“Are you going to meet those Anderson boys?” my father asked.
I furrowed my brow as my mother sighed.
“We’ve seen the security footage of the house, Sam. We know the boys have been hanging around here lately. We assume with you,” my father said.
“You know how we feel about those boys,” my mother said. “You know they aren’t allowed here.”
“First of all, they’re grown men. Like I’m a grown woman,” I said. “Second of all, I’m not sure why you guys have always treated them so poorly. They grew up next door to us. Their parents were just as rich as you two are.”
“It doesn’t matter why we don’t want them around here,” my father said. “The point is, that’s the rule. It was the rule when you were growing up, and it’s the rule now.”
“You guys are being serious,” I said. “This is insane. I’ve known those guys for years. They’re incredible people. Good men. What in the world do you have against them?”
“Don’t throw that attitude around with us,” my father said.
“It’s not an attitude! All I did was ask you a question. Can I not do that now either?” I asked.
“When you came wandering up onto our doorstep three weeks ago, we took you in without a second thought,” my father said.
“I’m your daughter! You should take me in, and not make me feel like crap about it,” I said. “That’s what parents do, among other things.”
“The circumstances and the rules of this house haven’t changed. Our expectations of you haven’t changed,” my mother said.
“Then maybe it was too much to expect my parents to take me in during an emotional time in my life,” I said.
“Just because you need time to breathe in whatever it is you do with your life doesn’t mean you get to run around with a bunch of boys we don’t approve of,” my mother said.
“They aren’t dogs,” I said. “They’re good men, Mom. The best of men.”
“I saw the way they used to look at you,” my father said. “I’m a man. I know what they wanted. Why did you think we always wanted Lauren coming over here instead of you going over there? Money doesn’t make a man decent, Sam. Just because their family is rich doesn’t mean they have a moral code when it comes to impressionable young women.”
I glared at my father and bit down onto my tongue. It wasn’t worth the energy to fight with him. It never had been, and it wouldn’t be now. A silence fell over the kitchen table, and I drew in a deep breath to try and settle myself. It had been a mistake coming home. I knew that from the start, and yet I had continued to punish myself by staying.
“You will follow the rules of this house, or you’ll go back to your own home. It’s as simple as that,” my father said. “Those men are not allowed on this property or in this house so long as you’re here. We don’t like you hanging around them, and it won’t happen. Not under this roof. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” I said. I climbed the steps to the room I’d been staying in. The room that should have always been mine to come back to, but now looked less inviting than the Holiday Inn. I grabbed the few things I’d brought with me and stuffed them into my suitcase. I was done with this shit. I was leaving, and I wouldn’t be coming back. Not again.
Not ever.
I rushed down
the stairs, not even bothering to look at my parents who were standing in the doorway of the kitchen. I rolled my suitcase out the door and slammed it behind me as I left.
I climbed into my car feeling both defeated and relieved. I drove over to the hotel to meet the guys and parked in the lot of the hotel. I briefly closed my eyes and rested my head against my steering wheel. Once I felt calm and composed, I walked into the restaurant where all of the guys were waiting for me.
One look at my face had them all rushing over to me in an instant.
“What’s wrong?” Liam asked. “What happened?”
“Are you not feeling well? Should we get you to a doctor?” Luke asked.
“I’m fine. It’s my fucking parents,” I said breathlessly.
“Do they know?” Levi asked.
“They know you guys have been over and they sat me down like a fucking teenager and lectured me about the rules of the house. They told me I could follow them, or I could leave. So I left. It just feels so shitty. Why can’t they be more like your parents were?” she asked.
“So, you’re ready to come home now?” Liam asked.