But I also don’t want to puke it, so I put it back on the plate.
“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what’s going on?” Gabe asks. “I swear I’m not trying to get you to dish for the sake of gossip, and I’m not trying to act as a stand-in for Rob, but clearly, something’s bothering you.”
“Yeah, well, it would be easier to talk to a friend,” I say.
“Ouch. Yeah, I can’t say I don’t deserve that. I’ve been a dick to you.”
I flinch. He doesn’t even know the truth about how much of a dick I was to him. He knows I graffitied his bike, but Ace saw to it that Gabe didn’t know what I wrote. It had just been something stupid about him not being able to run from his past, and that had been before I knew about the whole kidnapping ordeal. I felt just terrible after Ace explained to me that something terrible had happened, but it was Gabe himself who told me about what had happened.
I had only done it to try to get the guys off my back, but I should've realized it would only escalate things. Sometimes, when you're trying to stand up for yourself, you're just making things worse, and I don't want to ever have to worry about anything like that again.
And the guys haven’t been bullying me. I don’t know if I would call Ace, Gabe, and Zac friends, but at least they aren’t my bullies anymore.
“Do you want me to grovel first? Then you’ll talk?”
“I never said I was going to talk, so you can hold off on the groveling.”
“Good. I didn’t really want to do that.” He smiles, but he looks serious. “Seriously, Katie, I would rather you talk than continue to look so…”
“Depressed?”
“No, that’s not it. You look… scared.”
“I’m not scared!” I protest.
“I hope not,” he murmurs. “But something is clearly going on, and we can continue to talk in circles about my wanting you to talk and your not wanting to, but I think it would be better for you in the long run if you start talking.”
I inhale deeply through my nose and exhale through my mouth. “My father came by.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. We don’t really talk, and it wasn’t a good visit, and I would be so very happy if I never see him ever again.”
“Well, shit. What did he want?”
I hesitate. “He… He’s looking for my mom.”
“He lost your mom? Holy shit, Katie, is he abusive?”
“Yeah.”
“Has he hurt you?”
“Not me, no, but… he’ll never find my mom.”
“If she’s his target, and she’s not around, he might find a new target.”
“Trust me. He won’t lay a hand on me.”
“That’s for damn sure. Do you want to move in here?”
I gape at him. “I don’t think that’s the answer, no.”
“Why not?” he demands. “I could run your father down. Yeah, sure, Ace doesn’t normally tackle on the football field, but he’s made a few tackles here and there when he throws the rare interception. We can handle him. Seriously.”
“Trust me,” I say softly. “You don’t want to be on my father’s radar, and I didn’t tell you so you can act all macho and act like I can’t handle my own shit. I can.”
“I know you can,” Gabe says, “but does that mean that you have to?”
I can’t help smiling at him. “Thanks. I appreciate it, and I do feel better for having told you. Just… let me tell Rob, okay? And don’t act like this is a big deal. It’s not. My father will move on.”
“I hope so,” Gabe says darkly. “For his sake.”
I laugh, but Gabe looks serious.
Deathly serious.
He wouldn’t hurt my father, would he?
Would I stop him if he did go to hurt my father?