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He holds the screen door open for me like a perfect gentleman.
I take a deep breath to ready myself and we walk through the door together.
There are about a million relatives milling around the living room.
The smell of turkey and potatoes and pies fills the house. My grandma is the best cook ever, and she refuses to let anyone leave until they have eaten so much they need to unbutton their pants.
I think about Gavin unbuttoning his pants and blush.
My dad notices us first. Instead of welcoming me, he calls out to Gavin, “What are you doing here? Get lost on the way to a strip club?”
His voice is about twice as loud as it should be and slurred enough to let me know he’s already had plenty to drink.
I cringe as the room goes quiet at my dad’s crude words, and everyone turns to stare at us.
This is the big moment. It’s time for me to tell my dad that I’m not his little girl anymore. I’m a grown woman with grown-woman urges that only Gavin can satisfy.
Well, maybe not that last part.
“Get your fucking hands off my daughter!” Dad shouts as he notices Gavin protectively touching me.
Dad tries to set his beer on the fireplace mantel. He misses, and it falls to the floor, spilling beer everywhere. He’s too enraged to even notice.
“Let’s go,” I whisper toward Gavin.
He pulls me behind his massive body and stands between me and my charging father. “Settle down, Peter.”
He pokes Gavin in the chest.
Gavin is so big and solid, he doesn’t budge at all.
“You’re fucking my little girl? What kind of freak are you?”
He pokes Gavin again.
In a whisper that only Dad and I can hear, Gavin says, “I won’t warn you again. Settle down.”
Dad finally notices the menace in Gavin’s voice and takes a step back. He doesn’t give up on his outrage, though. “Get out of here. Both of you. You aren’t wanted.”
Several of my cousins gasp in shock.
On any other day, I would have obeyed. My dad is rejecting me once and for all. He’ll probably stop helping me pay for college. I’ll probably be banned from the house. It’s the worst of all of my old fears happening at once.
But all I can think about is that he’s saying something bad about Gavin. There’s no way I’m going to hide behind the love of my life as my dad abuses him.
I rush around my love’s body and poke my dad inhischest to give him a taste of his own medicine.
“Don’t you ever talk to Gavin or me like that again, Dad. I’m not a little girl. We are not doing anything wrong. We’re in love and we’re going to stay together, so you better get used to it or you’re going to miss out on all your grandchildren.”
Dad looks shocked at my outburst. “But he’s so old and you’re so young. It’s just not right.”
“I’m eighteen. I’ll be nineteen in a few months. There’s nothing wrong with us being together.”
“People are going to gossip.”
“Let them. It won’t last long once they see how perfect we are together. I’m not losing out on this great romance because a few bitches can’t hold their tongue.”
“Watch your language, little lady.”
