That got me a shove so hard my back cracked against the wall again.Pain shot down my spine, but I stood my ground, jaw clenched, fists curling at my sides.
“Whoa, whoa.”Wrecker’s voice cut sharp through the noise as he pushed forward.“Everyone calm the fuck down.”
“Easy for you to say,” Slayer snarled without looking at him.“This asshole isn’t dirtying your daughter.”
“You watch your mouth,” I snapped, and shoved him back just enough to get space between us.My vision tunneled, every nerve lit up.I wanted to hit him.God help me, I wanted to knock him flat.But this was Adley’s father.
Around us, the younger guys were muttering, confused, but I barely heard them.
Slayer’s arm flexed, his fist drawing back, and I knew what was coming.
I braced, and gritted my teeth.
And then-
“STOP!”
Adley’s voice cut through the room like a blade.
Every head turned.
I froze, Slayer froze, the whole damn room froze.
And my heart lodged in my throat.
Chapter Thirty
Adley
“Let him go!”Mom ordered.
Dad didn’t.He kept his grip on Mason’s cut and his fist raised.“You won’t want me to let him go when you find out what he’s been doing to our daughter?”
Mom threw her hands up in the air.“I assume you’re ready to kill him because he’s been seeing Adley and not because he ate the last donut.”Mom snapped, and the room stiffened around the small, ridiculous joke like it was a live wire.
Mason shoved free of Dad’s grip with a hard shove.He brushed his hands over his shirt as if to say,See?I’m not broken.
Fox muttered to Basil, “Think Carnie could pop up some popcorn?”and the stupid question landed like a stone in the pond.Everyone’s mouths opened and closed.Wrecker’s stare cut through the joke and Fox shut up.
No one said anything for a beat, the silence heavier than any argument.
“I’m going to need an explanation of just what in the world we walked in on,” Karmen said, calm but loud enough to push through the static.She folded her arms and stared at me.
I stepped forward, cleared my throat, and said the simplest thing I could: “Mason and I have been seeing each other.”
You could have heard a pin drop.The sound that left the room was a collective intake of breath.We must have been better at sneaking than I thought.
Alice held up her hands as if she’d finally been released from a lifetime of secrets and let out a huge, exhausted sigh.“Thank God I don’t have to keep this secret anymore,” she said, part relief and part exasperation.
Dad’s eyes sliced to Alice.“You knew!?”
Alice jabbed a finger toward Wrecker.“He told me!”
“Jesus Christ,” Wrecker muttered, and rubbed a hand down his face.
Dad turned on him like a storm.“You knew about this and you didn’t think to tell me?That’s my daughter.”
“Can we stop talking like I’m not here?”I cut in, sharp and quick.I didn’t like the way everyone’s eyes flicked to me like I was something fragile they might drop.Yeah, I was Slayer’s daughter.I was also thirty-one and very much my own person.“I’m the one who’s going to talk, not you.”
