Page 150 of Rush

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"I won't."

"Good." He heads toward the door, then stops. "And Everly?"

"Yeah?"

"If he hurts you, you call me. Doesn't matter when or where, you call me and I'll handle it."

"I know."

He leaves and I stand there feeling steadier than I have in days.

My dad doesn't fully approve of Rush, but he's starting to accept that this is my choice.

And that's enough for now.

I'm cleaning up the last of the dishes when there's a knock on my door. I open it and Rush is standing there, looking tense.

"Hey," he says.

"Hey."

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

He walks inside and I close the door. He looks around like he's checking for something.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing. I just needed to see you."

"Rush, what happened?"

"Your dad was here, wasn't he?"

I blink. "How did you know?"

"Tank saw him leave your building, texted me."

"Yeah, he was here. We had dinner."

His jaw tightens. "And?"

"And it went better than expected. We talked, he apologized for ambushing us at the clubhouse."

"He apologized?"

"Yeah, shocked me too."

Rush runs his hand through his hair. "What else did he say?"

"That he's starting to see you're not the same kid from the file. That he doesn't fully trust you yet but he respects that you're trying."

"That's it?"

"He also said if you hurt me he'll destroy you, but that was pretty much a given."

Rush almost smiles. "Yeah, he made that clear when we talked earlier."

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