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“I just don’t want you to jump into anything you're not ready for.”
I shake my head. “You don’t get to walk back into my life after two years of treating me like I’m nothing and start commenting on how I should live my life. It’s none of your business, you’ve made sure of that.” Anger fills me as I look over to Bianca, who’s glaring at Toby. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
“Keep your boy on a leash, big brother.” She looks to Bishop, who shakes his head at his best friend.
I leave the two of them on the ice and head toward the exit.
“The fucking balls on that guy,” Bianca growls as she loops her arms through mine. “It’s not his life. You can do whatever you damn well please. Asshole comes back after years and thinks he can start up again with his overprotective crap. Yeah, not happening.”
“Yeah,” I murmur in agreement. We walk down the pathway toward a cute little café on campus. Bee keeps talking, but I’m not listening.
Normally, I’d be excited by the fact that Toby is jealous, only that didn’t come off as jealousy, it sounded more like he was judging me.
When we get to the café, we head over to the counter, ordering a sandwich and a coffee. “I’ll bring it over when it’s ready,” the lady at the counter tells me.
“Thanks,” I say with a smile as Bianca and I turn to find a seat. “Bee. Do you think it’s too soon for me to date? It’s been a few weeks since Jonas and I broke up, and even though we were together for a few years, it never felt like anything more than just friends, you know?”
“No, I don’t think it’s too soon. What I do think is that Toby was being a dick. You're young, single, and deserve to enjoy yourself. You’ve had, what, one boyfriend in your life? You need to get out there and live a little. He can’t just start inserting himself in your life again. And he sure as hell can’t judge you on how you live your life whether he’s in it or not. You're going on a date for frig’s sake. Not sleeping with the whole football team.”
Heat creeps up my cheeks and I look around to see people watching. “Bee, shh,” I whisper-hiss. I love this girl but sometimes she has no sense of volume.
“Sorry,” she sighs. “He just gets me so worked up. Do you remember how we used to sneak out to hang out with boys?” She rolls her eyes. “I swear, any time a guy looked your way, he would growl like a dog.”
“He would not.” I laugh, a smile forming on my lips at the thought. She’s not wrong, though; Toby never let a guy talk to me for long, always giving them a dirty look, but I didn’t care because I didn’t want any of them.
And now, even though I still want him, I know I need to move on. I want what we had back, but within reason. Yet, I want to talk like we used to, hang out, laugh, smile, and just be with my best friend.
But things won’t be exactly the same because interfering with who I go out with isn’t something he can do now, I won’t let him.
If he doesn’t want me in that way, then it’s not fair for him to stop me from finding someone who does.
The waitress brings us our food and we spend the rest of our time in the café talking about school and our double date this weekend.
I feel bad for Jonas but he has a better chance at being with Bianca then I do with Toby. He’s just too stubborn to say anything.
At least Bianca isn’t sitting around waiting for a boy. I need to take a page from her book. And that’s exactly what this weekend is.
I’m excited. Ryan is really sweet, he makes me laugh, and is the only guy I’ve felt butterflies for, apart from Toby.
“Come on, babe. We better get going if we’re going to catch your dads.”
We pack up and head down to the football stadium. “Girl, next time, can we take a car? I’m all about getting my steps in but this campus is massive. This is enough cardio for the month,” I groan, tired as hell from all this walking.
“Drama queen, much?” Bianca giggles, patting me on the back.
The guys are already out on the field when we get there. My dad, Brody, is barking orders while my dad, Chase, is looking at a clipboard.
I smile, excited to see them. I really am a daddy's girl, and I have no shame in it. They’re amazing men who would burn the world down for me. I’m lucky to have them.
Putting my fingers in my mouth, I give a sharp whistle. Chase looks up and when he sees it’s me, his face splits into a wide grin.
I giggle, taking off running. He tosses the clipboard to the ground and catches me when I get to him. “Hey, Lillypad,” he murmurs against the top of my head, giving me a kiss.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Missed you, short stuff.” When we pull back from the hug, he tousles my hair.
“Dad,” I groan, ducking out of his way, laughing as I fix my hair.
