AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Dad— ” I start.
“Sit,” he orders, pointing at the dining table.
I scramble for a chair and try again. “Dad— ”
“No. Don’t say a word, kid. Not a word.”
We sit at opposite ends of the table, my hands so clammy I have to wipe them on the front of my pants. The silence drags on again. It’s unbearable. But it also gives me plenty of time to consider how we got here. All the opportunities I had to tell him the truth about my living situation but choked on my words, because the lie was easier to live with than the consequences.
I did this to myself.
“You saw the photos in the tabloids,” I finally say. This time, he doesn’t cut me off.
“Yes.” His jaw is tight.
“But how are you here now? They were literally only published an hour ago.”
“Some asshole from theDaily Staremailed my publicist at five o’clock this morning asking for a comment to go with the story.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Man, they work fast. The vultures were hungry.”
“Eleanor knows to contact me at any hour if it pertains to my kid,” Dad says flatly. “She texted me the photos they sent her. I took one look and booked a flight out.”
He looks haggard. Half a day of traveling does a number on anyone, but I suspect the tired wrinkles around his eyes and limp posture are evidence of the shock it gave him to see his daughter plastered in the pages of a magazine, photographed with random men, including a notorious British lord.
This was a difficult transition for him, my year abroad. Andnow that he’s discovered I’ve been lying to him, it justifies all his fears.
I knew better. I anticipated this very moment but convinced myself I could prevent the inevitable. Or at least delay it long enough to enjoy myself in the meantime.
Unfortunately, I never did come up with a plan for when it all blew up in my face.
“Okay,” I start. “That headline is bad, but I promise you, it’s not as bad as it looks— ”
“Yeah, let’s circle back on that one,” Dad interrupts. He pushes hair off his forehead and searches my face. “First and foremost— who are those boys, these roommates?”
“They’re exactly who they said they were in their emails. Lee, Jack, and Jamie.” I bite my lip. “Only difference is they’re not girls.”
“Did you know this from the beginning?”
“No. I swear I didn’t. I truly thought I was rooming with women.
I promise.”
He exhales, dropping his elbows to his knees. “You lied to me, Abbey. And not just once. This was a pretty elaborate scheme. I wouldn’t have thought you could be so conniving.”
Hearing him say that hurts more than I expected. It’s like a dull knife stabbing at my chest. I hate disappointing my dad. Even worse, there’s genuine pain in his eyes. It guts me.
“I panicked.” It’s the truth. The best one I have. “I got here in the middle of the night, and Lee opened the door, only Lee’s a guy, and oh, Jackie and Jamie are guys too, and now what the hell am I going to do?”
“Call me. You tell me and we figure it out. I could have gotten you an apartment somewhere.”
“I slept on it. I was convinced that in the morning, I would call you. Go to a hotel or whatever. But honestly, I figured you’d freak out and put me back on a plane.”
“Give me a little credit,” he says, wounded.
“Then I woke up and met them all downstairs for breakfast. We hit it off right away. I swear, it was like we’d known each other for years. It felt like home, and by the time we were done eating, I didn’t want to leave.”
“You could have trusted me enough to listen.”
