My jaw hits the fucking floor. My dad has never,everused that tone with me. Mom’s eyes widen in surprise, clearly not expecting that either.“Je sais que tu es en colère, mais tu ferais mieux de te souvenir à qui tu t’adresses.”11
“Sebastian—” Henry tries to speak, but Dad talks right over him.
“After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me? Sneaking around behind my back with my daughter who is five fucking years younger than you,” he thunders, and I can honestly say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my father this angry before.
“Look, I know you’re upset, but you need to walk it off. This is not the kind of scene you want to be making, and not the place to be making it,” Uncle Owen warns.
“Owen, he’s—”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen,” Henry says calmly, and I’m not sure if I think he’s an idiot, or if I should be impressed he hasn’t blurted out it’s fake.
“Please, will you just listen to us? We were going to tell you tonight,” I say, and his face turns downright murderous at the use of Henry and me as an us. We’re anusnow.
“Is he taking advantage of you?” Dad asks, staring directly at me, and I don’t miss the sharp intake of Henry’s breath at the question. “Mirabelle?”
“Oh my god,no. Dad, it’s Henry. He’d never do anything to hurt anyone, especially me.”
“Tu peux nous le dire, tu sais?”12 Mom asks, watching me closely.
“You really think that of me?” Henry asks, his voice thick, and I look over my shoulder at him. He looks hurt, and I don’t blame him. If I ever thought my parents would react like this, I never would have suggested keeping it a secret. “I wouldneverhurt Mirabelle. I’d sooner hurt myself than hurt her.”
“You were supposed to be looking out for her! What part of that included screwing her behind our backs? We’ve treated you like you were our own, and this is how you repay us?” Dad lunges forward, bumping into Uncle Owen who quickly steps in front of him, blocking his path. “Owen, get the hell out of my way.”
“So you can what? Beat the shit out of him in front of Mirabelle? Great parenting move—beating up your daughter’s boyfriend, who also is your best friends’ kid. I don’t think so. Walk away, Bash.”
“He’s right. I’m not happy about this either, but this isn’t the time or place.” Mom shakes her head, trying to get Dad’s attention to calm him.
“Sebastian, Thalia, I’m sorry. We were going to tell you. You weren’t supposed to find out this way.” Henry makes a dangerous move and entwines our hands together. His calluses are rough against my own, and his hand dwarfs mine. I think he has a death wish.
My mom has unshed tears shining in her eyes. “Mira, why didn’t you tell us?”
Dad steps back, running his hand through his graying hair. “How long, Henry? How long have you been interested in her? Mira’s twenty, and if you got together at the Super Bowl, she would have been nineteen. You’re twenty-five, about to be twenty-six. Were you just counting the days until she wasn’t a minor anymore so you wouldn’t go to jail for statutory rape?”
“Sebastian,” Mom scolds sharply as my jaw falls open.
Did he actually say that?
“It wasn’t like that. It’s only been a couple months. I swear, I never even saw her like that until recently, and certainly not when she was a minor.”
“She is a kid still.My kid,and you’re taking advantage—”
Oh my god. I can’t listen to this anymore. “That’s enough, Dad! Henry isn’t taking advantage of me, and if you’d stop your rampage long enough to hear what we have to say, you would know that,” I shout, cutting him off.This is a nuclear disaster.
“I’m sorry. Is that what you want to hear? We didn’t mean to hurt you, but Mirabelle isn’t a kid anymore, and realistically, she hasn’t been for a while. I know you’re upset and if you need to hit me to feel better about us being together, then please do. But I like Mirabelle. She’s an incredible, strong, beautiful person that I enjoy spending time with. I wouldn’t riskeverythinggood in my life, including your trust, if I didn’t see something with her. I don’t love that I’m nearly six years older than her, but I am not taking advantage,” Henry says strongly, his voice never wavering. His hand is tightly gripping mine like an anchor I don’t dare pull away from.
I stare at Henry in awe. I have to hand it to him, he’s pretty damn convincing at selling this fake relationship. That’s all I think I’ve ever wanted to hear him say about me. Granted, when I imagined it, I didn’t think it would be because we’re in a fake relationship, but he just stood up to my parents, who were accusing him of grooming me, and offered to let my dad hit him if it would make things better.
Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been more in love with Henry Price than I am in this moment, even if the pretty words he’s saying aren’t real.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, a few tears slipping down my cheeks as I look at my dad. He looks at Henry, then at me, closing his eyes as he walks away without another word. The silence packs more of a punch for me than anything he’s said.
Mom steps forward to hug me tightly. I’m slow to return it, not expecting her to hug me. She pulls away, tucking a stray hair behind my ear.“Nous t’aimons quoi qu’il arrive. Donne-nous un peu de temps.”13
She steps away to follow Dad but pauses to look over her shoulder at Henry. Her mouth opens as if she wants to say something, and I hold my breath. If my father’s words were vicious, I don’t know if either of us can stomach what will come out of her mouth. Instead, she simply shuts her mouth, shaking her head as the look on her face hardens before walking away.
Owen turns to face us, running a hand over his jaw as he grimaces. “I don’t want to sayI told you so, but I fucking told you so. Price, your balls must be bigger than your will to live, because I don’t know if I would have kept the secret after that. You must have a death wish. Are you two okay?” he asks, concern filling his features so similar to Mom’s.
I muster a smile, but I don’t know how to say I’m okay, because none of that was okay. I nod, pulling my hand out of Henry’s. I don’t hear his response because I’m walking through the plush grass toward where Stacey is pretending like she wasn’t listening to everything that happened.
