Kiss To Forget (Blairwood University #2) - Anna B. Doe Page 0,108
between you two, and it’s none of my business, but if he hurt you in some way—”
He hurt me, all right, just not how she thinks.
“No, he didn’t hurt me.”
Alyssa continues like she didn’t hear me. “Because if he did, you don’t have to stand for it. We can go to the police—”
Police?
“Alyssa, I’m fine, really…”
She stops suddenly, falling more into the cushion. “Oh… Well, if you say so.” She sounds almost disappointed.
“But thank you, for offering.” Her reaction wasn’t anything like what I expected. You’d think people would assume the worst, like Nixon did, but she didn’t seem to care one bit about why I was there, as much as she did about the reason I was upset.
She smiles at me. “We girls gotta stick together.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
NIXON
“Jade?” I call out as soon as I enter the house. Putting the pizza box on the table next to the front door, I take off my jacket while at the same time toeing off my shoes.
“In the kitchen.”
In the past week, Jade’s been slowly coming out of it. She’s still been sad a lot, breaking down every time something reminds her of Mom, but she hasn’t been shut up in her bedroom all the time, so I’m calling it a win.
Picking up the box, I go down to the kitchen. “I grabbed your favor—” The words die on my lips as I see the man sitting at the kitchen table across from Jade. “What are you doing here?”
“This is still my house,” Dad says, leaning back in his chair.
“It stopped being your house the moment you packed your shit and left!”
“Nixon!” Jade yells, glaring at me.
“Go to your room, Jade,” I say, not leaving her space to argue. I don’t want her here to see what’s about to go down.
Tears fill her eyes at my harsh tone. “He’s our dad.”
I feel guilty for making her cry, but I can’t worry about that just now.
“Your room, Jade. Now.”
She glares at me, but does as I say. Her feet stomp against the stairs as she climbs to her room, followed by the door shutting loudly behind her. God, I just hope she doesn’t do something stupid.
“You have no right.”
“She’s my daughter, and this is my house.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Mom’s attorney called the other day, notifying us about the reading of her will. We were both supposed to be present, along with our father, apparently, so I asked him to give us a little bit more time. I was afraid that forcing Jade into this situation would trigger her once again, and all the progress we made recently will be for nothing.
“Why are you here?”
“I came to see my kids.”
“Try again. Make it believable this time.”
His lips press in a tight line. “What is your problem?”
“You.” I stab my finger into his chest. “You’re my problem. So tell me, why are you here now? After all this time?”
He sighs, rubbing his hand over his face. “I came here to see my children. To talk.”
“To talk?” I chuckle humorlessly. “Now you want to talk?”
“Nixon…”
“No, don’t Nixon me. You have no right, Dad. Fuck it, you don’t even deserve to be called a dad.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand perfectly, trust me. I don’t give a damn about what you need or want now, I just want you gone. As far away from Jade and me as possible.”
We don’t need somebody who’ll pack his shit and leave at the first sign of trouble, not when there is so much uncertainty in our lives as it is.
“I loved her!” he yells. I can hear the desperation in his voice. I just don’t have it in me to care.
“If you loved her you’d have stayed!”
He shakes his head, running his fingers through his perfectly styled hair. He should have tried to look more heartbroken. “She was dying. My wife was dying.”
“My mom was dying too. Jade’s mom was dying, and you weren’t here for us. For her.”
“I couldn’t have gone through this. Not again. Watching Helen fight cancer the first time was hard enough.”
“Well neither could I, yet I stayed.”
We stare at each other, both of us panting hard. Finally, he shakes his head and turns to leave.
“Sure, leave,” I yell after him. “After all, that’s what you’re best at.”
I wait until the door closes behind him. Once I’m sure he’s gone I let my rage out. Grabbing the nearest thing to me, I throw it across the room. There is a loud cracking sound as the