“Father, wait.”
But he’s already hung up. Gone. How can this be my life?
“I’m sorry.” I start but the burn at the back of my throat makes the rest of what I owe them crack into splinters.
All of a sudden, I feel so tired, I’d laugh but even that takes more energy than I currently have.
Warren is the first to reach out. He strokes a thumb down my cheek. The other two are there but give me space.
I stroke a finger over the jewel-encrusted Eiffel Tower charm Daemon gave me. It’s beautiful and when the light catches it just right it reminds me of our time together in Paris. Just the four of us. No outside world. Just them, me and coding.
My fingers move to the snowflake. “On my eighteenth birthday, my father gave me this. It was the brightest day of my life.” I tapped the snowflake. “Up until that day everything was great. Or as great as could be expected with a father who had his nose in the books all the time and a mother who assumed her only daughter would follow in her footsteps and become a bioengineer.”
I turn to Daemon. “I guess that’s something we both have in common.”
Daemon crouches in front of me, silent. But his eyes give away more than he thinks. He’s hurt.
“A week prior to my birthday I received notice I had been accepted into Westmoore, but I changed my major at the last minute and wanted to surprise my parents over birthday cake. I wanted them to see I knew what I wanted and was brave enough to go after it.”
I give a humorless laugh. “The joke was on me though. I should have known they would react the way they did since they did the same to my brother when he dropped out of college to pursue his dream of owning a chain of bars. Hindsight. But... like all teens I thought I was special. I thought they might be reserved or a little pissed. But to outright turn on me? Yeah, caught me by surprise. That day was when everything froze. They forced me out of the house and dropped another bomb on me a week after—I pay my own college or start flipping burgers. Didn’t matter to them.”
Now tears decide to show up. Great. I brush them away.
“But of course they didn’t leave it at that. I had to drop the Kelley name or find another college. That’s why I hid the fact the dean is my father. I didn’t mean to lie or get any of you in trouble.”
I pause and take a deep soul-cleansing breath. “So this snowflake reminds me even those who say they love me can still freeze me out of their lives. I wear each of these charms as a life lesson learned.” I touch each charm and pause over the Eiffel Tower, smiling up at Daemon.
“These hearts are for friends. Brooklyn, who you’ve met. And these two—I lost right out of high school. Drunk driver. I carry the hearts to remind me life is short. They helped me not freak out when you ushered me into your plane.”
Erik takes my hand and presses a warm kiss to the center of my palm. He raises his gaze to mine and we pass several seconds staring into each other’s. “It’s hard to imagine a parent hurting their child so deeply. It makes such little sense, sweetheart. Do you know why?”
Daemon’s heavy weight sinks the mattress beside me and I fall into him from the shift of my weight. “Control. They ruled it over us as children. Every time I stepped outside their plan as a child the punishment always stripped me of something I loved. I guess that’s why I stick to the back of the classroom, not wanting to disrupt or call attention. Habit, ya know. And why I kept quiet about who my father is.”
“Out of fear.”
I nod.
“The last thing they could take away from you was their love.”
“Yep.”
They all reach for me and draw me in close. I wish the tears would just fall and I could let out the years of pain wearing down my soul but I’m just too tired.
It’s hard, but I stand and walk to the door. “I’m going to take the second bedroom. I need some time if you don't mind.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Warren and Daemon are across the room, pulling me back in.
“It’s for the best. I know for a fact none of us expected this to last beyond a few weeks of fun to chase away the winter blues. Distance will help with that. I’ll be up and ready for our flight in the morning.”
They are reluctant at first though Warren and Daemon let me leave, but it’s Erik who follows. “If you need someone to spare with or over eat cookies with, come find me.”
I nail him with a quizzical look from across the room. “I’ve hurt them, and you, but you still want to binge on cookies?” I offer a small smile. It’s all I can muster at the moment.
“Shit happens, sweetheart. It’s up to you how much you let others control your life.”
Hours later those words hang at the front of my mind. As do all the times the three men have been there for me. The way they welcomed me into their lives. But deep down I know the next weeks of my life are going to be hell. All the work I’ve put into my studies, days and years of pure focus. The one time I take a little something for me it’s all lost.
Hours tick by and I watch the moon rise from my lonely bed. For two solid weeks I’ve slept snuggled between my lovers. Tonight is the first night I’ve been alone. And it sucks.