I snap, standing up, and I grab her arm. Pulling her to her feet, I grab her shoulders and fucking shake her.
“I’ll do whatever the fuck I want,” I tell her. I don’t know what the hell is coming over me, but I’m tired.
I’m tired of this game she’s playing.
I’m tired of not knowing what she’s thinking about me.
I’m tired of not knowing whether what she’s saying is true or not.
It takes all of my energy not to grab her by the throat, pin her against the wall, and fucking kiss her like I mean it. That would be too far. Hell, I’ve already taken it too far, but I can’t stop now.
But Adalee doesn’t even react to me shaking her. She doesn’t look sad or hurt or surprised.
She just looks...
Well, she looks like she expected this.
Why the hell does she look like she expected this?
“Like father, like son,” she says, and those words shoot to my fucking core.
“What?”
“Oh, Harrison, you heard me.”
I release her because I’m so shocked by what she’s saying. What the hell do those words mean? What do they mean right now? To us? To her?
Like father, like son?
Has my dad laid his fucking hands on her?
“Adalee, tell me what that means.”
Suddenly, I’m the one on the edge of my seat because I don’t know what she’s going to say next. Equal parts of me want to know and not know what words are going to pass her lips. All of time and space seems to stand perfectly still as I wait to hear what she’s going to say.
Adalee just looks at me.
Forlorn.
She looks forlorn, but I don’t know why.
She came to live with my family when we were just kids. I mean, we grew up together. We were close friends, at least, I thought we were. Everything sort of changed when we got to middle school. We started having different friends and pursuing different interests. She never really wanted to hang out with me after that, and I guess I always thought she was sort of weird for not dating or being interested in boys then.
But as far as I know, she’s had a pretty damn decent life.
I mean, she’s wanted for nothing.
My dad has completely taken care of everything she’s ever wanted or needed. There’s nothing that Adalee could wish for that she hasn’t gotten.
So why does she suddenly seem to dislike my dad?
“Harrison,” she finally says. “There are a lot of things you don’t know.”
She’s spared from having to say anything else because Miss Amber pushes the door to the room open and comes back in. She stops in the doorway when she sees us.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” she says.
Adalee and I quickly return to our seats, and I shake my head and get ready to paste my bad-boy persona back in place.