Catch Him(11)

“He’s never recovered from his grief?”

“No.”

“You think that makes him weak.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

He must have read the displeasure on her face, because he shrugged as if he had no intention of apologizing for what he said.

“Little girls don’t like to imagine their daddy is weak. If you think you have to take care of him, then it changes the dynamic in your relationship. You tell yourself you’re doing what any good daughter would do, but deep down there is resentment there. Because you still want him to be the type of person who could take care of you.”

“You a psychologist or something?”

“Don’t be angry with me for stating the truth. No, I’m not a psychologist. I am, however, the child of an alcoholic. It’s really not all that dissimilar for a son with his mother as it for a daughter with her father.”

Sinead considered that, then she replayed his words and it made sense. “You took care of your mother.”

“And my sister from a very young age. In many ways it made me who I was. I had to take risks, I had to make decisions very early in life that helped me to make better decisions later in life. Of course at the time I couldn’t know all that. Instead I was angry all the time. I couldn’t stop the resentment.”

Sinead sipped her beer and looked at the game that was happening below. There was a hit, the runner made it to first. The crowd was cheering, but she felt completely removed from it.

“It didn’t mean I loved her any less,” David said, nudging his shoulder against hers.

For some unfathomable reason Sinead choked on a sob. The tears spilled out of her and immediately David rushed to comfort her. He set their beers into cup holders and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, squeezing her against his side.

“Hey, hey love. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. See I forget how honest you are with your feelings. I’m a right bastard for upsetting you.”

Sinead sniffed away the tears and used her shirt to dry her face. She had no idea where the burst of emotion had come from and was heartily embarrassed by it. No, she knew where the emotion had come from. She did love her father. She couldn’t not. Too much of her childhood was wrapped up in the man he had been to her.

The man who implied last night she was a whore.

When had he stopped loving her? Had it been when Mom died? Did all the love he have die with her? There were days it felt like it. Like there was nothing left over for her.

“Holy crap, I’m sorry,” she said as she breathed her way through the last of it. “Too much sun and beer. I’m not really a crier.”

“Mmm,” he said with his arm still around her. “Perhaps you needed someone to cry on.”

“I’ve been out with you twice,” she scoffed. “I can’t imagine you appreciate your dates sobbing all over you.”

“No, you’re right. That usually only happens after I deliver to them the most amazing orgasm of their lives. Then the tears… well, I practically need an umbrella.”

Sinead chuckled, which she knew was his intent, and it felt good after the rush of emotion. Easier to keep things light and flirty. However, she also liked that after she had shared the ugly in her life, he had shared back. It made her feel less alone.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a good guy?”

His expression changed then and he pulled his arm from around her shoulders and reached for his beer. “I’m not. A good guy. I’m a ruthless guy. I need you to remember that, love.”

“Okay. You’re a ruthless guy who says nice things sometimes.”

He smiled. “I suppose that’s fair.”

“Can I kiss you?”

It wasn’t like her at all. She’d never in her life been the one to make the first move. Never taken the initiative to ask someone out on a date. But she desperately wanted to kiss him and she didn’t know how many of these dates she was going to get.

One more? Two more? Beyond that seemed unlikely. Beyond that it would start to matter.

He turned to her and reached out to cup her cheek. “I would be very honored if you kissed me.”

He said it like he knew what this meant. Her making the first move. Her declaring that she wanted to kiss him. While he had cupped her cheek, he’d made no effort to lean in to her. Which meant if she was going to do this, it had to be all her.

She leaned into him. She cupped his pretty face in her hands. She tilted his head with just a touch of pressure and she leaned in to place her mouth on his. First teasing his lips, then running her tongue along the seam, then waiting for him to open his mouth so she could plunder.