ago, he’d built a massive carport he could park his truck under, and he’d cemented it, installing a whole car wash thing inside of it once he was done so he could wash his truck without paying someone else to do it.
Which was where we were standing now. We’d swung by his place earlier, grabbed his pick-up truck, and then I’d followed him in his truck to the rental drop-off place. Now, Conan was washing his truck while on the phone with his insurance company, and I was staring down at my Dad’s name on my screen.
He was calling me. It almost felt like he couldsenseI was stepping out of line, and my gut twisted.
Blowing out a soft breath, I swiped my thumb across the screen and lifted my phone to my ear, staring at the ground. “Hello?”
“How do you like being on the road?” Dad asked instead of giving me any kind of normal greeting. Didn’t ask how I was doing. How I was holding up. None of that. Just straight to the point. Like always.
It made me feel like one of his employees, but I’d even seen him ask them how they were doing. So maybe I was something lower in his mind.
“Um, about that,” I stammered. Dad sighed. I continued before he could start in on me without even knowing what happened. “There was a really bad accident. Well, not an accident, really,” I rushed out. “There was a tornado. Conan’s truck is totaled. And also, we’re together. Like together-together. And I’m not going to double major in business and accounting. I’m going to major in art and graphic design, and I’m also going to do my classes online.”
I sucked in a deep breath after I got all that out. I knew I’d just dropped multiple bombs, but if I didn’t blurt it all out while I had a chance, I would’ve never said any of it.
Dad was eerily silent. Dread slid through my veins. But fuck, it was out there. I’d said it. There was no taking it back now. And honestly, even though I was scared of his reaction, I felt like so much weight had been lifted off my shoulders and my chest.
“What thefuck?!” Dad finally exploded so loud, I almost dropped my phone. Conan looked at me in surprise before dropping the water hose and making his way to me, his eyes narrowed at the phone in my hand. I hadn’t even known his call was completed. That was how worked up I was over this call that hadjuststarted.
Something dangerous glinted in Conan’s eyes, and I quickly shook my head at him. I needed to handle this.
“Dad—”
“No. I’m coming home right now, Fletcher. This isnotfucking happening. I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you lately, but it’s not continuing, do you understand me? Online schooling? Jobs are going to laugh you away,” he snapped. I clenched my jaw so hard, my teeth audibly ground together. “And art? What in the hell do you expect to do with an art major, Fletcher? Your mother is rolling over in her grave right now.”
“That’s not fair—” I snapped, beginning to get angry now. That was the first time he’d ever used Mom against me, and it was a cold move on his part.
