I nodded as I stepped away, having heard the warning in her words.
They would be checking to make sure.
“I know, Mom.”
I turned without saying goodbye and found Mrs. Dixon waiting for me, understanding pouring from her. She spread her arms, and I fell into one of her warm hugs.
“Love you, sweet girl,” she said softly.
“Love you too.”
“It’ll be okay.” She rubbed at my back. “They just want what’s best for you, so they’re trying to protect their girl.”
I nodded as I pulled back. “Thank you for letting us come over.”
She scoffed. “Anytime. You know that.”
I gave her a grateful smile, then turned, immediately finding narrowed blue eyes watching me. Studying me. Saying so many things and blaming himself for a dozen others.
I went to him, wanting to crush all that blame and feeling beyond ready for some space from everyone else so we could talk. So I could have my Beau.
But the moment my hand slipped into his, and he began leading me away, my dad said, “I think you can say goodbye right here.”
I smacked into Beau’s side when he immediately stopped, my head turning to look at my dad as disbelief swam through me.
Mr. Dixon clicked his tongue. “Don’t y’all think that’s pushin’ it a little far?”
“Christi,” Mrs. Dixon whispered in disapproval. “Let the kids at least say goodbye.”
“Our daughter, our decision on her privacy with boys,” my dad said, tone firm. “Besides, what do they need to say goodbye for? They say goodbye for five . . . ten minutes each time like they don’t see each other every day. There’s no reason for it. They can say goodnight here.”
When Beau turned around, his jaw was clenched so, so tight. The muscle there feathering under the pressure he was putting on it.
His hardened stare drifted over my parents before meeting me, looking at me like an animal trapped.
And I didn’t know how to help him. Not when we had four sets of eyes on us. Two of which belonged to my parents.
“I’m sorry,” I said under my breath.
His head shook so faintly I wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t been as close as I was.
He reached for me, his fingers grazing my cheeks and his forehead falling to mine just before my dad snapped, “If I were you, I would think very carefully about how close you are to my daughter.”
“Jason,” Mr. Dixon said on a rough sigh, but it didn’t matter . . .
Beau had already stepped back. Arms falling heavily to his sides. Hands curled into tight fists. Looking like a mixture of anger and sorrow as he stared down at me.
All I wanted was to be held by him. To let the world around us fade away. But I was afraid to move, knowing if I so much as touched him, he would beat himself up even more than he already was.
“Now, just wait a second,” my dad began. “You have your views on what’s appropriate, we have ours. Respect that. As for the two of you . . .”
I slowly turned to face my parents, my own anger and humiliation rising as he continued.
“You’re too close. As your mom pointed out, you’re always touching in some way. It’s gone on too long and escalated too far. No more kissing. No more hugging and holding onto each other. Anything more than holding hands is unacceptable. Period.”
By the time he finished, I wanted to curl into a ball and hide. My jaw was trembling in response to the anger in my dad’s eyes as he pointedly stared at the boy standing tall behind me. Tears of frustration and mortification were filling my eyes, and I had no chance of stopping them.
Mrs. Dixon placed the tips of her fingers over her mouth like she was keeping herself from responding.
Mr. Dixon dragged a hand through his hair, then gestured to my dad as he spoke to Beau. “You heard him. Your momma and I gotta respect our friends’ wishes. You gotta respect your girlfriend’s parents. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Beau rumbled.
I turned to leave just as the first tear slipped free.
Beau’s expression fell, and he reached for me before quickly pulling his hand back, his fingers clenched tight and a harsh breath rushing from him.
“I love you,” I whispered, too soft for anyone else to hear.
“Love you,” he responded in that low, rough voice that always shot straight to my heart.
I wiped furiously at my cheeks as I left the house and hurried off the porch, Madison and Hunter barely separating to see who had come outside before Madison jerked back.
“Oh my gosh, what’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you in the car.”
“Where’s Beau?” Hunter asked as he pushed off my car with Madison’s hips still firmly in his grip.
“Inside, following my parents’ newest attempt at keeping us as far apart as possible.”
“Aw, friend,” Madison whispered and reached for my hand.
Hunter sighed and looked to the house.
“Yeah, you should probably get in there,” I said as I headed for my car door. “There’s a lot of tension in there, and he’s surrounded in it.”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, then asked, “We still on for tonight?”
I gave a hard nod as I opened my door. “Absolutely.”
“It’s still so crazy to me that your parents do this,” Madison began later that night. “I mean, I’m not surprised because it’s them, you know? But still . . .”
A dull laugh tumbled from my lips when she sank next to where I sat on her bed, waiting.
Because I knew it was coming. Correction . . . they were coming.
With Beau and Hunter out, we all knew my parents would follow. Giving enough time for me to sneak off somewhere I wasn’t supposed be at—like a party I had no intention of going to—before checking on me.
And it was only a matter of time now, because Hunter had called Madison about an hour before, letting us know they’d left for the party. Starting the check-in countdown.
“Yeah, well, not everyone has super awesome parents like y’all do.”
Madison’s head slanted, her eyebrows pulling together with sympathy. “Mine can be strict too,” she said slowly, knowing it was a weak addition.
“You can tell your parents things,” I argued gently. “If you wanted to go to a party, you wouldn’t have to sneak out. If you wanted to spend all your time with Hunter, they would be okay with that.” I gestured toward the window. “Okay, so I feel bad for Leighton because her parents are always gone. But, like, Emberly is either in a bar or with Leighton and the Dixons because she literally has the coolest mom ever. And the Dixon house is basically perfection. They have rules, but they’re still extremely casual. I mean, I’m pretty sure Mrs. Dixon got choked up the first time she saw Beau and me kiss. What mom does that?”
A soft laugh escaped Madison. “Right? She probably wouldn’t be like that if she had four girls though. Like, my mom is totally cool about a lot of things, but if she saw Hunter kiss me?” The last was said on a whisper, her eyes widening as she leaned back, head shaking. “She’d freak. One hundred percent.”
“Yeah, but would she send you away?” I asked, my voice softening with a year-long bitterness. “Would they forbid you from even hugging Hunter?”