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I’M SHOCKED. I FIGURED she’d have scrambled out of my bed the minute she heard she had mail, but she’s just ended the call with her dad, and she’s looking at me like she thinks she made a mistake.
“You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to,” she says, those big, brown eyes wary and reminding me of the day we met.
“I think you know how I feel about coming with you,” I say, trying to put her at ease. “But if we do that, then we’ll be late for lunch.”
I’m joking with her, but I’m feeling like I might throw up. I’ve never met anyone’s dad before. If he’s any kind of father, he’s going to fucking kill me for what I’ve done to his daughter. What I’m going to keep doing to his daughter.
What I’m going to do to his daughter right fucking now.
I flip her over and go right to that warm pussy. I got no problem admitting I’m fucking addicted.
We get back to her house an hour and a half later, and he greets me warily, but he’s about the same with Megan actually. I get that they aren’t close, but it feels like there is this huge gulley between them. When they were on the phone, she seemed surprised that he was even interested in her game show ambition.
They act like polite roommates or something. He obviously never neglected her—but I don’t think he ever cherished her. My girl deserves to be worshipped.
She’s so fucking smart it’s scary. But she’s fragile inside. I don’t think he knows that.
“So,” her father says, sizing me up. “You’re my daughter’s friend? I thought you were my carpenter?”
“Dad...”
“I can be both, sir.” To Megan, I say, “Your letter, babe?”
She shakes her head. “After lunch. I need to go make it. I want to try a new recipe.”
She practically runs out of the room, leaving me there with her old man.
“She’s scared,” I tell him.
“You think you need to tell me how my daughter feels?” he asks, offended.
I don’t answer him. I don’t have to.
He’s not a big man. I stand over him, and I’m twice as wide. But he’s powerful in his own way. He’s got authority and money. He’s made sure Megan never went without in that way. So I respect him for that.
But, no, he doesn’t know how his daughter feels.
He goes to the stand that is set up with booze. Offers me a drink with his hand, which I decline. As he pours himself something in a fancy glass, he tells me, “Your career is over, young man. I don’t know what game you’re playing with my little girl, but it ends today. Now. And you can make damn sure any future clients you might have had are gone.” He holds up his glass like he’s reading answers in the bourbon. “She’s barely legal. You should be ashamed. I should press charges.”
I get that he’s pissed. I’d be pissed, too. “She’s nineteen. She’s an adult. Nobody forced her to do something she didn’t want to do. It’s her idea that I’m even here today.”
Mr. Jennings shakes his head. “You took advantage of her. She’s young and impressionable. She’s not like other girls her age. She’s naïve. Special.”
“No offense, but do you even know her?”
He raises his eyebrows in my direction, surprised maybe that I’m not racing around to win his approval? Or at least his forgiveness? “She’s lonely.”
“Yeah, why is that, Mr. Jennings?”
He downs his drink. “You don’t understand. I try. We just...I’ve never known what to do with that girl. She’s always been smart. Even as a baby. Her mom died when she was so little...she was our buffer. When she was gone, I didn’t know how to give Megan what she needed. She didn’t like being social. Neither one of us has ever known what to do with the other.” He looks me right in the eye. “But I love my daughter. I don’t see this, whatever it is, working between the two of you for very long. I’ll be here when you’re gone.”
If he was anyone else, I’d break his nose. But he’s her father. And since I’m not going anywhere, I need to not make it worse. “I love your daughter, too.”
I should have told Megan first. I was afraid it would scare her off, but she deserves to be told first.
“You just met.”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s mine. And right now, she’s scared to open that letter. So either I go in there alone or we go together and help her through this.”
He looks shocked. “I don’t think she wants me.” He takes my measure a long time. “You go on.”
“You’re wrong about that. I think she needs you but doesn’t understand how to ask for your help.”
He shakes his head. “It’s a game show. She could be a doctor or a lawyer. Anything. Why is it so important to her to be on a game show?”
I was surprised too, at first. But she’s good. She practiced with me in bed last night, me reading her answers from a website and her telling me the question that goes with it. I’ve seen the show—who hasn’t—but I never gave much thought to the contestants. I never thought I’d know someone who could make it.
“She told me the first time she remembered seeing the show, she was sitting on her mom’s lap,” I tell him. “That’s the only thing she’s said about her mom to me.”
Mr. Jennings sets down his glass and hangs his head. “That might be the only memory she has of her. My God, all this time it’s been about her mother.” He laughs, but doesn’t seem happy. “My wife didn’t even like that show. I only remember her watching it with Megan’s grandmother when she was visiting us. They both died in a car accident soon after. Megan was only four.” He pours another shot. “I was lost without my wife for a long time. I did my best. I don’t think I did very well.”
I’m sure he wishes things were different, but I don’t have time for his regret right now. “I’m going to the kitchen now. Join me or don’t.” I’m not worried about what he thinks he can or can’t do to my career. He’s more bark than bite and it seems to me he’s more relieved I’m here than his is angry.
He’s got to know the reason she’s lonely is him. That a guy like me could walk into her life and sweep her up because her daddy didn’t teach her who to watch out for.
That’s on him, though. It’s too late now. Megan needs me, and I won’t let her down. If she wants to go on a fucking game show then game on.