McCoy fell in love-”
“Feels like the Sex Gods are weeping,” Ben comments.
“You're gonna be weeping when I put you in time out in a minute,” she threatens. “Now shut up.” Knoxie turns back to me. “Like I said, I'm thrilled for you Merrick. And unlike the big ogre that stormed out of here, I know who you fall in love with isn't really a choice. You can't explain that shit any more than you can help wanting who you want. But you can be smart about it. You can make better decisions. Especially when all of us are at risk.”
“Stop talking about Jovi like she's some fucking disease,” I growl.
Ben shrugs. “She practically is.”
Without hesitation I attempt to go after him when Destin grabs my arm, pulling me back.
Knox folds her arms across her chest. “He just punched Madden in the face moron. What the hell did you think he was going to do? Hug you?”
“Whoa whoa whoa baby bro.” Destin tugs my struggling body again. “You can't just go throwing a punch every time someone says something about your girl you don't like.”
Not fucking true. Not true at all.
“You shouldn't go throwing a punch,” Drew corrects him.
“That.” Knoxie points at me. “That shit right there is why Madden is worried. He doesn't give a fuck who the girl is or how it affects the job. He knows how it's gonna affect you. How it's gonna blind you to everything else and cause you to make impulsive decisions with consequences we'll all have to deal with.”
Giving Madden too much credit there, isn't she?
“Now I'm gonna say this once,” her voice stays firm but softens. “Prove him wrong.”
Adjusting the ice pack on my throbbing fingers I remain silent.
I want to. I want him to eat those words about my girl. My heart. My soul. I want him to come back here so I can scream and shout that everything will work itself the fuck out. It always does. That I can handle this. That I won't put them at risk. No. I'm not sure I wouldn't be fucking lying. When Jovi's what's up for discussion she's the only thing that matters. And what the fuck that fact is going to do to my life scares me more than Madden ever could.
Jovi
“So, your night off actually means night in the office?” Nadie mocks dad from the laundry room.
Her catty remark makes me smirk.
I don't know why she's surprised. He hasn't had a real night off since mom died. The ones he's assigned, he uses to work on finding out lost information about my mother's death. Vacation days? Same thing. Locked away in his office. Away from us. From me. Sometimes I wish instead of just keeping me in the tower, that he'd visit for longer than enough time to extend my sentence in it.
“You're really giving me shit, Nadie?” He drops his hands on the island counter. “I don't have a choice.”
“Life is a choice.” She storms in from the laundry room, a basket clutched under her arm. “ You chose this lifestyle. You chose to always be available at the drop of a hat. You chose to let me raise Jovi-”
“You're telling me I haven't raised my own daughter?”
He hasn't. And please don't try to tell me creating an on-going list of rules not to break counts as raising me.
“I'm telling you that maybe it would be okay once in a while to tell the people on the other end of the phone no, and spend a couple hours with the daughter who is leaving for school with very little reason to ever look back.”
I plan to look back. And to come back. I'd never completely desert my dad even if at times it feels like he did me.
Dad rubs his beard. He doesn't deny what Nadie says, but he doesn't agree. “You used to like to feed the ducks.”
I grab another piece of garlic bread and shrug. “They're adorable. Little painters of the water. Unlike geese. Geese are the devil.”
“You've always hated geese.”
“They're mean!”
He lightly laughs and nods. “They're not
“Feels like the Sex Gods are weeping,” Ben comments.
“You're gonna be weeping when I put you in time out in a minute,” she threatens. “Now shut up.” Knoxie turns back to me. “Like I said, I'm thrilled for you Merrick. And unlike the big ogre that stormed out of here, I know who you fall in love with isn't really a choice. You can't explain that shit any more than you can help wanting who you want. But you can be smart about it. You can make better decisions. Especially when all of us are at risk.”
“Stop talking about Jovi like she's some fucking disease,” I growl.
Ben shrugs. “She practically is.”
Without hesitation I attempt to go after him when Destin grabs my arm, pulling me back.
Knox folds her arms across her chest. “He just punched Madden in the face moron. What the hell did you think he was going to do? Hug you?”
“Whoa whoa whoa baby bro.” Destin tugs my struggling body again. “You can't just go throwing a punch every time someone says something about your girl you don't like.”
Not fucking true. Not true at all.
“You shouldn't go throwing a punch,” Drew corrects him.
“That.” Knoxie points at me. “That shit right there is why Madden is worried. He doesn't give a fuck who the girl is or how it affects the job. He knows how it's gonna affect you. How it's gonna blind you to everything else and cause you to make impulsive decisions with consequences we'll all have to deal with.”
Giving Madden too much credit there, isn't she?
“Now I'm gonna say this once,” her voice stays firm but softens. “Prove him wrong.”
Adjusting the ice pack on my throbbing fingers I remain silent.
I want to. I want him to eat those words about my girl. My heart. My soul. I want him to come back here so I can scream and shout that everything will work itself the fuck out. It always does. That I can handle this. That I won't put them at risk. No. I'm not sure I wouldn't be fucking lying. When Jovi's what's up for discussion she's the only thing that matters. And what the fuck that fact is going to do to my life scares me more than Madden ever could.
Jovi
“So, your night off actually means night in the office?” Nadie mocks dad from the laundry room.
Her catty remark makes me smirk.
I don't know why she's surprised. He hasn't had a real night off since mom died. The ones he's assigned, he uses to work on finding out lost information about my mother's death. Vacation days? Same thing. Locked away in his office. Away from us. From me. Sometimes I wish instead of just keeping me in the tower, that he'd visit for longer than enough time to extend my sentence in it.
“You're really giving me shit, Nadie?” He drops his hands on the island counter. “I don't have a choice.”
“Life is a choice.” She storms in from the laundry room, a basket clutched under her arm. “ You chose this lifestyle. You chose to always be available at the drop of a hat. You chose to let me raise Jovi-”
“You're telling me I haven't raised my own daughter?”
He hasn't. And please don't try to tell me creating an on-going list of rules not to break counts as raising me.
“I'm telling you that maybe it would be okay once in a while to tell the people on the other end of the phone no, and spend a couple hours with the daughter who is leaving for school with very little reason to ever look back.”
I plan to look back. And to come back. I'd never completely desert my dad even if at times it feels like he did me.
Dad rubs his beard. He doesn't deny what Nadie says, but he doesn't agree. “You used to like to feed the ducks.”
I grab another piece of garlic bread and shrug. “They're adorable. Little painters of the water. Unlike geese. Geese are the devil.”
“You've always hated geese.”
“They're mean!”
He lightly laughs and nods. “They're not
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