“Mom, what is Dad saying to Tom?” Becky was seated in the kitchen, at the table, and her mom rested a glass of water in front of her, taking her dad’s seat beside her at the head of the table. She patted her hand.

Becky couldn’t see the front door from where she sat. She couldn’t hear what her dad was saying, and she’d never seen this side of her dad before. He was beyond mad, and her mom had her hand to her lip, worrying it between her teeth.

She glanced to Becky and reached out again, resting her hand over hers. “He’s your father, and you worried us to death. I’m sure he’s having a man-to-man talk to set things straight.” Then her mom shook her head as she made a face. Becky wasn’t sure if it was humor or anger or what, but as she gave her all of her attention again, she was suddenly on the receiving end of a disbelieving look. “Your doctor from the ER? How, when? I don’t understand. I thought you were seeing that nice young man from the coffee house?”

She shook her head. “No, Mom, not Ian. He’s my tutor. Tom…well, I ran into him at the grocery store. We had coffee together.” That had been when he’d propositioned—no, demanded she sleep with him. “And, well, we’ve been seeing each other,” she said. That was a nice way of saying she’d gone back to his place with him twice, but this last time she had let him do to her what he wanted. She shrugged out of her coat, and then her mom was staring at her neck. She forgot and took in the shock on her mom’s face as she stared at the hickey. How could he have marked her this way? Now her dad would see. Maybe that was why her hand slapped over it.

“Oh my God! You slept with him? Please tell me you didn’t.”

She could lie, but she’d never done that. No, she’d evaded, but there was no evading anything at this point. She just hoped her dad stayed outside a while longer until she could go upstairs and, what, hide out? Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen, hence the fact her mom had her sitting and waiting at the table.

“It’s no biggie, Mom,” she said, hoping she’d drop it, since the last thing she wanted was to have the sex talk with her mother. Tom was basically standing outside, being…warned off, threatened? She didn’t have a clue.

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, Becky. It is a very big deal, and the fact you would think that way only tells me that your father and I should be quite worried. Please tell me at least that you used protection? Because that’s the one thing I’m pretty sure we drilled into you, or I thought I had.”

She wanted to nod, but she could still feel Tom inside her and just stared at the horror on her mom’s face as she realized what she’d done. Her face warmed. Worse, she couldn’t believe she had let it go so far that she hadn’t said anything to Tom, but then, by the time he was inside her, by the time she’d realized what they’d done, it had been too late. Should she have said something to him? Yes, she had meant to even when he was inside her again, but there was so much she was feeling, the desire, something she didn’t want to share with anyone. She still couldn’t understand why she’d done what she’d done.

“Oh, Becky, no,” her mom said as she glanced up, and Becky heard the floorboard creak. She turned her head, taking in Tom standing with her dad, who was looking at her in a way she’d never expected.

“Em, let’s give these two a moment,” Brad said.

Her mom scooted back her chair, touched her shoulder, and walked over to her dad, who had a steeliness about him she hadn’t seen before. There was no teasing or ease or anything. This was her dad pissed off, and she didn’t have a clue what to say. His arm eased around her mom, and they left the room as Tom stepped in, pulled out the chair beside her, and sat down.

“What did my dad say to you?”

He just shook his head. “Doesn’t matter what he said. He’s just being a dad. We need to talk about something, though sitting in your parents’ kitchen with your dad not far isn’t exactly the kind of place I ever pictured myself being. Your dad asked me what my intentions are with you.”

She wanted to drop her face into her hands. This was ridiculous, and she couldn’t believe he would ask that, as if this were the early twentieth century, a hundred years ago. She was an adult, even though she still lived here and went to school, but she was beginning to feel as if she were just a child. She peeked through her fingers to Tom. “I’m so sorry,” she said and took in the pull at the edge of Tom’s lip. It was so subtle, the smile. She couldn’t believe it, now of all times. She worried about what Tom had said to her dad. “You didn’t tell my dad what you said to me about…” She lowered her voice but couldn’t say the words, knowing they would likely hear.

“No, but we need to talk about something else and the fact I didn’t use any protection. That’s not something I’m ever careless about, yet with you, the first chance, I put you in jeopardy.”

She couldn’t believe he’d said that. She wanted to ease his mind, she wanted to say it was okay, but it wasn’t. She was a smart girl who had done something so stupid and would take care of it tomorrow, a stop at the clinic for the morning after pill.

“Yes, well, I suppose things got a little out of control. I’m as much to blame, I guess.”

He glanced away, and she wasn’t sure what to make of his expression. When he looked back, his face was dark and had her gut knotting up. He shook his head. “Your dad won’t stand for a man toying with you, taking advantage of you. I get that. He knows I’ve slept with you, and he knows I screwed up. This is on me.”

What the hell did that mean? He stood up then, his chair scooting back, and she had no idea what was next. He’d walk out the door and never come back, and she had yet to face her dad. She didn’t have a clue what to say. Then he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, taking it deeper than she could have imagined. It was more than words, that one kiss, and he pulled away, his face so close. She looked up into eyes that were older, darker, tinged with something. How had he seen so much darkness? At the same time, she realized he might not understand when something good was right in front of him. Maybe that was why everything about him was now making sense.

“I’ll call you in the morning,” he said and then walked out of the kitchen, and she listened to the squeak of the door, then the door close and the lock click.

Becky scooted her chair back and stood up just as her mom and dad appeared together. She would have given anything not to be there.

“Time for bed,” her dad said. “I’ll drive you to school for your first class. Good night, Becky.”

That was all. Her parents stepped out of the kitchen and left her to turn off the lights downstairs. She worried now of everything her dad knew and of exactly what he’d say tomorrow when she was stuck in his pickup beside him. Could this get any worse?