just moved out of our apartment over the garage.” I turn to Colton, the booze completely clouding my judgment. “It’s nothing fancy, just a small one-bedroom place with a full bathroom and a kitchenette, but it’s furnished and we could rent it to you cheap.”
He raises an eyebrow and something about the way he looks into my eyes sends a shiver of excitement down my spine. “How cheap?”
I look to Dad and he shrugs. “How does two-fifty a month sound?”
My heart skips a beat, and I have a feeling I’m going to regret this. We already spend way too much time together, and now he’s going to be living just a few feet away? I’m playing with fire, and we all know what that leads to.
But it’s too late. The damage has been done.
“Two-fifty would be amazing,” Colton says. He holds up the stack of tips and smiles. “Do you take cash?”
Chapter Four
Colton says goodnight and heads home, so Daddy and I finish up and lock the doors before making our way out back to the house.
He puts his arm around me and hugs me close. “You did an amazing job tonight, Jojo,” he says. “I’m so proud of you. You’ve really stepped up this year. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” My heart swells with pride. I’ve been working so hard lately, but it’s finally starting to pay off. “It was a good night.”
“I like that Colton boy,” he says as he unlocks the door to our small two-bedroom house and pushes it open. “It was nice to see you two having a good time together. You don’t take enough time for yourself.”
I take a deep breath and step inside. Not this again.
“I don’t need time for myself, Daddy. I like working at the bar with you,” I say. “I’m happy.”
“I know you say that, but no girl your age should be hanging out with an old guy like me all the time,” he says. “You need to get out more. Hang out with your friends and have some fun. You’ve earned it.”
“You’re my friend,” I say.
“Josephine, you know that’s not what I mean,” he says.
I hate it when he calls me Josephine. It’s like he thinks using my full name is going to make his words mean more or something.
“I know what you mean, but I’m telling you that I’m fine,” I say. “Let’s not spoil a perfect night by talking about it, okay?”
He pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head. “I just love you so much. I don’t want to see you work so hard that you forget to have fun,” he says. “It can be a really lonely life when you refuse to let other people in.”
I wrap my arms around him and close my eyes as I sink into his chest. I know he means well, but sometimes he sounds like a broken record, always pushing me to make more friends or go out on more dates. He just doesn’t understand. I like my life just the way it is. It’s safe like this. Simple.
“I’m not lonely, Daddy,” I say. “I have you.”
“I won’t be around forever, Jojo,” he says.
I pull away and shake my head. “Don’t talk like that. You’re going to live forever,” I say. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed, and I better not wake up in an hour and find you out here watching TV, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says with a laugh. “Goodnight, sweet girl. Get some rest. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
I brush my teeth and strip down to my tank top and underwear before crawling under the covers. I expect to fall asleep in an instant, but instead I toss and turn half the night thinking about risk and regret and what it might feel like to finally let someone else in for a change.
Chapter Five
My sister’s newborn baby opens her mouth in a wide stretch of a yawn, her tiny hands curling around her face. I smile and snuggle her closer, wrapping the soft pink blanket tighter around her little body.
“She’s really beautiful, Cammie. You did good,” I say.
Cammie smiles and leans back in the big tattered recliner that used to belong to my dad. He moved it over here a few weeks ago before they brought the baby home from the hospital. We don’t have a lot in the way of material possessions in this family—never have—but it’s a sign of love for Dad to have moved