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“She’s right. It’s not appropriate for you to talk to her that way. I think you should apologize and leave.”
“Why? Because I offended the little rich bitch?”
As soon as the words leave his lips, I punch him hard across the face. It was just an impulse reaction, but it got both his and Marissa’s attention. The young man grabs his burning face and says, “What the hell?”
I close the gap between us and grip his shoulder until he winces. “There’s a line of cabs and limos outside. I’m gonna put you in one of them. After that, if I see you around this girl again, I’m gonna beat your rude ass and you’ll be crawling on all fours. You got it?”
I grab him under his arm and drag him outside before he can answer. Pulling him across the lawn, I shove him into the closest car and slam the door. Marissa watches from the door and waits for me to return. She steps out onto the stoop and kisses me on the cheek.
It takes every ounce of my self-control not to pull her and find out if her lips taste as sweet as it looks.
“Thank you for that,” she whispers in my ear. “You should go back to your hotel now, too.”
“Why should I do that?”
“Because I’m going up to my room to start packing. You should rest up for our trip tomorrow.”
“I promise you won’t regret this, sweetheart.”
“I know.”
4
MARISSA
My bags are packed and waiting by the door when Malcolm pulls up in a black SUV. “Dad, he’s here,” I call out and wait for my father to appear from his office.
“I’ll help you with the bags,” he says and picks up two of my four suitcases.
Malcolm comes inside and takes the rest of my gear, leaving me to follow behind them empty-handed. Once my bags are stowed, Malcolm shakes my father’s hand and gets into the car to give us a moment alone.
I wrap my arms around my father. “Colorado Springs is only a five-hour-and-thirty-minute drive from Durango. Will you come and see me?”
“I don’t know, Marissa. With work and the remodeling Bethany wants to do, I might not be able to make time. But I’ll call you and I’ll be rooting for you of course.”
“Please try, Dad. I love you.”
“Alright then. You better get moving. Good luck and do everything your coaches tell you.”
“Goodbye, Dad.”
“Bye.”
He waves to Malcolm and returns to the house. He doesn’t wait for us to leave.
Dad just closes the door as though my chapter in his life has ended, and he’s turning to a fresh, new page. My heart aches a little and I feel my eyes begin to tear up.
“No, idiot. Don’t cry for him. He’s never cried for you.” I turn around and see that Malcolm has his window down. The look on his face tells me he heard me. What a humiliating way to start our journey together. If he asks me about it, I’ll probably break down like a big baby. That’s not a good look for someone who just bragged about being an adult.
We travel for about fifteen minutes in silence. As we hit the interstate, he says, “I’m sorry about your father, but if it makes you feel any better, you’re going to be too busy to miss him.”
“Are you planning to work me to death?” I grumble, leaning my head against the window.
“No, but when you aren’t training, we’ll be working on other things.”
“Like what?”
“Like networking.”
“Networking?”
“Yeah. We’ll be going to movie premieres, restaurant openings, interviews—all of it.”
“That sounds terrible.”
“I promise to make it all fun for you. I’ll show you the time of your life.”
A small smile begins to grow on my face. As much as I want to wallow in self-pity, I just can’t. He’ll probably show me the time of my life. I mean, being with him has been pretty awesome so far, and we haven’t done anything yet.
Seeing how he controlled my father and stood up for me against that agent, he seems to be completely invested in me and my future. Maybe it’s just because I’m a good investment, but I don’t think so. I wasn’t much more than an investment for my father, and he was never this devoted.
“Hey, why don’t we make a day out of this trip? We can turn it into a little adventure.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we have two choices. We can spend the next five or six hours staring out the window at nothing but the highway or we can find little roadside attractions to explore along the way.”
“This route isn’t exactly rife with tourist attractions,” I tell him.
“Says who? Anything can be a tourist attraction if you’re a tourist and you’re attracted to it. Keep your eyes peeled, and if you see something that looks interesting, just tell me to stop. Deal?”
