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Well, almost everything.
“Why was that so hard?” Alex asks. “Why didn’t you just tell me that earlier instead of staging a fake sickness and sneaking out?”
“I didn’t sneak out.”
“Who is he? Why didn’t he walk you to the door?”
“You’re so old-fashioned. He’s just a guy.”
Alex turns to me again. “Did you know about this?”
I feel like a deer in the headlights. They both keep including me in their we scenarios. “No,” I say.
Lily shakes her head. “Why are you dragging her into it? You’re acting crazy.”
“I’m not acting crazy. I’m just trying to figure out who the hell my kid was with all night and why she’s lying to me.”
“It was the limo driver,” she finally admits.
My brain whips around in confusion. “The limo driver?” I repeat. “From prom night?”
“Yes. His name is Jeff.”
I vaguely remember him. I don’t think we said more than two words to him. But, now that I’m thinking about it, Lily did disappear twice alone during the prom to smoke a cigarette. She was gone for almost half an hour each time. She must’ve been talking to him out in the parking lot.
“I remember him now,” I reply. “He was cute. He reminded me of the guy from—”
Alex interrupts me. “I remember him, too. I tipped him in the driveway before you guys left. How old is he?”
Lily chews her lip. “He’s not that much older than me.”
“How much older?”
Her eyes squint. “He’s twenty-six.”
Standing, Alex says, “No. No fucking way are you dating a twenty-six-year-old guy.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s going to be fucking buried behind the barn, that’s why!” he bellows.
“Dad, calm down. He’s really nice.”
“Really nice? What’s a twentysomething guy doing with an eighteen-year-old girl?”
Our eyes meet across the room, and I see it written all over his face.
The irony.
The guilt.
The hypocrisy.
My heart drops. There’s no way he can expect Lily to accept us as a couple after this tirade.
“I’m gonna guess he’s the one who gave you the alcohol, right?” Alex continues.
Lily says nothing.
I can see Alex’s teeth grinding. “I don’t want you seeing him again. I don’t trust him. You’re too young to date someone that old. Especially for your first relationship.”
She glares at him with fiery daggers in her eyes. “I’m eighteen. I can see whoever I want.”
Alex crosses his arms. “Not while you’re living in my house.”
My chest constricts. He knows she has nowhere else to go. Her limited work hours won’t be enough to cover an apartment while she’s going to school.
Unless I go with her.
“Actually,” Alex continues. “I’m gonna call the limo place on Monday and tell the manager one of their drivers is a pedophile. He shouldn’t be trying to pick up high school kids that he’s driving to their fucking prom.”
Lily’s face contorts with horror. “Dad! Seriously? He’s not a pedophile! He’ll lose his job. You can’t do that.”
“Watch me.”
My head swims with conflict. Part of me agrees with Lily—it’s not a big deal. She needs to make her own mistakes. But then another part of me is irrationally protective and wants to ground her for a month and protect her from all the evils in the world.
“You’re being an asshole,” Lily seethes. “He’s the first guy I’ve ever had a connection with.”
“Yeah, because he’s telling you everything you want to hear. You’ve only known him for a few weeks, now he’s got you lying, sneaking out of the house, and drinking. What’s next?”
“Lily,” I say calmly. “You really wanted to go to the concert. Why didn’t you bring him? We could’ve met him, and then your dad wouldn’t be having a fit right now.”
Her lips press together. “I did ask him to come. He wanted to be alone with me.”
“What a surprise,” Alex throws in. “If he was interested in a relationship, he wouldn’t mind meeting your father and best friend. He’s done.”
She sneers at him. “You can’t tell me what to do. You’ve been in my life for like ten minutes.”
I wonder if she saw the flash of hurt on his face. I definitely did.
His jaw clenches. “Sorry, Lily. My house, my rules.”
“Screw your rules. We’ll move out.” She throws her bag over her shoulder and heads for the stairs. “I wish you had died and not Mom,” she mumbles.
A blinding light flashes behind my eyes, and I feel a sudden rage so intense that it momentarily stuns me. “Lily! Don’t you dare talk to your father that way!”
Her head snaps around to look at me. “What the hell, Penny? Whose side are you on?”
I blink at her. I have no idea why that came out of my mouth. It’s something a mother would say—not a best friend. My head throbs in unison with my pounding heart.
“I-I’m not on any side,” I answer, fighting off a wave of dizziness. Ugh. I absolutely refuse to have one of my weird episodes right now.
