I ignored his question.

Who knew what he was talking about, but I was always sorry when I let him get me to talk. I just shut the fuck up and breathed.

“You’ve been practically keeping one hand in your pants’ pocket almost the entire time of every fucking visit except today. What do you keep in there like a goddamn security blanket, and why don’t you have it all of a sudden?”

I chewed on my lip, tapped my foot, and then tried saying my cards in my head over and over again.

Spade, spade, spade, spade, heart.

The room, with its high ceilings and long hallways off to the sides, echoed with conversations I couldn’t make out, and the bustle of visitors filled the air. Light poured through the windows, but it didn’t make anything feel happier.

“You think I’m an asshole.” My father put another card down and spoke quietly. “I am an asshole, Jared. I’ve made you hard, but I’ve also made you strong. No one will hurt you again, because you’re untouchable. Even to that girl, you’re out of reach.”

I snapped my eyes up to meet his, and my cards crumpled in my fist. The deep rumble of his raspy laugh ripped Tate from my head.

“You got your money,” I gritted out, tight-lipped. “Shut up.”

He just shook his head and continued arranging his cards. “Does she know about you? About what a coward you are? About how you abandoned your brother?”

Jax.

“There is no ‘she.’” My lie came out as a mumble.

“You’re right,” he retorted. “You’ll always be alone, because you know that that’s better. And she’ll find someone to marry her and fill her with babies that aren’t yours.”

My stomach caved, and I didn’t think.

I slammed my cards down on the table and launched out of my chair, popping my father right across the jaw. The ache in my fist spread up my arm, and I watched as he fell out of his chair, onto the floor, still laughing his ass off.

My chest heaved as I breathed through my nose.

“Next week is my last visit,” I told him. “I won’t miss you, but I know you’ll miss me.” “That’s enough of that.” I heard a voice say before I was grabbed by the arm.

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 558