Theo
T hick stubble was growing in on my cheeks. It was different—I was used to it being light, almost not there, but it was growing dangerously into beard territory and…I didn’t hate it. I liked it.
I’d had a beard when I was younger, and something about growing one now felt right. Change happened quickly in my life, and it was only natural my appearance changed next, right?
I smoothed my fingers over the gray at my temples, and dragged them down my cheek, staring at the white strands peppering my… beard .
Thick, sandalwood-scented steam filled the bathroom, the remnants of my morning shower. Instead of putting on a pair of slacks like I normally would, I threw on sweatpants and a T-shirt. It was Sunday, and we didn’t have plans. Honestly, I wanted to convince Scout to have a lazy day with me.
Ever since we got Larry, she’d been happier. She was coming out of her room more, and she was smiling almost all the time. She played Dropzone in the theater and sometimes let me watch—I hadn’t worked up the courage to ask her to play yet, but I would.
The kitchen was stocked with her favorite foods, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love them too. We’d been in Cedar Ridge for a little over six weeks, and things were starting to feel…real. We found a comfortable routine, and things weren’t so tense.
Maybe Mom was right—getting out of the city, a change of scenery, was exactly what we both needed.
Though, I couldn’t help the jealous ache in my chest every time I opened Instagram and saw one of the guys posting about their night out. It was stupid—I knew that. But I missed the city lights and endless nights, going back to my place with some pretty woman on my arm.
It’d been a good life. An easier life.
The only person I’d cared about was me .
But I had Scout, and honestly, I couldn’t imagine my life without her in it now.
I smoothed my hand over my damp hair for a final time, then headed out of the bathroom. I needed shoes—Scout was always barefoot, but I couldn’t stand the feeling of the wooden slats or carpet fibers on my bare feet.
My phone lit up on my nightstand, and I checked it—an email from Sean asking if he could be part of the lighthouse project.
Again.
I ignored the message. I’d already told him three times he couldn’t, but he was persistent. Pushy. Which was why we were in this PR mess to begin with.
Slipping the phone into my pocket, I headed toward the walk-in closet. Maybe it was stupid to say my closet was my happy place, but it was. It overflowed with designer everything—my clothes, my shoes, even my socks were designer.
I grabbed some socks first and leaned against the island as I slipped them over my feet. Today was a plain sneakers kind of day.
A soft noise, almost like a purr, sounded from the back corner of the room and I froze. Fuck.
I looked around, scanning high and low. Nothing.
Dread pooled in my stomach. I knew what it was—I’d heard it almost every day for the last fucking week.
Slowly, I crept forward, straining to hear. Another sound—this one almost like a chomp, chomp, chomp .
“Not again,” I pleaded, the desperate words leaving me on a defeated breath. “Please. Not again.”
I rushed to the back where my slacks hung and crouched. Shoving the expensive fabric aside, I let out a long groan.
“ Larry .”
I scooped her into my hand, but she never let go of the hem of my pants. She continued chomping on them like her life depended on it, her dark eyes darting up to meet mine. Her nose twitched with every bite.
“Let go.” I yanked on the fabric gently, watching as it fell away from her mouth. Holes riddled the bottom, one giant one in the center. I couldn’t wear these again—I’d have to send them to a tailor or throw them out. “Fucking rabbit.”
She nestled into my palm, but I saw the way she was still staring up at me. There was a clear challenge in her dark, beady gaze—a challenge she would not win.
Huffing out a breath, I slipped my sneakers on before stomping through the house, the bunny still clutched in my hand.
“Scout!” I shouted, heading for her bedroom first. My footsteps rattled on the hardwood floors, muffled by the long rug running down the hallway.
I rapped my knuckles against the wood of her door, but she didn’t answer. I was knocking loud enough and hard enough that it should’ve woken her up, but when she never came to the door, I grumbled under my breath and turned on my heel.
Theater room or kitchen.
I took the stairs down two at a time, my palm sweating from the warm fur tucked against it. Larry’s little tongue snaked out of her mouth, and she dragged it along my thumb.
“Don’t lick me,” I snapped. A sneeze erupted from me, and my eyes watered.
“This is ridiculous.” I poked my head into the kitchen, finding it empty, so I headed to the theater room.
“I can’t believe I’m allergic to you and you torture me by chewing all my clothes.
At this rate, I won’t have any fucking pants left. ”
Larry’s nose twitched in response.
“Scout—”
I rounded the doorway and paused.
She was curled up on one of the long sofas, a mound of snacks sitting on the end table, and a big fluffy blanket Trinity insisted on giving her draped over her legs.
Her hair was wild, like she hadn’t bothered to brush it before coming downstairs.
Dropzone played on the massive television mounted to the wall, but it was her voice that made me freeze.
“Yeah, Sir Grump will be down soon,” she muttered into the mic on her headset.
I blinked.
Sir Grump? Was that me?
Larry wiggled in my hand, wanting to be free and go to Scout, but I held her tighter. I didn’t want this quiet, secret moment to end yet.
Sinking onto a chair in the back of the room, I cradled Larry against my chest and watched the game unfold, all the while, listening to Scout’s voice. It was soft, almost reverent, like she was scared of speaking too loudly.
But then she laughed—it was a breathy little laugh, almost inaudible. But it was there. And I heard it.
It had been so hard-fought, that sound, and I let myself sink into it.
I didn’t know if she was happy. I didn’t know if the second she turned eighteen she’d disappear from my life forever. I didn’t know if she secretly despised me simply because I was here and her mom wasn’t.
But none of that mattered. Because even if she couldn’t stand me, even if she wished she’d never met me, I was still her dad. She was still my daughter.
And all I could think about, all I could hear, was my father’s voice in the back of my head telling me to be a good man.
“Probably kale and air,” she said, chuckling. I blinked, the words pulling me out of my thoughts. Okay, she was definitely talking about me. “I can ask him.” A pause. “Yeah, he probably will.”
I narrowed my eyes. What was she talking about? Who was she talking to?
“I don’t know if he still does.” She laughed again, and I swear it was like music. “I can’t spy—Trinity, I can't do that.”
Oh. Trin.
That explained everything.
Larry squirmed in my hands again, and before I could stop her, she leapt to the floor. I shot to my feet, nearly tripping over air as I raced forward.
Scout shoved the headset off and spun around, her eyes wide and accusing. “What are you doing?” she demanded. “What—Larry?” The bunny hopped forward, and Scout scooped her up. “Did the weird man scare you?”
“Weird man—” I scoffed. I wasn’t weird. “She was chewing my pants again .”
She flicked her eyes to me. “Keep your door closed.”
“Keep her in her cage,” I shot back.
“She likes to roam.”
“She likes to be in her cage.”
“Mmm.” She made this infuriating, high-pitched sound. “No, she doesn’t.”
I took a deep breath. I had to, otherwise I knew I’d lose it over this rabbit that I stupidly agreed to buy her.
Voices shouted through the headset, but I ignored them. “She needs to be?—”
“Can you take her?” she rushed out, shoving her hands toward me.
Panicked, I snatched the evil bunny up and watched as Scout turned back toward the TV, grabbing her controller, and slapping the headset back on.
“I’m here! I’m here!” She paused. “He said Larry chewed his pants again—yeah, that’s what I told him. ”
“Is that Trin?” I demanded, stepping forward. She shot me a look, but I sat on the opposite side of the couch, letting Larry settle on the cushion between us. “Give me the headset. I wanna talk to her.”
“No. Get your own.” She shooed me with a flick of her fingers.
“Where are they?”
“I don’t—this is the end of the game. Can you—they’re over there!” She pointed at the drawers sitting on the other side of the room. I hurried to grab a spare controller and headset, making sure they were fully charged before returning.
“How do I connect?”
“Oh my god. Just wait.”
I messed with it, watching as Scout aimed and shot at an enemy across a grassy field. Her bottom lip was between her teeth, and her face intense as she stared at the screen, eyes flitting around. Finally, it froze for only a moment before the word VICTORY flashed across it in bold letters.
She let out a breathy laugh as she fell back against the couch. “Hold on,” she laughed out. “Yeah. He wants to play. I know. Is that okay?”
“It better be okay,” I grumbled. She quickly hooked my controller up, and I settled back on the couch as my character came on screen. “Why does he look like that?”
“What?”
“Yours is cool. Mine is plain.”
“Yeah, I bought this skin. You have to buy something.”
“Like, with real money?”
“I thought you’ve played this before.”
“Only a few times.”
She huffed out a laugh as she slid her headset back on. I mimicked her, settling it over my ears. Trinity shouted something I couldn’t make out, making the speakers pop. I winced at the sharp sound.
“Is that Sir G I hear?” she asked.
“I take it that’s me?”
“Obviously,” Trinity said dryly. “Who else would it be? Listen, if you weigh us down, you’re getting kicked.”
“I won’t?—”