When the kid huffed his way out of the room, my dad continued: “My point is… my son and your daughter are in love. You need to get over it.” I glared at my dad until he briefly met my eye and winked before continuing. “No punk will take care of or look out for Alivia like Shane will.”
That was true. To be clear, though, my dad hadn’t always felt that way. When Alivia and I had gone through puberty, it had been hard to hide that we’d stepped from the “friend zone” to the “shit-I’m-into-you zone.” The change in attitudes had sent our fathers into panic mode. Everything they had feared would happen happened. My mom had most definitely gotten to Dad. In fact, most of the words he’d just recited like a hotshot were actually repeated verbatim from the things she’d said.
Trey stared at me, his scowl softening just a tad. “You know I love you, kid, and this has nothing to do with you.” He thought about that for a pause. “That’s a lie. It has to do with you being a horny teenager. You can’t help it. It’s kind of your job.”
“Pot meet kettle,” my dad mumbled.
“Fuck you,” Trey barked back, causing my dad to laugh harder. Beneath that hard, heavily tattooed exterior was also a man with a heart of gold. You’d never pick up on it by watching the way they bickered, but Trey adored my dad, and even more so my mom. They had a special bond, and Mom would defend or protect Trey as fiercely as she would my dad, siblings, and me. His ice-blue eyes settled on me. “You know where I’m coming from, right, kid?”
Throwing my dad, a “dude, chill” look, I tried to placate Trey by saying, “I know, Uncle Trey. I get it.” I wanted to add that I loved her, but that would only add fuel to his fire. The man had a rough history with love.
Despite that, I knew he loved me like a son. I had a special connection to him. Besides my parents, it was Trey who’d made it a point to keep me engaged. That influence had ebbed and flowed over the last thirteen years—and not always in a positive sense. Sometimes I’d learned by example what not to do with my life.
Trey had had a damn rough time of things after a tragic motorcycle accident. I barely remembered the details except for how it had affected me. I had come to depend on him being around, and then he wasn’t. To a seven-year-old, when the man I admired and loved as much as I did had gone off the grid, it had messed me up almost as much as losing my mom had. Stupidly, I had taken it all personally, until I later learned the scope of what had happened.
Those days had led to so much heartbreak for Trey. Then again, things happened for a reason. With time, he’d met Camilla and a daughter he never knew he had. The man he was today was miles away from the man he used to be. And that man had watched me grow from an obsessed kid to the man I was today… a man he loved, even though he hated that I was dating his daughter.
Before I could say anything else to negate the need to cut my dick off, Aunt Camilla and my mom walked into the living room. The sight of them had me bolting off the couch and reaching for the clear plastic container holding a pale-pink corsage.
One look at her husband had Camilla fisting her hips. “Trey Taylor,” she hissed in a harsh whisper. “Lose the attitude right now.”
In a flash, his expression smoothed just as Alivia hesitantly walked in, instantly making me stupid, with her beloved Miss Kitty following right behind her. That big white puff of fur hated my guts. Alivia claimed she was just old and cranky, but I believed her father had brainwashed the thing somehow.
Whatever awkwardness had hung heavily a few moments before literally dissipated. My mouth gaped at how gorgeous my girl was. The silky fabric hugged her everywhere, and its pale-pink color enhanced her beauty. Unlike most girls who fussed over prom with fancy hairdos, Alivia wore her hair naturally, just the way I loved it. She looked so much like her mom, with thick brown curly waves, bronzed skin, and curves that made her a knockout.