31
Summer
Rhett:Please answer your phone.
Rhett:I didn’t mean what I said.
Rhett:Fuck, I hate myself so much for doing this to you.
Rhett:Are you okay? Can I just get some sign of life so I can stop walking around feeling sick all the time?
Rhett:Your dad told me you’re still alive. He also says he’s going to cut my hair off in my sleep.
Rhett:I want to explain myself. I want to apologize. I want to hear your voice. Even if it’s you bitching me out. I deserve that. Please pick up.
Rhett:I’m going to blow your phone up for the rest of your life.
Rhett:It wasn’t just sleeping together. Not even close. It was everything. And it scared me.
Rhett:I can’t lose you.
* * *
“Ihear you’re running a tight ship around here. Really cracking the whip.”
My head snaps up from the contract I’m scouring as Kip saunters into my office like he didn’t just have a heart attack last week.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
He rolls his eyes before helping himself to the chair across from me. “You going to tattle on me, Princess?” I flinch, and my dad’s head quirks in response. “Are you too old for that name now?”
My lips roll against each other, and I swallow the ache that crawls up the back of my throat. “Yeah,” I croak. “I think so. Have you heard from Winter?”
I spin in my office chair and bend down to pull something—anything—out of my filing cabinet. I need a breather away from that goddamn nickname. A break from his incessant calls and texts. Leave it to Rhett Eaton to not only crush my heart but also ruin my favorite childhood dress-up game and nickname.
“No.” Dad hesitates only slightly, but it’s enough to convince me I’m not getting the full story. “You enjoying your days here without me?” he jokes, perceptive enough to change the subject.
I sigh and lift the papers in front of me, tapping them against the desk to even all the edges before slipping a paperclip over the top corner. “Honestly, Dad, not really. I like it when you’re here. You’re a total nut.” I smile and slip the sheets into the manilla folder beside me. “But you’re my nut.”
I expect him to laugh, but he steeples his fingers beneath his chin and regards me carefully, like he can’t decide what to say next, which is truly something for a man like Kip Hamilton. “You’re my nut too. But are you a happy nut?”
“Happy enough.”
I straighten things on my desk like the nervous wreck that I am. My phone chimes and even that makes me start. Rhett has been relentless for an entire week now, but I’m still giving him the silent treatment. I’m not ready to talk to him. Or maybe I’m scared to talk to him.
“You gonna answer that?”
I finally meet my father’s eyes. “No.”
“You know that happy enough isn’t actually happy enough, right?”
A sigh escapes me as I press my back into the chair, pushing my shoulders back.
“Especially since you don’t seem all that happy to me.”
I grunt. “I’m just having a day.”
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Summer. I’ve watched you your entire life. I know what you look like happy, and it isn’t how you are when you’re here. Do you know why I work so hard here? Long hours? Weekends?”