“He’s in a bad mood this morning.”
“He’s feral is what she means,” Robbie says.
Travis runs through the kitchen, grabbing Mum’s attention.
“Travis King, stop that running now!” she yells, and I realise just how high the tension is here today. She’s used his full name and she’s shouting. “Robbie, can you please go stop him?”
“No,” Robbie says. “I’ve gotta finish some homework before school.”
Mum’s face registers her exasperation. “I thought you did that last night.”
He shrugs. “Nah.”
She loses her shit with him, beginning a tirade of how she really feels about his study efforts this year. I leave them to it and go in search of King, finding him in the garage working on his bike.
He looks up as he hears me come in and the first thing I notice is his exhaustion. The second is the regret that flashes in his eyes. The third is the stubborn set of his shoulders.
“Zara,” he says, straightening and placing his tools down.
I move further into the garage. “We need to talk.”
“If you’re here about Fury, I’m not going to get into it with you. That’s club shit and it has nothing to do with you.”
God, he drives me crazy sometimes. If we didn’t have history featuring him not being an asshole, I’d give him a piece of my mind right now. But since he’s the man I’ve called my father for eight years, and since I respect the hell out of him as a father, I hold myself back. Also, I’ve had two appointments with my shrink this week and she’s helped me see some stuff I refused to see on my own. On top of that, she’s brought into focus what I think is really going on with King and Fury.
“I never want to get into club shit; you know that. I respect all the boundaries you have around that. But if you can’t see that this has to do with so much more than just club shit, you’re not as smart as I believe you to be.”
His chest rises and falls as he pushes his frustration out.
His eyes send me a warning I pay no attention to.
I step closer to him, consumed by all the confusing emotions that have come up since he discovered I’m with Fury.
I love him, yet I hate what he’s done.
I respect him, yet I can’t abide by his decision over this.
I think of him as a father, but none of what he’s done feels like something a father should do.
And that’s how I know Fury’s right when he says this is more about him and King than King and me.
“He did something you hate: he didn’t give you the full truth about us and then he went against what you told him to do. He broke your trust and made you question his loyalty. What you need to know is he told me no repeatedly. He refused to give in to his attraction. And then, when he did, he wanted to go straight to you with it. I told him not to. I wanted time with him before everything went to shit. So if you’re going to be angry, you need to be angry with both of us, not just him.”
“You were a child, Zara; he wasn’t. He shouldn’t have been anywhere near you.”
“Jesus, King, I was eighteen. I knew my way around guys.”
“Yeah, well you shouldn’t have known your way around any of my guys.”
“Why not?”
“Fuck, these aren’t guys who believe in fucking rainbows and unicorns.”
“So what you’re saying is you want something different for me than you want for my mother?”
“Don’t twist my words.”
“I don’t think I am. I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down. And I find it incredibly hypocritical.”