Chapter 31
Conner
I hope everyone gets to experience this kind of happiness at least once in their life. As for me, I’ll have it every single motherfucking day because I get to grow old with the love of my life.
Taylor can’t stop staring at her ring.
We’re in my truck, heading to my place because I completely forgot my damn wallet in my rush to make today go as planned.
Me and the others have been planning it for a month, including the phone call Taylor got from Carly, and I was so nervous I left the house without my wallet, which has my credit card, and I can’t pay for dinner without that very important thing.
“It’s so beautiful,” she says, gawking at it.
The ring isn’t all that big, but it really is pretty. I’m glad it can no longer burn a hole in my pocket. The wait has killed me.
“I’m happy you like it.”
“I love it.” She slips her amethyst infinity ring off her middle finger and stacks the two rings together. “I want this to be my wedding set.”
My heart’s about to combust. “I think that’s perfect.” Pulling onto my road, I work the logistics out. “I can have it resized at the jewelers I bought it from, but that means you’ll have to go without it for a little while.”
She holds her hand to her chest like someone’s trying to steal the ring from her finger. “I don’t like that.”
“I’ll get you a matching one in a smaller size then.”
“I don’t like that either.” She glances at her hand, and I swear she’s about to turn into Gollum and go all “My precious” on me. “I guess I’ll have to suck it up, huh?” She huffs a laugh. “My god, I’ll feel naked and lost without it though.”
“You’ll survive. Promise.”
My apartment is an old house that was converted into four small and efficient rentals ages ago. I’ve lived here since I turned eighteen when I first tried to break away from my shit family. It doesn’t feel anything like Taylor’s house though, and I can’t wait to move out of this place.
“Wait here, I’ll only be a minute.”
“Okay.” Taylor holds her bouquet up and smells the flowers. A ladybug flies out of them and lands on the dashboard. She winds the window down and scoops her up and lets her free.
Shit. Right. My wallet.
That requires me to stop being enchanted by my girl long enough to leave her for a minute.
Slamming my door shut, I go into the main lobby that’s a tight ass vestibule and am about to unlock my door when I see it’s already ajar.
What the hell? Did the landlord let himself in for some reason?
Entering cautiously, a scent hits my nose that sends me spiraling.
My dad’s cologne.
He douses himself in this one particular cheap ass toilet water that you can smell a mile away. It always gave me the worst headaches.
And there he is. Sitting on my couch like he owns the fucking place.
“’Bout time you showed up.” He takes a sip from a bottle of Jack. “You won’t pick up your phone. Too good to answer a call now, boy?”
I don’t know how he would have gotten my number, but now I know who blew my phone up this morning and didn’t leave a voicemail.
“What are you doing here?”
He stands up and cracks his neck, letting out one of those quiet sighs that escapes through his nose. My muscle memory kicks in, and I tense up, bracing for impact.
“I need a place to stay until I get back on my feet.”
“You have a wife. Go be with her until you’re on your feet.”
“Your mother left me.”
I wish I had an ounce of compassion to offer but I don’t. I’m glad she left him. And I don’t feel sorry for her either because my mother was just as big a problem as my father has always been. They deserve each other.
“You can’t stay here.”
“Too good to even help your father out?” His boots thud loudly as he walks across my living room. “You always were the most ungrateful little shit.”
“Leave.”
“Nah. I’m not leaving. You’re going to have to make me, and we both know you’re too pussy to do that.”
He’s right. I will take on anyone but my father. It’s so dumb because he’s the one I should have put all my anger into long ago. But it isn’t in me to hit a parent. As if I can somehow be a good example of how not to treat your family, I would always take his beatings and never strike back.
I think if I ever did, I wouldn’t stop.
“You have five seconds to leave or I’m calling the cops.”
He laughs. “Go ahead. Call ‘em. I ain’t done nothing wrong.”
“You broke into my house.” And now that the initial shock of seeing him is over, I can tell he’s rummaged through my stuff.
I walk over to the small desk against the living room wall where I keep my laptop and pull on the drawer that’s not shut all the way.
The cash I stashed in there is gone. “And you robbed me.” I slam the drawer shut, anger fueling me.
“Breaking and entering and robbery. Nice. Anything else you want to add to the felonies today?”
“You’re my son.”
As if that means he’s entitled to my stuff? My life? Fuck him. “No. I’m not.”
“My blood is in your veins, boy. You aren’t anyone else’s but mine.”
Time has not been kind to him. Neither has life. And that’s all his fault. He’s gambled, drank, and sunk below rock bottom and all if stinks of failure on him.
“Leave.”
“I told you. I ain’t going nowhere. I’m your father and you owe me. I’m staying.”
My hands ball into fists, but we both know it’s for nothing.
Dad looks down at my hands and chuckles. “Whatchu gone do with those, boy?”
My heart’s fluttering in my throat. My airway is closing up.
Dad marches over and stands toe-to-toe with me. I’m taller than he is by only about two inches and even though I have more muscle, he’s got more psycho.
He’s on me so fast I’m shocked he’s still this quick. And in the two seconds it takes for him to slam me against a wall, I’m frozen. I’m little again. I’m trapped again.
“You’ll never change, Conner. No matter how hard you try, no matter who you think you are, you’re still a weak ass pussy boy.” Pain bolts through my head when he clocks me with a right hook. “You’re a worthless, useless, ungrateful piece of shit.”
He’s about to hit me again when I see a golden angel running up behind him.
Panic slices through me. “Taylor, no!”
Taylor
I don’t know what makes me get out of the truck. I don’t even know why I carry my bouquet inside. All I can say is that something brought me in here and I’m livid.
“Taylor, no!” Conner yells.
But I’m already jumping onto his father’s back and beating him with my bouquet.
“Get away from him you no good…” Whack! “Piece of shit!” Whack, whack, whack.
Mr. Montgomery spins around and can’t shake me off. I’m too clingy. And I beat and beat and beat him until all my pretty flowers are destroyed.
Stumbling back, he slams against a table, and I lose my grip, falling off him.
“You crazy fucking bitch!” the asshole yells.
Conner snatches him back before he can get to me. I don’t think this man’s ever hit a woman before, but I don’t want to be the one to break his streak. Except I’m so mad my vision is red.
How dare he come back here. How dare he go after the man I love!
And because I’m all hopped up on rage and adrenaline, I kick that motherfucker square in the nuts and drop him.
“Don’t you ever lay a hand on Conner again,” I seethe, shoving my finger in his face. “Or I will gut you.” I lean in. “And I will rip you up.” I grab his face and squish it with a death grip. “And I will put you in my wood chipper and plant daisies with your corpse juice.”
Mr. Montgomery still can’t catch his breath. He just clutches his junk and looks like a fish as I squeeze his cheeks.
“Crawl out of this goddamn town and go back to whatever rock you like to hide under, you pussy ass little bitch.”
His face reddens with anger.
“Conner owes you nothing. If you’re here, I assume it’s because you messed your life up.
Again. My husband is not going to save you anymore.
He’s not going to make up for your failures or bail you out or put a roof over your head or food in your rotten gut ever again.
You don’t deserve him. You never fucking did. ”
For good measure, I whack him one more time with my flower stems. “Leave.”
“Boy,” he growls up at Conner. “Put a leash and muz—”
“Nope, you’re not finishing that sentence.” Conner puts him in a chokehold and drags him across the floor, to the door, and tosses him outside. Then he pulls out his cell phone. “This is your last chance. Leave or I’m calling the cops.”
“Ungrateful punk.” He wipes his mouth, looks around to find the neighbors watching from their windows, and then he wobbles down the road without saying another word.
“Holy shit.” Conner grabs my shoulders and gets in my face. “Are you okay?”
“Are you okay?” His cheek is red from where his father punched him and I’m honestly so mad all over again that I want to chase that asshole down the road and hit him with Conner’s truck.
“Taylor.” He holds me tight, and he’s shaking all over.
“You’re okay,” I say into his chest.
Conner drops to the floor, taking me with him. We hold each other and catch our breath, letting our nervous systems calm down.
He strokes my head, holding me tighter. “I thought you said fighting was never the way. That violence wasn’t the answer.”
“Yeah well. Letting that man put his hands on you isn’t in me.”
“Oh my god.” Conner holds my face and kisses me over and over. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. But my bouquet isn’t.”
Petals and leaves and stems are scattered all over the floor. “I wanted to dry those and hang them.” Tears prick my eyes.
“I’ll pick you a new one.” Conner hasn’t stopped shaking. “I’ll pick you a bouquet everyday forever.”
He’s in panic mode. I know him well enough to understand he thinks this episode just messed everything up. It hasn’t. If anything, I think it healed something.
I’ve never stuck up for myself. Conner always did it for me. He’d beat anyone who hurt my feelings or disrespected me. But no one ever stuck up for him. Conner wouldn’t hit his father back. Not even today when he towered over that man and has a lot more muscle than him.
“I wish I’d known how bad it was back then, Conner. If I had, I could have done something sooner to help you.”
Not that I know what it would have been.
“I didn’t want you to see it,” he confesses. “Dean knew, but not even Nick and Bennet know the full extent. The last thing I ever wanted was for you to be around that asshole. He’s scary, and I needed to protect you from that.”
The two times I caught bruises on Conner were both in the summer, when we were swimming. Both times he said he fell—once off a dirt bike, the other off his skateboard. And both times I called him out on his lies.
He made me pinky swear to not say anything to anyone.
The fear in his eyes was the only reason I agreed.
I thought to myself, What happened if I snitched and his dad got in trouble and then came home and took it out on Conner?
I couldn’t risk it. It would break Con’s trust and put him in more danger. So, I stayed quiet, and I regret it.
I knew his father was bad news the day we first met at the park. The way Conner shook at the mere sound of his father’s voice. When that jerk and his wife took off and left Conner after graduation, I was so relieved. Having that creep return after all this time was not on my bingo card though.
“Do you think he’ll come back?”
Conner shakes his head. “Doubt it. He just lost his power over me.”
“We should probably put frozen peas on your face.”
Once I’m on my feet, I feel six feet tall. Sticking up for my man and kicking a monster in the balls is very nice for my ego. And to do it in a dress, no less.
“I’m such a baddie.”
Conner cups my face. “Yeah, you are.”
“I’m basically a town hero.”
“For sure.”
“There will be ballads sung and poems written about me across the lands.”
“Forever and ever.”
We laugh a little and then I wilt. “Today has been an emotional roller coaster.”
“I’m so sorry.” Conner hugs me again. Like if he keeps holding me, I can’t run away.
“It was the perfect day, Con.” And I mean it.
Would I rather his father not have arrived at all? Yes. Maybe show up some other day? Probably. But things happen when they’re meant to happen and I’m not one to argue with fate.
“I’m hungry,” I say, hoping to get Conner back into provider mode. “Can we still make our reservations?”
“Definitely.” He kisses my forehead. “Did you want to change first?”
I stare down at my dress that’s got berry juice, dirt, and pollen all over it. “Nope.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
He scoops me into his arms and carries me out of there.