61. Tobias
Chapter 61
Tobias
T onight's the night my girl becomes mine in every way—in public, private, and all the spaces between where we've been hiding. It's not just some bullshit announcement. It's a fucking line drawn in concrete, and I'm ready to watch it set.
Leading Amelia through the restaurant, I catch the subtle signs she thinks she's hiding. She's trying to mask it, but I know her too well. She's ready for this showdown. She's preparing for the worst, but she'll feel lighter when we walk away from this table.
I'll make sure of it.
This conversation's been coming since the first time I kissed her, andI'm not spending another second of my life pretending she isn't everything to me.
My dad spots us first, and his eyes narrow when he sees me. He leans back in his chair, his usual air of practiced indifference slipping for just a second. Kayla comes next, her eyes widening in surprise. It's clear she wasn't expecting me—wasn't prepared for this confrontation—and damn if that isn't satisfying.
Kayla is the closest thing I've ever had to a mother figure, yet she's looking at me like I'm the enemy. But if that's how she wants to play it, fine.
So be it.
My father rises and extends his hand, his grip firm but detached, the way it always is. I shake it out of habit, out of some unspoken obligation, and then watch as he leans down to kiss Amelia’s cheek.I do the same with Kayla, though the gesture feels like ice between us.
"We weren't expecting you, Tobias." My dad's voice is carefully neutral. "You could have mentioned you were coming home."
I pull out Amelia's chair, and, Jesus, the smile she gives me as she sits might as well be a neon sign announcing exactly what we are to each other at this point.
"How's the tour going?" Kayla's voice is forced as she tries her best to pretend I'm not here, like I'm just a shadow she can ignore until I disappear.
"It's going really well, thanks." The tension between them is thick enough to choke on, probably all the leftover shit from their last encounter, but my dad's watching them both like a hawk, picking up every micro-expression.
"You're coming tomorrow, right?"
Baby, they won't be going to your show tomorrow.
"Yes, we'll both be there."
Not after you find out I'm going to spend the rest of my life with your daughter, you won't.
"We could've gotten you a ticket, too, Tobias." Kayla's words drip with false sweetness. "If we'd known to expect you, of course."
"It's fine. I was there last night, and she was incredible."
Kayla's smile is razor-sharp, her teeth clenched tight enough to crack."Of course she was."
The server materializesto take ourdrink orders—some pretentious light shit for Kayla, whiskey neat for my dad because he's predictable as fuck, water for my girl because she's dedicated to her craft, and beer for me because we're not sticking around long enough to pretend we want dinner. My hand finds the back of Amelia's chair like a magnet, fingers twitching with the need to touch her bare shoulder—just one brush of skin on skin to groundme in this shitstorm. Kayla's eyes snap to my hand, her stare icy and dissecting, but I don't move away. I'm not hiding. Not anymore.
"You know, David," Kayla starts, her voice casual. However, her words are anything but. "I was thinking, with Amelia on the road so much, it might be worth finding her a new place to live. If she's only home half the year, Tobias might as well move in with one of his friends. Or, better yet, he could always come home. If Amelia doesn't need him, of course."
My jaw clenches so hard my teeth might crack. Beside me, Amelia goes rigid, tension rolling off her in waves that I feel in my fucking bones. Without thinking, my thumb traces circles on her skin, marking her as mine right under Kayla's judgy-as-fuck stare.
"Yeah, that's going to be a hard fucking pass. And Kayla, poking the bear? Really? Feels a little stupid, don't you think?"
Her lips tighten into a thin line, but Amelia's voice cuts in before Kayla can retort, "I told you last time I saw you that I wouldn't be moving out."
Across the table, my dad sits back, swirling whiskey in his crystal glass like the pompous ass he is. He's too quiet, and I see those wheels turning behind his eyes. Say what you want about the bastard, but he didn't continue to build his empire by being stupid.
"What exactly am I missing here?" His words slice through the tension like a blade. His eyes ping-pong between us before zeroing in on me and Amelia. "You two. What aren't you saying?"
Now my hand moves to Amelia's back, my fingers brushing slow circles against her spine. My dad's eyes track the movement, narrowing with every touch. But my girl? She doesn't break. Instead, her hand slides over to mine on the pristine white tablecloth, our fingers threading together like they were made to fit.
"This had better be a sick joke, Tobias."
"It's not a joke, Dad."
"I warned you to stay away from her," Kayla hisses across the table.
"You knew about this?"
"Jesus Christ, David, I didn't know they were actually together."
"She knew I had feelings for Amelia; that's all. She was probably trying to avoid any drama."
"Which is more than what can be said about you two," he fires back, his tone cold as ice. His eyes dart between us, landing on our joined hands. "Now get your goddamn hands off each other before someone sees you."
I open my mouth to respond, but before I can, Amelia laughs. It's a sound that's equal parts defiance and exhaustion, like someone who's all out of patience. She lifts her glass and finishes her entire drink of water, slamming it onto the table with a huge, unapologetic fuck you and meeting Kayla's glare head-on.
"Do you find this amusing, Amelia?"
Oh, he's so fucked.
"Actually, I do," Amelia fires back. "Because if you want to start pointing fingers, maybe take a good hard look at your own shit first."
"Amelia!"Kayla's voice cracks like a whip, but Amelia doesn't even flinch.
"You forced us to live together."She leans forward, all fire and fury and fuck-you energy. "All because you're overbearing as hell. I still don't understand why—my happiness clearly means nothing to you—but you've always tried to control my life in one way or another."
"Asking you to live together so you're not alone in a city isn't the same as asking you to climb into bed together,"Kayla spits, her perfect mask cracking to reveal the ugly underneath.
"No,"Amelia agrees, her smile pure venom. "That happened all on its own."
The collective gasp from across the table is almost satisfying enough to drown out the tension choking the room.
"She's your stepsister,"my father snarls like he's tasting something rotten.
"And?"I ask because I really don't give a fuck.
"It's disgusting, and it's shameful."
"Well, we're done here."Amelia stands, her fingers threading through mine like she's claiming what's hers. She looks my father dead in the eye, her voice ice-cold. "You wouldn't call it disgusting if you knew what it felt like to love him. But unfortunately, you've never shown him an ounce of care, so you couldn't possibly understand."
"Love?" Kayla's laugh is ugly and twisted. "This isn't love. It's infatuation. Some kind of Stockholm syndrome or… or whatever happens when you're too wrapped up in each other to see straight."
Amelia's grip on my hand tightens, but her smirk only grows wider, deadlier. "You should be happy, Mom,"she says, sugar-sweet poison dripping from every word. "At least now you know I'll share your last name again one day."
Kayla's jaw hits the floor, and the silence that follows is deafening. I can't help the grin that spreads across my face as I slide my arm around Amelia's shoulders and guide her away from the table.
We don't look back as we walk away. We don't need to. The wreckage we're leaving behind speaks for itself.
As soon as we step outside, I pull her into me, my hands finding their home on her hips, andIkiss the life out of her.
"Fuck, I love you, Firefly."
She starts to laugh, the sound so infectious it's impossible not to join her. Soon, we're both laughing like idiots in the middle of the street, completely unbothered by what we left behind.
"Their faces," she says through her laughter. "Especially David's. He looked like he was about to pop a vein."
My hands come up to cup her face, cradling her between my palms.
"What you said to him…" My voice cracks as I try to get it out. My eyes close, trying to absorb everything about this moment—her warmth, her strength, the way she's standing here in front of me like she always has. Like she always will. "You see me, Mills. You've always seen me."
"It's impossible not to," she whispers like it's a truth she's been holding onto for far too long. Her hand brushes over my jaw, grounding me in the moment. "You deserve the world, Tobias, and you deserve so much more than the shitty parents you were given."
Her lips curve into a smile that could rebuild every broken piece of me. "Now come on, let's get out of here. They'll either reach out or they won't. But if they don't, it's their loss, not ours. Because we're pretty fucking awesome."
"Pretty fucking awesome?" I repeat with a chuckle. "Baby, we're perfection."