NINETEEN
Love is a funny thing, isn’t it?
One minute you think everything is just so simple, and the next, you’re whispering sweet lyrics to a girl you’ve always wanted as your own. Those three days were fucking insane.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her, but what was worse was how the thought of love hit me like a clashing wave, the very thing that disturbed the black sea. Why else would I have been so concerned? Or wanting to spend every waking moment with her? Why else would I have called so many times, climbed up that skimpy tree, and then snuck through her window, just to tell her exactly how I felt?
It was wrong of me to say it knowing we couldn’t take this thing too far, but I couldn’t not tell her. This was Chloe, a girl I’d known for years. She grew up around me. She trusted me, and I trusted her. I had no reason to doubt it. She was way more mature than the average female her age. She was perfection, and every part of her I desperately needed to belong to only me.
But something deep in my core twisted and knotted, proving that she wouldn’t be mine once this summer was over. She would be back at school, and she would most likely reconsider her love for me, or figure she needed someone her age. Most of all, she’d take Izzy into true consideration.
I didn’t know what would happen, but until I was to find out, I was satisfied with where we stood. I walked across the street, tugging my baseball cap down until it was snug on my forehead. I met at the driveway, but to my surprise, a white Honda was parked there.
My forehead went tight, creasing with annoyance. I hustled forward, entering my unlocked door, stalking around the corner, and spotting Trixie sitting at the bar counter, her legs crossed. She wore a short red dress with spikey red pumps to match. Her hair was pinned up, but a smirk rested on her lips.
“You know, you shouldn’t leave your door open this late, Daddy.” Her voice was once a turn on, but it threw me off kilter, filling me with disgust.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Trixie?”
She climbed off her stool. “Well, I was coming to tell you that I found a job in L.A. Only a few minutes away from here. Which means I’m not going to Vegas. But”—she walked towards me, placing her palm on my chest and running it down as she circled me—“turns out someone has already moved on, huh?”
I grimaced. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She crossed her arms when she met in front of me again. “Why are you sneaking through windows, Theo? Hmm? Didn’t you tell me once before that your daughter’s best friend lived there? You were drunk and—” She went absolutely quiet, then her eyes became broad, a cunning smile taking over. “Oh my god.” She laughed out loud. “Oh my fucking god. Wait—are you serious?” She was both shocked and humored.
I ignored her, walking to my front door as she followed after me. Pulling it open, I stepped back with my hand constricted around the handle and growled, “Get the hell out of my house. Now.”
“Oh, I’m not leaving,” she laughed. “No, I think I’ll stay tonight.”
My nostrils flared, and I did my best to control my temper.
“I saved your daughter’s number when I went through your phone a long time ago, you know, just in case I ever had to fill her in on anything or if something were to happen to you. Hmm… maybe I’ll give her a little call now.” She met up to me, holding me around the waist. I went completely still, jaw flexed. “God, I’ve missed you, Theo. Take me upstairs?” she whined.
I moved out of her grasp and shut my door, gripping her face in my hands with blunt force as her back hit the wall. I made sure it was aggressive, but not too much to hurt her… yet. Trust me, I wanted to slap that devious smile right off her face, but I didn’t hit women, no matter how much they tempted me to.
“What are you gonna do, Daddy?”
“Stop calling me that,” I snapped.
“But I like it… and you loved it.” She tried touching me. I jerked away.
With her face still fastened tight in my hand, I said, “Go home, Trixie. And don’t come back. We’re done. You know that.”
“You left me for a girl that’s, like, thirty years younger than you.” Her brows pulled together, cheeks turning just a shade redder. Pulling her face away, she stabbed a finger at my chest and said, “I dare you to try and break it off with me now. Try it, Theo, and I’ll run right across the street and bang on her window. I’ll tell her we’re still together, and I’m sure she’ll believe me because she’s a young, naïve little girl who clearly doesn’t have any common sense or decency if she’s fucking around with you.”
Her words gripped me like an anaconda, squeezing so hard it caused an excruciating pain in my chest. I stepped away, but my eyes never left hers. She knew she had me, and I knew she’d go to Chloe—or worse, go knocking on the door to cause a scene.
Trixie was the type of woman that thrived on drama. I don’t know why I bothered spending three years around her trifling, immature ass. I knew what she was about the moment I met her, but her pussy hooked me. I was drunk, and she took advantage of that, riding my cock and then hopping down, allowing me to bust my load into her mouth.
She was nowhere near as great as Chloe, but still good. And she was easy… too fucking easy.
I used to sympathize, especially when she told me her dad abandoned her to further his career as mayor of a small city in Nevada and her mom was constantly in rehab for heroin, leaving her to take care of herself, but that night, I hated her with a passion.
I wanted to choke the life right out of her for even bothering to threaten my daughter and Chloe in any kind of way. She was fucking with my life—my love—and if this were the Theo Black from over twenty years ago—the one that dwelled during the Union—she’d already be dead.
But I wasn’t him anymore.
I had changed.
And she had me right where she wanted.
Chloe would be coming to my home tomorrow, eager to see me, and if I didn’t come up with a plan to get Trixie the fuck out of my house, I would lose my knight for good.
Damn.
I was fucking screwed