“What?” Her chair screeches as it scoots quickly across the floor. “You didn’t mention that.”
I drop my hands to see she’s now standing with her arms crossed.
I close my eyes. “I know.”
“It sounds like I’m going to need wine for this. Want some?” She is already pulling out two glasses and pouring from the open bottle sitting on my counter.
Yes, I may have already had a glass when I got home.
“Sure.”
Connie is almost more at home in this apartment than I am. There’s just something about the place that doesn’t feel comfortable. It’s probably the fact it’s meant to be temporary. I haven’t hung any photos or really unpacked anything except the essentials.
My eyes move to the stack of boxes in the corner as Connie hands me a glass, then sits down again.
“Okay, tell me what happened,” she orders, “and this time, don’t leave anything out.”
I take a sip of wine and try to enjoy the taste. But I can’t. Not when I know how much I hurt Cody. The pain in his eyes when I told him I called on my dad for help was palpable.
“After you saved me from Ted and dropped me off at home, I thought about what would happen the next day. I realized I would still have to work with the guy. I mean, we teach a joint class and lab.”
Connie frowns. “I thought he taught computer science.”
“He does, but we share a class that is essentially basic programming for psychology and neuroscience. The students run their own experiments, which I oversee, while Ted teaches programming techniques so they can plot their results and do some analysis. It’s an essential skill for anyone wanting to go into the research field.” I glance back to Connie, whose eyes have glazed over.
She blinks a few times as she refocuses on me. “I can’t believe I didn’t know you shared a class, but okay, so you thought about that, and then called your dad, for some reason. And what did he do?”
“He called a friend.”
“A friend?” She cocks a brow.
“Yes, a friend.”
“Mm-hmm. And what happened to Ted? Is he still alive?”’
I blow out an exasperated breath. “Yes, he’s still alive.”
“But someone roughed him up, right?”
I frown. “Yes. How did you know?”
She rolls her eyes. “Because that’s what your dad does.”
I stare at her. “How did you know that?”
She shrugs. “I’ve heard rumors. You hear something often enough, you figure there might be some truth to it.”
Growing up, I heard the rumors about my father that he uses force to get what he wants. I also know that those rumors are why my younger brother, Ronan, chose to go to the East Coast for college and never came back. But all these years, I thought they were just that, rumors. But now, seeing what he’s done to Cody and Ted, I can’t live in denial any longer.
But I don’t want to talk about my father. It’s Cody I’m worried about.
“Anyway, Cody saw Ted on campus, and apparently Ted said he was staying away from me. Between his words and his bruises, it was enough for Cody to question what happened.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I asked my dad for help. He totally lost it. I’ve never seen him so angry.” I rub my temples to ward off the impending headache. “Basically, he thinks it’s my fault my dad ruined his life.”
“He said that?”
