Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
He storms over, only stopping when he’s nose to nose with me. Normally, Damon’s a handsome guy. Women seem to like him, and why not? But right now, he’s completely unrecognizable. He seethes, howls and screams, throwing every epithet in the book my way. But I just stand steady and calm through it all. I know, on the one hand, that I deserve everything he’s accusing me of right now. I also know that the only way to reach a point where Damon calms down enough to talk is to let him purge all of his hurt and fury.
He paces up and down, yelling like his hair’s on fire. It feels like forever, but it’s probably only a minute or two, and then there’s a pause. Immediately, I speak.
“I love her, buddy,” I say, looking him directly into his eyes. I haven’t even told Lucy yet, but it’s true. This woman means everything to me, and I’m willing to sacrifice my friendship if that’s what it takes.
“You what?! You love her? That is sick, Shane. You can’t just manipulate my daughter into having sex with you by pretending to love her,” he scoffs, his anger beginning to rise again. “I know how you work! I know your MO! I can’t believe you pulled this shit with my daughter!”
For the first time, Lucy begins to speak. Without rising from the floor, she tries to explain.
“He isn’t manipulating me Dad! I want to be here, I’m a big girl and I can make my own decisions,” she pleads.
“Stay out of this!” Damon yells at her, never taking his eyes off me. “You have no idea how this bastard works. He treats women like shit, and I can’t believe he’s pulling his shit on you! You’re so naive, Lucy! Didn’t they teach you anything at college? FUCK!”
“Hey man, don’t talk to her like that,” I growl, my brows lowering. But Damon doesn’t care and continues to rage.
“She is my daughter! It is none of your business how I talk to her! Stay the fuck away! You’ve already done enough!” I understand his anger and his thinking, I really do. But my job is to protect this woman, and I will do so at all costs. Even if it breaks the heart and soul of my oldest friend.
“No. You are behaving in a disrespectful and inappropriate way. You want to be mad at me? Fine. But I can’t let you talk to my girlfriend that way,” I demand.
“Girlfriend?! What the fuck, Reed? Are you fucking out of your mind? You fuck women! You don’t have girlfriends!”
He finally turns to look at his daughter.
“And you! Have you really fallen for his bullshit? Really, Luce? How dumb are you?”
But my beautiful girl is just as surprised. She’s looking at me with wide eyes, her mouth open.
“I’m your girlfriend, Shane?” she asks in a small voice. Momentarily, the rest of the world disappears so that it’s only the two of us. I manage to completely forget Damon, focusing only on the innocent woman before me. How could she not know?
“Of course you are, Lucy. I love you, and we’ve been dating exclusively for months now. You mean more to me than anything in the world, and I’m proud to call you my girlfriend.” Even in the midst of this clusterfuck, I can’t help but smile rakishly at her. “Is that a problem?”
She laughs lightly at this, her face flushing.
“Of course, it isn’t a problem. I couldn’t be happier to be your girlfriend, Shane.” Then, the world comes back into focus and she turns to Damon, who is silently melting down, his lack of control over this situation obviously devouring him. I wish there was something I could do to make it all right, but this is Lucy’s show now. She takes a deep breath and looks him in the eye.
“Dad, I love Shane. I know this is a surprise to you, and I understand you are upset. But this is a good thing. Please support us, Dad,” she says in a confident voice. “Your friend’s a good man, and you know that better than anyone. He’s good for me.”
I admire her strength. Her pure, loving heart shields an iron core, and I couldn’t be prouder of my girl at this moment. Clearly, I’ve chosen well.
But Damon ignores her and turns to me again, still seething.
“What the FUCK? How the hell did this even happen? What, did you just show up at her dorm room one day?” he accuses. “I’m going to get someone at the fucking school fired!”
“Dad, we ran into each other at a bar!” Lucy interrupts in an attempt to defend me. “It has nothing to do with NYU.”
But now, I know exactly where this is going, and it isn’t going to be pretty. I raise my hand in her direction to try to stop her because what she’s about to say is only going to make this situation a million times worse.