Wrong For You (Before You Series Book 3)(36)

“What’s on your schedule for the day?” She sat up behind him, her bare skin brushing against his back.

Normally, the women who passed through his life never made it to the point where they were still around in the morning. He’d been with more than his fair share of women since Chasing Ruin made it into the big leagues, but none of those women came close to capturing his interest like Violet had from the moment he saw her. This was uncharted territory for him, and even though he should tell her to leave, he didn’t. He couldn’t find the right words to navigate the situation. The minute she walked out the door, reality would come crashing down around him again. For some reason, Violet kept his demons in check, something no one else had ever managed to do. He leaned forward, scooping his rings off the nightstand and slid them on his fingers one by one. “I need to visit someone.”

“Who?”

“My dad,” he answered, practically spitting the words out of his mouth. Referring to Brad as his dad left a sour taste in his mouth. It disrespected the man who he called dad for the first ten years of his life, the man who he succeeded in driving to his death with a simple question. Brad could never be his dad. It was too late for him to fill that role, but last night when he sat in the bathroom alone, he decided to seek him out one more time and hear his story unless he slammed the door in his face again, and in that case, he’d finally be able to close the door on this town forever.

She kissed the top of his shoulder, her hands moving slowly up and down his arms. “Are your parents still married?’

Well, damn. Even that question couldn’t be answered simply. His life was a minefield. “They were never married.” He shrugged her hands off his shoulders and stood up. Without turning around, he shoved his legs into his jeans from last night. He needed some coffee fast. His head was already pounding and he could feel Violet’s unspoken questions bouncing around in the air, putting him on edge, and he didn’t need to be any more anxious than he already felt.

He could hear the slide of fabric against her unmarred skin as she dressed and it took all his energy not to turn around and watch. Spending all day exploring Violet, getting to know every little thing about her sexy, cute as sin body sounded infinitely better than knocking on the door of the man who hovered over his life like a specter. As much as that appealed to him, he kept his eyes trained on the coffee pot, trying to figure out the right amount of coffee grounds to dump in the machine. Where the hell was the nearest coffee shop when he needed one?

“Are you close?” Violet asked, pulling two blue speckled metal mugs from one of the upper cabinets. They looked more like something that belonged on a camping trip than in the kitchen. She slid them on the counter next to the coffee pot.

“No.”

“When’s the last time you saw him?”

Eighteen years, two months and three days ago. The day the man he believed was his father died in a car crash. Brad hadn’t bothered with Alec since, and even though his mom admitted to blocking Brad from seeing him, it wouldn’t have been difficult to circumvent her and fight for him. His mom spent more than half of his childhood drowning in a bottle of whiskey and god knows what else. That fact alone would have steered any judge away from believing her twisted lies. “A long time ago,” he answered, not wanting to get into the gory details of his life. Not even Taylor knew the man they considered their dad wasn’t his dad, just hers, and he’d stolen him from her with a slip of his tongue.

“Hm.” She leaned one hip against the countertop, brushing her tangled blonde hair from her face. “I know this is technically my apartment, but you can ask me to leave.”

He lifted the carafe and poured coffee into both of the mugs. Part of him liked the idea of hanging out with Violet today. The other part of him loved the idea, and that was exactly why he should ask her to leave. Violet didn’t belong in his world. She was soft, caring, and everything that any man with half a brain would want, and that was exactly why he needed to show her the door. His life would corrode her beauty from the inside out. There was too much going on in his life right then and he probably couldn’t handle adding Violet into the mix. His mom had cancer, she finally went to rehab after decades of needing it, his real dad was threatening to enter his life, and in the middle of all that was Violet, twisting herself into every beat of his heart with every additional moment he spent with her.

“I know. I’m sorry for not being more upfront, but I need my space.” Her face fell and she looked at the floor. Acid burned his stomach. “It’s not you,” he finally said, lifting one of the mugs and offering it to her. “I just don’t do relationships or the morning after shit. I’m a fucking mess and I can’t be half the person you deserve. Don’t take this personally.”