Today, everyone will see the shiner on my face, but at least they won’t know what happened afterward. At least I have one small sliver of saving grace in the debacle.
My bedroom door opens, and I hear, “Morning, wildcat.”
I open my eyes, seeing a shirtless Dylan. He’s holding two cups of coffee, with a bottle of pills tucked under one arm against his body, and he’s smiling as if we’ve done this before.
“You’re still here?” I ask, but the words come out a little more acidic than I wanted.
“Your face looks good,” he replies, ignoring my statement and seeming unaffected since his smile never falters.
I push myself up, tucking my feet under my body, which is still covered in yesterday’s clothes. “Thanks. So does yours,” I tell him, holding out my hand because I need a cup of coffee more than anything else right now.
He offers it to me without hesitation. “Luna made it how you like it,” he says, placing his cup on my nightstand and going to work on the bottle before retrieving two pills. “Take them. They’ll help with the headache.”
I take the pills from his open hand, stuffing them into my mouth, and sip the coffee to wash them down. An awkward silence fills the room, but for once, I don’t open my mouth to fill the void.
Dylan sits down next to me, studying my face as he reaches for his coffee. “It’ll barely be noticeable with makeup.”
“You don’t know my family,” I say against the mug. “They notice everything.”
“From what Luna says, they already know. I’m talking about the gen pop like your customers.”
“They know?” I whisper, slowly lowering the coffee mug to my leg. “Damn it.”
“Guess they’ve been blowing up her phone.” He shrugs like it’s no big damn deal. “You know how word travels.”
“Shit,” I hiss, shaking my head. “This isn’t good.”
“It’s not a big deal. Everyone gets a black eye at some point.”
“Maybe boys do, but women do not, Dylan.” I set my coffee on the nightstand where his just was. “I’m going to have to answer so many questions today.”
Luna pops her head into my bedroom, holding on to the doorframe with one hand. “Have you looked at your phone? Shit is not good.”
I shake my head and swallow down the lumps that are crawling up my throat. “Damn it. See?” I say, waving my arm at Dylan, “I told you.”
“There’s no stopping the gossip train now,” Luna adds. “Just have to hold on and brace yourself for impact. Dad isn’t…”
My eyes widen and my breath catches. “Dad?” I whisper.
“He’s heard, and he’s not happy. Like super not happy, nearing how he was about Gigi and Pike.”
“Fuck my life,” I hiss, throwing myself back into the mattress and pile of pillows.
“You better get a shirt on, sparky,” Luna tells Dylan. “If I know my dad, he’ll be here in—”
She doesn’t finish her statement when there’s pounding on our front door. Not just any pounding, but a super pissed-off, you better get to the door double fast and open it up before I bust it down kind of pounding.
“Oh fuck,” Luna says, her eyes widening to match mine. “He’s here.”
My stomach turns, and it takes all my willpower to keep the few sips of coffee from coming up. I crawl to the end of the bed and point at Dylan. “Do not move from this room.”
He lifts his hands. “I won’t. Your dad is an asshole and your problem, not mine.”
I throw up my hands and grunt in frustration. “Since you’re shirtless in my room, I’d say he’d see it otherwise if he caught sight of you,” I tell him. “This is going to be hard enough. I don’t need to add you to the mix.”
“Dad knows Dylan was there and beat the guy silly,” Luna says as my father continues to pound on the door.
“Fuckin’ great,” I mutter and brush past her, heading toward the door.
I don’t even stop to check my face, which is a huge mistake, and I know it as soon as I open the door and my father’s eyes land on me.
“I’ll fucking kill him,” Dad bites out, bracing himself on the doorframe like it’s somehow holding him back from turning into a beast.
“He’s no one, and I’m fine, Dad.”
My dad’s face hardens, becoming scarier. “That doesn’t make it better. No one lays a hand on you. No one.”
I move to the side, not wanting to air my dirty laundry for the neighbors to hear. “He’s been dealt with. Trust me, he looks worse than me, and I don’t think it’ll ever happen again. Word’s traveled all around town.”
Dad looks toward the ceiling and curses under his breath before bringing his gaze back to my face. “Baby, what did I always tells you?” he asks, reaching out and gently holding my face. “Men should never lay a hand on a woman, and also, don’t get your ass into situations that can lead to this.”
“I know, Dad. It’s just…” I don’t want to finish the statement.
He doesn’t know what happened to Luna a while back with the guy that caused us to show up at our cousin Mello’s place with her fucked up beyond belief. I’m not about to spill the beans. I promised her I wouldn’t tell, and I won’t break my word now.
“The guy was messing with Luna, and I felt the need to help her. Better me than her,” I say, always wanting to rescue everyone. “It’s just a bruise.” I try to force a smile but am immediately met by pain. “It’ll heal.”
My dad winces. “Baby,” he whispers, his thumb sliding along my jawline. “That’s more than just a bruise…it’s one helluva bruise.”
I lean into his touch, always finding comfort and safety in my dad. A moment later, he pulls me into his arms, hugging me tightly.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if…” His voice cracks.
“But it didn’t, Dad,” I mumble into his T-shirt as he holds me. “I’m fine.”
“Fuckin’ Dylan Walsh. He did me a solid saving my girls, but I still fucking hate that dirtbag loser.”
The knot in my stomach twists. Dylan had to hear him, and no matter what he did in the past, he saved me. I can’t think of him as a dirtbag loser, and I hate hearing my father say it too.
“Daddy,” I warn, knowing Dylan can hear every word. “He was a kid when he left home. I’m sure people said that about you too at some point in your teens. It’s not nice.”
“Fuck nice, baby girl,” he says into the top of my hair. “I had a good family to put me on the right track. The Walshes are the Walshes, and they’re all the same. Trash.”
I peer up at the man I’ve always looked up to and have done everything to put a smile on his face, unlike my sisters. “That’s not true. He’s a good man, Dad. Maybe the rest of his family isn’t, but he is.”
He raises an eyebrow. Alarm bells no doubt going off in his head because of my stupid mouth. “And you know this because?”
“He saved me, didn’t he?”
“Any man would do that,” he says firmly.