his hand, cream cheese on his bottom lip. “You ready?” he grunts. “Because we need to talk on the way.”
The final meeting is in thirty-minutes, at ten—or as Sebastian declared, “The ass-crack of dawn,” when I called him to ask if he’d pick me up.
“I don’t have anything to talk to you about,” I coolly respond, popping two slices of bread into the toaster. “In fact, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll probably avoid talking to me at all today.” There’s a long stretch of silence and I don’t bother turning around to see the annoyed expression he’s probably wearing.
“So, it’s going to be like that?”
“Yes,” I answer simply. “It’s going to be exactly like that.”
I hear his glass of orange juice slam down harshly on the counter. “Well, tough shit, V. You can act like a baby about it, but—.”
“Oh, that’s rich.” I laugh darkly, finally turning to look at him. “You want me to stop acting like a baby? Maybe you should try not treating me like one for once.”
“You want to do this here, fine. You and Reyn? Not happening.” Whatever’s in my eyes makes him toss the bagel aside. He dusts his palms off with two pointed whacks against one another. “I’m doing this for your own good.”
I tilt my head, watching him. “Maybe that’s how it started. Maybe there was a time this was all about what was best for me. But now?” My smile feels tight and wrong. “Now, it’s something else, and you know it.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Emory,” I start, staring calmly into his eyes. “You have two girlfriends.” I hold up two fingers. “Two of them. I never said a word when Campbell dragged you around school by your balls. I kept my mouth shut when she kept you chained to your phone. I didn’t say a thing when I watched her tell you how to dress, how to talk, how to exist. You know why? Because for some crazy reason, being with her made you happy. If I want a boyfriend—”
He cuts in with a clipped, “Not him.”
“Then who?” I wonder, lifting my chin. “Not Reyn. Definitely not Sebastian, or Tyson, or Carlton, or Ben. Go on, then. Tell me who meets your standards. Give me a list of names, Emory.”
Instead, he just grits out. “You’re not seeing him again, and that’s final.”
Right.
Here’s the anger.
Despite feeling like I’m shaking with the force of it, I keep my voice low and controlled. “I’m only going to say this once, so you’d better listen. You’re not my father. Even if you were, you’d still have no say over what I do with my time, my feelings, or my body.”
“Oh, I’d love to see what Mom and Dad would say about this.” He crosses his arms, eyes shrewd. “You think this is a bad reaction? Wait until they get wind of it.”
“You’re threatening to tell them?” Having seen this coming miles away, I just shrug. “Go ahead. I don’t give a single solitary fuck.”
Pure disbelief fills his eyes. “Jesus, he really got into your head, didn’t he?”
“You still don’t get it!” My toast pops and I completely ignore it. “This is me, Em! This is who I am, without the pills, without feeling like I’m some defective loser, without my family constantly breathing down my neck and telling me how to feel. This is the real me. Get used to it.”
“Oh, he’s good.” His laugh is completely without humor. “So that’s how he’s playing it, huh? Got you going on some little independence kick? Open your eyes, V, this is what he does. He manipulates situations for—”
“Give me a break.” I roll my eyes so aggressively, I might have pulled something. “Look at his life, Emory. Who exactly is he manipulating with these superpowers of his? He can’t even leave the house without getting frisked. He has to go through three layers of procedure just to have me in his kitchen for an hour. He couldn’t even eat at my table until Mom and Dad un-manipulated their own situation.”
“Poor Reyn,” Emory sneers, nostrils flaring. “He’s such a victim for committing a felony and almost killing you in the process. We should throw him a pity party. In fact, you know what? I’ll design the banner myself.” He sweeps his hand high. “It’ll say ‘that’s what you get, asshole’!”
I push off the counter, feeling my eyes flash red. “Don’t even act like you haven’t been worried about him all this time.”