Page 51 of When You Stayed
Dad roared for Ford again, and I chose to fold the blanket that I had slept under last night so it looked less like we’d slept together and more like we were down here talking. My hands were in my hair, adjusting and fixing it when I felt Ford’s fingers raking through the ends.
I froze and stared at him.
“This time, if you’re not here, I can fight back. So maybe slide past him quickly, and then run up there.”
My dad’s voice rose again. “I need to talk to you about Connor’s visit. He reached out to me as a courtesy, but we need to chat about what the fuck he meant by you being down here with Royce.”
“He sold us out!” I mouthed quietly.
Ford didn’t seem surprised, but when he moved to step away from our little furniture circle, I gripped his hand.
“We can run, I bet there’s still a door that leads outside somewhere in here.” I had heard stories about it from Penelope when I dated Connor. He was a baby when she’d slipped through one during an attack from a rival club or something.
Ford shook his head and leaned closer. His mouth was right at my ear and his hand landed on my waist as he said. “All that was sealed off years ago. Tunnels, doors, all of it. There’s no way in or out.”
That didn’t seem safe, but I’d save my breath on that.
It was time to face my father. I glanced around for my jacket so it would hide my shirt and how low the neckline dipped, so there would be one less reason to murder Ford. Once I found it, I pulled it on and zipped it all the way up to my chin. Right as I finished, my dad rounded the shelf that had been concealing us.
His green eyes blazed while his jaw locked. “Royce.”
“Dad.” My hands moved to the back of my jeans where I tucked them.
His leather cut hung over his white T-shirt. The short length drew my gaze to his wrist where he had a tattoo of three flowers, one of which represented me.
“Want to explain why you slept down here?”
I wasn’t a child, so I didn’t have to explain myself, but for the sake of him not hitting Ford, I did.
“Connor said he wanted to see us, hang out like old times. We came down here, and I fell asleep on the couch.”
His gaze swung over to Ford. “And where did you sleep?”
Internally I screamed for him to say the recliner and lie. It would be so much easier if he didn’t explain what really happened, but that wasn’t Ford.
He was an idiot.
“Also on the couch.”
Dad’s lips peeled back right as he stepped forward as if he was about to punch Ford again. I took that as my opportunity to leave. I knew Ford wanted to defend himself, and if this was how they settled things, then I’d let them. Besides, I had a list to get back to and items that needed to be checked off, and an ex-boyfriend to corner and demand answers from.
THIRTEEN
ROYCE
Mom wasn’t homewhen I got back, but there was a note telling me she’d left me some French toast in the microwave. Plucking a cut strawberry from a bowl on the counter, I ran upstairs to check Taryn’s room.
Empty.
I pulled out my phone and saw that she hadn’t texted me yet.
With the arrival of Connor, it still felt as though she would randomly pop up as well. Probably wasn’t even the same hoodie that she’d worn, and the smell, that was…it was Connor, and Taryn would never go there.
“Stupid,” I whispered while exiting her room.
While I showered, I brushed off the nagging feeling that I was being lied to. There were things my sister wasn’t telling me, and we told each other everything. She was never gone this much, and if she was, then she’d leave me endless voice notes as to how miserable she was.
The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became. I needed to talk to my ex-boyfriend.
