by Eliza Freer
Riley and Blake both sit up and look at Wilder. Riley speaks first. “Who wouldn’t prefer to spend their time with East over some chicks wanting to hook up just because we are the popular guys? If I could get away with never spending my time with people like that I would. If I go to parties, I go to be with my friends, and yeah, sometimes you find some cool girls to hook up with, and parties can be awesome and we’re expected to be at certain ones, but that’s not life.”
Blake speaks up. “East is special. I don’t know. When her dad showed up here, she didn’t know anyone so she hung around the field a lot. Practices and stuff, and we got to know her and she’s a badass. She’s the coolest chick I’ve ever met and we all just felt like we were always supposed to have been together. It’s not just me and Riley, we just know her best. But Simon and Paul, the guys that will be captains once we’re gone, they love her just the same. The whole team does. Most of them just don’t get stuff like TATT night. Only me, Ry, Sy, Paul and East know about that. And Coach, of course. Why, would you choose a party and random chicks over East?”
I look to Wilder who now looks nervous as Riley and Blake look like they could kill him with a wrong answer. Wilder starts, “I basically stalked Easton and harassed her into dating me, so I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather spend time with. I just, you guys aren’t what I expected. No offense, but you don’t see that many eighteen year old girls who have an entire college football team wrapped around their finger, and none of them are hooking up. I was just curious is all.”
Blake’s eyes narrow. “Stalked and harassed?”
I laugh at the looks the guys are giving him. “Literally, he stalked and harassed me. But in the sweetest and most clever of ways. I never feared for my life. Not yet at least.”
Wilder looks over to me. “I feel like you’re not helping.”
Riley glances at his watch and smacks Blake’s shoulder. “We need to get going, B.”
They both stand up and Wilder and I do too. The four of us move towards the door. The guys each give Wilder a handshake before each gives me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.
Riley winks at me. “Thanks for this, East. Excellent as always. Hs and Ks, babe.”
Blake opens the door and stops on the porch. “Let’s not wait so long next time. Love you.”
I yell after both of them. “Love you, too.”
I close the door after them and turn to Wilder who wraps his arms around my waist and pushes me against the door. He leans his head down. “Hs and ks?”
He kisses my neck as I answer. “Hugs and kisses. It’s one of the things they say. Doesn’t sound as weird in public as yelling I love you sometimes.”
Wilder nuzzles my jaw with his nose and bites my earlobe. I let out a loud sigh, knowing I need to shut this down, especially with my dad in the house. “Hey. Thanks for coming. I’m glad you’re getting to know them. They mean a lot to me.”
Wilder looks into my eyes and smiles. “You mean a lot to them too. You mean a lot to me.” He touches his forehead to mine.
I smile “You mean a lot to me, too.” I stand up on my tip toes and give him a searing, lingering kiss to make sure he remembers just how good this night was, and how good more nights like this could be.
Wilder lets out a groan. “I need to go. I can’t take much more of that from you.” He kisses me deeply one more time before I open the door.
“Hey, are you good to get home? We all walked here, do you need a ride to your car?”
He walks onto my porch holding my hand. “No, I’m good. It’s not far. I’ll text you when I get home.”
I cup his cheek with my hand and brush some hair out of his face. “Good. Be safe. Talk to you soon.” I kiss him again. “Now, go away and leave me alone.”
Wilder laughs and I watch him walk down my front path. Once he’s walking back towards campus I shut the front door and let out a long and happy sigh before turning off the lights and heading upstairs to, what I assume will be, lovely dreams.
Chapter 17
A couple days later my dad and I decided we needed some daddy/daughter time, since I’d been spending most of my free time with the boys or Wilder. Dad technically has the day off, not that he won’t end up working from home at some point, but for now it’s just us. We always end up at Amigos Muertos, a Mexican restaurant right off campus. The food is good, but we also love it for the ridiculously depressing name. Once our food arrives and we both start eating, I pepper my dad with questions.
“Pops, how’s work? Is Lucy still a snake in the grass trying to steal your ideas and get that editor position at Sparkle?”
My dad stops eating. “Who’s Lucy? Are your imaginary friends back? If so, you have terrible taste in imaginary friends.”
“Is she still trying to seduce Matty into signing over his image rights?”
Dad tilts his head. “I’m a little lost, but I’ll catch up.”
“Well, at least you guys got to do the Thriller dance at that awkward company party where you wore that terrible dress.” I continue to take big bites of my chimichanga.
Dad points his fork in the air in triumph. “This is from that movie last night you made me watch. The one with the girl that goes into a closet and comes out a woman.”
I pause. “13 going on 30, yes. And, I don’t think that’s what it’s about exactly, but I see where your head’s at. I think the real moral is, if your friends are fake bitches at 13, they’re probably going to be fake bitches with nose jobs at 30.”
Dad whistles. “I guess I should be glad you walk away with a story about friendship instead of a story about closet sex.”
“Dad. They never had sex. What is closet sex? It was a seven minutes in heaven thing. You’re just supposed to make out. I think. And if a kid barely hitting puberty can keep it going for seven minutes that’s impressive.”
Dad takes a drink of his water. “Should I be worried about you having seven minute closet sex?”
I laugh out loud. “DAD! That’s not a thing. I don’t think. But just for a clear conscience, I’ve never done either. The seven minutes or the closet sex.”
“Well, honey, these boys are young. You might shoot for seven minutes now, but it’ll get better.” My dad stares at me with a wicked grin over his water glass.
My blush couldn’t be any redder. I cannot believe he just went there. My dad and I joke about this stuff all the time, but wow did I not expect this. “I can’t…did you just…jesus christ, Dad…how did we get here?”
Dad chokes on a laugh. “Well technically sweetie, seven minute closet sex could result in your being here. I don’t know the ins and outs of your conception specifically…”
“OH MY GOD, DAD! STOP!” I yell this a little too loudly and draw some attention. I wipe my mouth and stand up from the table with my dad laughing his ass off. “On that note, I’m going to the bathroom, where I may, or may not, die of mortification.”
I head off to the bathroom, hearing my dad laughing the whole time. He’s definitely in a mood. One of his favorite things in life is embarrassing me. I guess I’m lucky when it comes to boys I date he prefers tough Dad to embarrassing Dad every time.
Since the whole point of running to the bathroom was to get away from my dad causing an ever bigger scene talking about closet sex, it doesn’t take me long to head back to our table. Upon approach, I notice a man in a nice suit with his back turned towards me talking to my dad. He’s currently in my way of sneaking back into my side of the booth, so I do the polite thing. I tap him on the shoulder. “Excuse me.”
Dad glances up at me, and the man doesn’t even fully turn around. He looks over his shoulder enough to acknowledge I’m a human and not a droid and snaps, “Can’t you see we’re in the middle of a conversation? You can fill the water glasses, or whatever it is you do, later.”
I look at my dad, my eyes widening with anger. Both at the man being a jackwad to me, and knowing he’s a guy who is a dick to waitresses, and likely women in general. “Excuse me
?” I growl, maybe a little too loudly, from behind him, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
He turns around to glare at me, but before another word can be uttered that might result in this guy getting throat punched, my dad pipes up. “Mr. Sullivan, this is my daughter, Easton.”
Mr. Hyde’s personality switches back to Dr. Jekyll as he moves out of the way so I can get into my side of the booth. “Oh, it’s so nice to meet you, sweetie. Just talking to your dad here about how the team is shaping up this year.” He touches my shoulder as I slide into the booth. I contort myself to try and escape the Devil’s grasp.
I glare at my dad and roll my eyes, mouthing “sweetie?”. I stare back up at Sullivan The Douche and give him a tight lipped smile, before looking back down at my lunch. Dad watches me for a bit, trying to hide his small smile by wiping his mouth.
Sullivan opens his mouth again. “You must be proud of your old man. You going to Hamilton?”
I clear my throat, but smile at my dad. “I couldn’t be prouder of Coach. My dad’s choice in lunch acquaintances, however, leaves a lot to be desired.” I smile after that last part and feel my dad kick me under the table. Universal sign to play nice. “And, yes, I start my freshman year in a couple weeks.”
Sullivan appears oblivious to anything other than staring into my dad’s eyes, probably wondering if he’s interested in seven minute closet sex. “Well, isn’t that great. Bet your dad loves that. What are you studying, sweetie?”
I swallow my bite of chimichanga to answer another asinine question from this man. It’s clear he’s not at all interested in what I have to say, but trying to impress my dad with his well rounded knowledge of small talk. “Human resources. Specializing in sexual harassment. Ya know, unwanted touching, inappropriate pet names, intimidation by male superiors.” I glance over at my dad whose eyes are widening a little, probably wondering ,like I am, if this idiot will pick up on my obvious dig at him. “It’s fascinating, really. I’m sure you know a lot about the subject, though.”
He chuckles, but there’s no humor behind it. “And what makes you think that?”
I take a sip of my water. “Fancy suit, perfect hair, you seem like a guy who owns a business. And since you’re in charge, you’d be responsible for hiring the folks who run your HR department. Just hoping you have someone specializing in those areas. It’s a growing issue.” Yes, it’s possible I took this a little far, but I don’t like men like this. The men who think they can touch women and call them by pet names and show them no respect. The guy who only notices I exist for the sake of continuing on the conversation with my dad. I know too many men like him.
Douche nods his head. “Well, if you’re as smart and observant as you think you are, I’m sure you’ll do very well here.” He glares at me for a moment, and we have a little stare down. Just then, someone comes up and taps him on the shoulder.
“Dad, our table is ready.”
I look up at the familiar voice and choke the bite of chimichanga I’d just put in my mouth. My eyes meet Wilder’s as he shakes his head in confusion. My dad speaks up first.
“Wilder, right? Good to see you again, son.”
Wilder’s dad glances between Wilder and my dad. “Oh, you two know each other? That’s great? How did you get acquainted?”
Wilder scratches the back of his head. “Umm…well, we…”
My dad looks between me and Wilder, both of us waiting for Wilder to say something coherent. I cross my arms and sit back, locking eyes with him. My dad, having run out of patience, speaks up. “He’s dating my daughter.”
Wilder’s dad grins like an annoying crocodile who just ate a tourist and smacks Wilder on the shoulder. “Oh, really?” He looks over at me. “So you’re one of Wilder’s girls, huh? Can hardly keep up with this boy.” He looks proud and that annoys me further. “Guess that gives us an in for some great tickets this season.”
I still with the shock of Wilder’s dad’s statement. I can’t even look at my dad. I can’t look away from Wilder. The Wilder I know, filled with swagger, confidence, and endless romantic and sweet gestures, to let his dad stand there and trivialize what I thought was something really special, something that matters to me, and have Wilder say nothing, feels like a sort of wake up call. I shake my head a little, feeling a bit of deja vu at a father and son duo using me to get football crap from my dad. Disappointment courses through me, masking my anger with a suffocating sadness.
Watching Wilder’s panicked eyes and his mouth that opens and closes not stand up for us, for me, has me locking away that sadness and letting my anger fill in that void. Anger is easier. You let it hurt others before the sadness can hurt you. I never claimed to be emotionally healthy.
My dad starts to say something and I cut him off. “Well, technically Dad, we only went out the once. We bump into each other from time to time.” I move my eyes from Wilder to his dad. Yeah, this isn’t going to go well. “I don’t tend to do repeat performances when there’s likely no future. However, after meeting you, I can see where his respect for women comes from. I wonder if being a jackass is more nature, or nurture.”
Wilder’s dad’s eyes grow large with anger. “Listen here, little girl…”
Wilder grabs his dad’s shoulder. “Come on Dad. Our table’s ready. Let’s get some food in us.” He turns his dad away before this can get any worse.
I look at my dad who seems as angry as I am. He glances at me with questioning eyes. I know he’s asking if I’m okay, so I give him a choked laugh and a small nod.
Wilder pushes his dad towards the table, but doesn’t follow. He stays at the end of our booth for a second. “East, look it’s not…”
Dad, knowing I can’t take any more of this, stops him mid sentence. “Glad we ran into you today.” He stares down Wilder. I’m not sure Wy knows how bad he just messed up with both me and my dad. Dad flags down our waitress asking for the check. He turns his gaze back to Wilder. “Next time your dad speaks like that to my daughter, I’ll deck him.”
The waitress drops the check and my dad throws some bills on top and hands it right back. “Just because East doesn’t need you to step up for her, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.” He stands and looks to me to do the same. I move out of the booth and towards my dad. Dad’s not done. “At least one of you has a spine.”
My mouth drops open at how angry and brazen he’s being towards Wilder. Wilder reaches for my wrist as I walk past him. “East.”
I shake him off, not knowing exactly how I feel in this moment, but letting my anger take the place of any other emotion that might be swirling through me. “No. Just…no. I can’t do this now.”
My dad reaches for me and we leave the restaurant. I look back and see Wilder head back towards the table with his dad. Better to find out now the guy you’re getting in too deep with isn’t who you thought he is.
Dad and I walk through the parking lot and hop into his truck. As he starts the car, he looks over at me. “You okay, kiddo?”
I let one angry tear fall, heating my cheek. “Better to know now, right? Don’t need Ohio: the Texas edition.”
Dad sighs as he makes his way onto the street that will take us home. “East, I’ll say this now, and then hate the boy and his dad as much as you want me to, but I’ve got to say this once. It’s in the dad code.”
He looks over to me, gauging my reaction to see if I’m at all receptive. I turn and look at him, giving him a small nod.
Dad continues. “His dad is clearly a gaping asshole.”
I cut him off. “Gross visual, Dad.”
Dad stops me. “Shut it. As I was saying, his dad is a jerk, but that doesn’t mean the kid is necessarily. It’s possible that he was trying to keep you away from his dad, somehow, ashamed of that part of his life.”
“He should’ve said something, Dad. He should’ve stood up for me. How can I be with another guy who lets his dad do that?”
Dad gets quiet for a minute. “He’s not Cade, Easton. I know, and you’
re right. He should’ve said something, he should’ve stood up for you. But just because you have some real fire in you, doesn’t mean he’s got your same courage. I’m not saying forgive him just yet, I think you should let the little bastard squirm for a bit, but I do think you should hear him out. I’ve coached guys with fathers like that, and it’s complicated.”
“I’m a little surprised you’re defending him after that scary speech you gave him when we were leaving.”
“Kid, just because I’m telling you to hear the guy out, doesn’t mean I wasn’t angry or have something to say about the way things went down. I’m invested in you and your happiness, and I can’t see someone else hurt you like that. So, yeah, angry Dad came out, but he did deserve that.”
I laugh. “Yeah, he did.” I let out a long sigh. “I hear you, Dad, I do. I’ll think about it. I just…it’s just hard. I thought…I don’t know what I thought. It’s not like he really owes me anything, I guess.”
Dad sighs. “Maybe, maybe not. You should stand up for the people you love, regardless of the consequences. That’s not a lesson that man will ever teach his son, so he doesn’t have the best example. And, in fairness, you went after his dad pretty blatantly. You did poke the bear.”
I stop short at something he said. “Wait, love? He doesn’t love me. He’s known me for just a couple weeks.”
Dad shoots me a sideways look. “You see what you want to see, East. But, sure. I’ll pretend with you for a minute that that kid isn’t falling in love with you.”
I clear my throat, needing to derail this part of the conversation. “Yeah, well, regardless, his dad deserved it. I was trying to do it in a passive aggressive, underhanded way and would’ve been totally happy with that, but the idiot didn’t catch the drift so I pushed a little.” I stare out the window. “Okay, I pushed a lot.”
Dad laughs. “I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself, and women everywhere. I do think you should stick with comparative literature and forgo your attempts at becoming the head of HR. You’d likely get fired. Calm, unbiased discussion isn’t really your strong suit.”
