smile, then made myself scarce.
I walked a few blocks toward a shopping center but got waylaid by a beautiful park instead. The sun beat down, and I spied a bench in the shade under a massive oak tree. I made my way there and sat down to people watch.
As soon as I sat down, my phone rang. I recognized my father’s number. Strange. I hadn’t recalled giving my new number to him. I hadn’t spoken to him or my mother in weeks and I knew that had as much to do with my lighter mood as Torch did.
I took a breath for strength and answered.
“Hi, Daddy,” I said. “How did you get this number?”
“Never mind that. Do you know how worried I’ve been?”
“You don’t need to be. I’m doing fine.”
He practically growled into the phone. “Sydney, I don’t have a lot of time. Your mother’s on my back about you ... about a lot of things. Your fall semester enrollment deadline has come and gone. I’ve spoken to the Dean of the College of Business. I’ve pulled a few strings, but I’ve gotten you an extension.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I never asked you to.”
“Sydney, enough. Okay? I’m hearing things I don’t like,” he said.
“What could you possibly be hearing?” I asked.
There was silence for a moment. “Is this you? Is this true?” he asked.
The next thing I heard was a text come through. I pulled the phone away from my ear, put my father on speaker, then pulled up the text he sent.
My heart raced. It was a picture of Torch and me, taken last night in front of my apartment when he came to pick me up. We were kissing. Torch had his hand on my ass. The next picture was me climbing on the back of his Harley.
“Where did you get those?” I asked. Except I already knew. He’d hired someone to follow me. A private investigator, probably.
“Sydney,” he said. “Do you understand how damaging it could be if those get out?”
“Damaging to who?” I asked. “Daddy, I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“This guy you’re with. He’s a thug, Sydney.”
“You don’t even know him. Daddy, you don’t even know me anymore.”
“Well, that’s sure the truth,” he said. “But I am not going to stand idly by while my daughter whores herself out to some ... some ... biker trash just to hurt me.”
I felt like I was choking. “Whore? Did you just call me a whore? And what I do in my personal life isn’t about you!”
As the words flew out of my mouth, a darker thought came into my mind. If my father’s investigator got those pictures without my knowledge, what else did he have? Could he have seen into my apartment the night before that?
“Sydney, I’m trying to protect you!”
“By sending someone to spy on me?” I asked.
“Those pictures aren’t from me!” he shouted. “Jesus. Sydney. Wake up. They were sent to me by someone who wants to hurt me. Who can hurt me. And they were just the tip of the iceberg, baby girl. You need to come home. Now.”
I felt like I was going to be sick. Tip of the iceberg. God. My suspicions had to be true. My father probably had far more compromising pictures of me.
I told Torch I could take care of myself, but I suddenly felt very exposed. Had we been followed here? I thought we were alone out in the woods last night. Were there even more pictures ready to surface?
“I can’t talk right now,” I said. It took everything in me not to burst into tears. I would not give him that.
“Sydney,” he said, softening his tone. “Honey, this is still manageable. Okay? You’ve had your fun. I get it. And you’ve been a good girl. All this time. I know how hard you’ve worked. I know this guy, whoever he is, must seem mysterious and exciting. But this isn’t who you are. And it’s not too late to come home.”
I shook my head. I said the thing that had been making it feel as if my heart started beating for the very first time. “Daddy, I am home. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It’s not easy. And I know it’s not the path you or Mom wanted for me. But that’s the point. It’s my path. Not yours. And once again, I haven’t done anything wrong. I won’t be ashamed of it.”
He switched on a dime, going from concerned to angry. Furious.
“Goddammit, Sydney, I