Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82543 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82543 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
That sneaky bastard.
“I do. I don’t want him to leave, but it’s not like I can force him to stay. There are laws against keeping someone against their will, you know.”
“Oh shit. Are there?” Dad asks. “Totally unrelated note, don’t check the basement at home.”
“Ha ha.”
“I guess we’ll have to come up with a solution to get him to stay voluntarily, then.” His phone dings in his pocket, so he takes it out. “Huh.”
“What is it?”
Dad shakes his head. “Nothing.” Yet he types back a response before pocketing his phone again. “So, about this wedding.”
I look up at the sky. “Why, God? Why did you give me Marcus Talon as a father?”
Dad deepens his voice, pretending to be the voice of God. “Because you deserve the best, son.”
“Sure. ‘Best.’” I use air quotes.
But when we laugh, mine dies quickly. Because Levi will never know what it’s like to have a relationship with his dad like I do with mine. Both of them. I wanted to give him a taste of my world, welcome him into the fold with open arms, but he’s not ready yet.
I can accept that I might have fallen for him already, but he needs more time. It’s the giving up part that hurts. The thinking that I could be anything like his father and manipulate him because of money …
Then again, he also said he didn’t want me to think he was using me. He was doing it to protect me as much as it was to protect him. I forget sometimes that he was there to see it when people would use Brady and me to get to our dads, when we found out a lot of our friends were fake.
I appreciate him wanting to protect me from that kind of insecurity, but the way he went about it wasn’t the best choice.
“Quick question,” Dad says. “How important is Levi to you?”
I find the answer surprisingly easy. We’ve grown close in such a short period of time that it’s hard to remember what it was like before he was here. Imagining the next few months before the draft without him makes my chest ache. “Other than football, he’s the most important thing in my life.”
“Okay, ouch,” Dad says, but he’s smiling. “But I think that’s your answer.”
“My answer to what?”
“I wasn’t talking to you.” He turns his head, and when I follow his gaze and look behind us, Levi’s standing there, eyes still shiny from earlier and his nose tinged pink.
“Levi.” I stand, but my mouth stops working.
Pop is standing next to him, but I barely acknowledge his existence.
“Let’s leave them to it,” Dad says and guides Pop away.
I’m thankful they’re leaving us alone, while also wishing they could stay and stall for time so I can think of something to say other than I love you and please don’t leave me.
“I’m an idiot,” he says just in time to keep me from blurting something so heavy.
“You’re not an idiot,” I reassure him. “What you did was idiotic, but you’re not an idiot.”
“Can I claim temporary insanity for how I acted? That going from having all the money in the world to nothing made me a little crazy?”
I already want to wrap him in a hug and tell him we can work through it together, but I want more of an explanation than that.
“I don’t want to make you feel like I’m trying to manipulate you into staying with me.”
“You didn’t. You wouldn’t. Deep down, I know that. I’m just freaking out because I did this amazing thing by coming to California, and I put all my faith on being able to keep this secret from Dad, which was stupid of me because I should’ve known he’d keep tabs on me, and it would only be a matter of time. My lack of backup plan when I came out here was both exhilarating and my downfall. Because now I have two and a half years of uncertainty, and it’s scary. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that you were the collateral damage in an explosion of my own inadequacies.”
That’s such a Vanderbilt thing to say.
Levi shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I’m not as good as you with the apologies. This might be shocking news, but I was never taught how to say sorry properly.”
I smile. “You’re doing better than you think you are.”
“I dunno. It’s no public kiss in a stadium full of spectators.”
I step toward him. “This is better than that.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s just us on a beach, our problems unsolved but acknowledging that what we have is worth the fight. I will always fight for you. I will protect you against any Vanderbilt that tries to sabotage the future you want, and that includes yourself.”
Levi’s arms go around my waist. “I’d say between you and your pop, you can protect me from myself.”