“Tor, please don’t fight with him,” she begs. “I know you could hurt him but please don’t.”
“Don’t worry, Kenzi. We’ll figure this all out. Everything will be okay.” Car headlights shine across my windows. “He’s here so I’m going to go talk to him. I want you to just calm down, okay? I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I don’t wait for him to knock; I just go to the front door and open it, and his fist immediately crashes into my face. I stumble back as blood spurts from my nose and he slams the door shut behind him.
Steadying myself, we stand eye-to-eye, glaring at each other. We are equal in height and build. Equal in strength. Our love and protectiveness for Kenzi just as equal. I know neither one of us would back down.
“You mother fuckin’ pig,” he growls. “You touched my daughter? You’re her uncle.”
“Ash…” He punches my face again, and as I shake it off, he sucker punches me in the ribs and I feel a harrowing snap.
“I trusted you,” he states, looking me in the eye, forcing me to see the pain, betrayal, and devastation seeping from his soul. Making me feel it with him. How the fuck could you do this to me?” he shoves me hard in the chest and I stumble backwards again.
“You gotta know I fought this, man. I fought it with every part of myself. I tried to put distance between us, to try to forget the feelings I had for her, and change the feelings she had for me – all of it. But everything just kept coming back stronger. I just couldn’t fight it anymore,” I admit. “I love her more than anything. I think I always have, as fucked up as I know that sounds. We have some kind of deep connection. She makes me happier than I’ve ever been, and I know she feels the same way about me.”
He shakes his head as if he almost pities me for believing my own words. “She’s only eighteen, Toren. She has no idea what she feels.”
“That’s not true.”
“Whatever the hell you think is going on, it ends today,” He shoves his finger into my chest. “I’ve given you everything, Tor. I’ve saved your ass a thousand times. You can’t have my daughter.”
“I’m not letting her go. With or without your blessing, I’m spending my life with her.”
His head tilts up to stare at the ceiling before he looks back at me. “Listen to yourself. What the fuck is wrong with you? She thought of you as her uncle. You babysat her for years! How sick are you?” He shoves me again, hard, and my ribs scream in pain.
“You’re right. It did make me feel sick.”
“So you just kept doing it? What the fuck, Tor? I can’t wrap my head around this.” He grips his head with his hands, glaring at me. “Who are you?”
I shake my head as blood drips from my face onto my carpet. “I don’t know. I couldn’t stop. I know it was wrong, Ash. And I’m so fucking sorry. You have no idea how much this has been killing me inside.”
“Killing you?” He bellows. “No. This is killing me. When did you start touching my little girl, you sick fuck?”
The accusation I’ve dreaded hearing has finally been spoken.
“I never touched her. I swear. This only happened a few months ago. I never once thought of her other than as my niece and a friend before that. I swear. I have never touched her inappropriately. I could never do that.”
“You’re fucking sick,” he states, hatred heavy in his voice as he points at me. “You were my best friend. I was supposed to be able to trust you.” He punches me again. This time, I fall backward onto the floor and he takes the opportunity to kick me hard in the ribs with his steel-toed boots.
“You can trust me. I love her, Ash. I’d never hurt her.”
“Shut the fuck up!” his boot rams into the other side of my rib cage and I see stars from the pain.
I try to sit up, my hand clutching my side. “You practically handed her to me, Asher. You can hate me all you fuckin’ want but don’t act like I’m some kind of fucking predator. I’ve cared about her since the day you put her into my arms and then left me to take care of her while you and Ember ran around with the band.”
“Mother-fuck-you, Tor. This is about Ember, isn’t it? You wanted her and you’ve hated me ever since I got her. You think I didn’t know that? So you think you can just take my daughter as some kind of consolation prize?”
I slowly stand up, my vision blurry. “This has nothing to do with Ember.”
“That’s bullshit. You’re pissed because I got Ember and I got to keep the band while you lost everything. So now what? Screwing my kid is payback?”