12. Tom
TOM
The banging on the door wakes me and I startle up in the bed. Reva shifts next to me and I groan, staring at all that pretty, bare skin.
“I’m gonna kick someone’s ass for waking me up this early,” I grumble and hear a giggle from Reva as she pulls the sheet over her head and rolls over.
Staggering out of the room, I groan and pull on my boxer briefs as I walk, knocking my knee into the coffee table.
“Son of a bitch!” I hiss and stalk to the door, my temper raring to give the intruder hell.
I open the door and stagger back when Hank rushes in. “Oh, thank god, man! I’ve been trying to get ahold of you since yesterday.”
“My phone’s dead,” I mutter. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“Reva didn’t come back and I’m going crazy.
” He pushes his hand through his dark hair, groaning.
“I called her friend but she didn’t tell me anything.
Just kept saying she didn’t know what happened but Reva didn’t make the flight.
She’s checked out of her room and I can’t fucking find her! I need help. We have to find her!”
My gut clenches when I realize that I have to tell him the truth. “Ummm. She’s still here, Hank. Just relax. Nothing’s happened to her. She’s alright. Settle down.”
He shoots me a hard look. “What do you mean she’s still here? I’ve already checked and she checked out of her room. She’s not here and she didn’t make her flight. She’s fucking missing. Did you see her last night?”
Oh fuck!
“Hank, we never meant for you to worry. She’s fine. She’s…”
“I’m right here, Daddy.”
I whirl and almost pass out when I see Reva standing in the doorway of the bedroom wearing one of my t-shirts and nothing else. She looks good enough to eat and my dick jerks in my boxers.
I push that thought down. If I get a hard-on right now I think Hank might cut it off.
Hank’s mouth tightens and he glares at me. “What the fuck is my daughter doing in your damn room, Tom”
“I’m sorry, Hank. I’m really sorry. I can’t help that I fell in love with her.”
His eyes are like ice chips. “Don’t give me that shit. You’ve known her since she was little. How the hell can you think about her like that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell me that you didn’t think about her like that before she turned eighteen. Tell me that you’re not a pervert or some kind of sex fiend.”
That fucking hurts. I can’t believe he’d think that of me. I shake my head. “I never thought of her like that until she came home that first time from college. And I’ve hated myself ever since because of it.”
“Is that why you didn’t come around every time she was visiting?”
I nod my head, clenching my fists. “You think I wanted this? I fought it like crazy. If she hadn’t told me that she was in love with me too, I never would have touched her. Never would have crossed that line. She means the world to me, Hank. I just want you to know that.”
“Too damn bad, Tom. She’s too young for you and you know it.
I will not accept this ….” his lips twist,” this relationship.
It’s not right. So go find another damn man’s baby girl to fuck around with.
Because if you don’t get the hell away from Reva, I’m never going to speak to you again.
And I’m gonna make sure that everybody in town knows that you’re not to be trusted. ”
“Hank. Don’t be ridiculous.” I knew he’d be upset. But this Hank is nothing like the man I’ve known for years.
His hard eyes turn to Reva and the pain in them guts me. “Reva, how could you do this? You know what he’s like. You know that he uses women. He doesn’t get serious with anyone. He’s not serious about you either. He’s an asshole who just fucks around and then walks off.”
“I’m not leaving her, Hank. I love her.”
“I love him, Daddy. I have for a long time. I love him so much that it hurts. I can’t leave him.”
“And I won’t leave her, Hank. She’s my fucking world.”
He whirls and points a finger at me. “Don’t give me that shit!
No woman means a damn thing to you! You just use them and then throw them away.
” His eyes switch to Reva. “Do you know how many women he’s lured in with that smile and all his promises?
I can’t count them. But I know that he has and now he’s crossed a fucking line. ”
He whips his head back to me. “You fucked with the one woman that I thought would be safe from you. My own daughter and I’m never gonna forgive you.
If you’ve got any sense, Reva, you’ll get dressed and meet me downstairs and I’ll take you home.
Because he will rip your heart out and stomp on it and not even think twice about it. That’s just his way.”
He stalks off, his back rigid, body practically vibrating with rage. Hank’s a big guy and his rage is something to see.
“Daddy, we’re married. We didn’t mean it to happen but I don’t regret it. I want to be his wife.”
Hank stops at the door, his hand on the doorknob, gripping it so tight that I’m shocked he doesn’t rip it right off the wall.
His head turns back to me and his lips are tight, his body shaking, eyes so cold that I shiver. “You were my friend. How the fuck could you do this to me? To her? I never want to see you again!”
He rips the door open and slams it shut behind him. The wall shakes and I close my eyes, sucking in a sharp breath.
What a clusterfuck!
“Tom,” Reva whimpers.
My eyes open and I quickly run to her, catching her as she falls against my chest, her sobs wracking her shaking body, soaking into my bare chest and all the way down to her soul.
“Oh, baby girl. I’m so sorry. He’ll get over it.
He was just surprised. It’s alright, baby.
Shhh.” I hold her tight and close my eyes, her pain a living thing, curling up on my chest and sucking all the joy out of the room, all the joy of finally having the woman that I love.
Every breath is heavy and hurts so damn much that I almost can’t finish a breath.
I promised her that it would be alright and I’m not sure that anything is ever going to be right again. No matter how much I want it to be. I’d move heaven and earth for her but I’m not sure how the hell to fix this one and it’s eating me alive.
I lay my chin on her head and tuck her closer, my eyes closed tight and my chest aching.
This is heaven and hell all rolled up in one. I’ve got the love of my life and she loves me back but we both might lose out because of that love.
I always guessed it but now I know. Life’s not fucking fair.