He strokes his pointy chin. “Yet you’re playing house. Who’s this little princess? Did you forget to tell me that I’m a grandpa?”
Millie’s gasp draws my attention down. Her wide gaze flings to mine, endless questions swirling in those green pools. I force a smile for her benefit, but the expression wobbles. Every particle inside of me winding tight, swirling into a tornado set on annihilation. I return my glare to our intruders. “No, you’re most definitely not. I didn’t suddenly become a father, not that you’d be on the list to receive an announcement. This little lady is Millie. I’m friends with her mom.”
“Ah, that makes more sense. A woman is using you for free babysitting.”
“Nah, nothing like that. Millie is my friend, too. Right, Peep?”
A shadow of a grin crosses her lips, and she gives me a slow nod. The glassy glimmer coating her eyes gives me pause. I furrow my brow, ready to address her emotion. A loud hoot of dry laughter interrupts me.
“Peep? What the hell kind of nickname is that?”
“None of your business, similar to anything else in my life.” My voice is slicing damn close to bloody. I think Millie is stunned silent, more than usual around strangers. Her eyes are popped open as she stares between Grant and my father.
“So touchy. These ladies must mean a great deal to you. My loner son has found a soft spot. Isn’t that charming?”
Putrid sludge laced with iron fills my stomach. The dread is so thick I could chew on a piece until my jaw cramps. “Leave my property or I’ll call the cops.”
My father tsks. “Ah, turning guard dog for another stray. How fitting.”
I gnash my teeth at him, barely maintaining restraint. “You know nothing about them and I intend to keep it that way.”
“So, this is your plan? I’m almost disappointed, Crawford. Choosing some floozy and her bastard child over your own family?” Grant flinches at our father’s tone and words, but he doesn’t say anything. Still the same old ass-kisser.
Millie whimpers and clutches onto my leg. Her small form trembles against me. The fury triples and grows into a rabid, foaming beast. “You’re scaring her,” I snarl.
“As I should be. She’s not wise enough to stay away from you on her own.”
“I’m not the one she needs protecting from.”
My father cackles, the sharp ruckus slashes into the distance separating us. “Maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but you’re bound to screw up. I mean, look at you. Living in the damn woods like a hermit. You can barely take care of yourself, let alone a single mother and her spawn.”
His words penetrate too deep, finding a gaping hole in my armor that I’ve left exposed. The sensitive parts of me, where I keep Keegan and Millie hidden, take the brunt of his sucker punch. Those fractures allow my father’s poison to flood in, sabotaging any progress I’ve been foolish enough to attempt.
A wheezing exhale rasps past my panting lips. “Get the hell out of here. You’ve done enough damage for two lifetimes.”
He tips an imaginary hat. “Then I’ve done my job. Ruining any semblance of happiness you’re trying to achieve is always my goal, kid. Just returning the favor. Figured you’d know better by now.”
And I do. I use my mother against him, and in turn, he tampers with the bubble I prefer to live in. This time, his damage is detrimental.
My father and Grant spin on their loafers without a backward glance. I watch them leave, kicking up clouds of dust. If they ever come back, it’ll be far too soon. My threat about calling the cops isn’t idle. When I turn to face Millie, the fire in my lungs turns to ice.
Tears are tracking down her cheeks faster than she can wipe the drops away. “I-I wanna g-go home.”
Clawing my way out of the hole he digs usually takes a day or two. I can find a faster route to haul my mind from the murky chaos. The filth my father spat at me is nothing new. There’s no shocking twist of who I am, and that’s never been an issue. But this instance isn’t about me. Millie’s misery is my undoing. She relied on me to shield her from his toxic influence and I failed.
I almost crash to my knees from the sight of her pain. The shattering of my soul goes unnoticed. “Of course, Millie. I’ll take you right away.”
The following moments are a jumble of thudding beats that ricochet off my ears. My surroundings blur as we get loaded into the car. What kicked off as a stellar day with groundbreaking potential has become a smoldering heap of ruin. Our outcome is bleak.
We’re halfway to her house when she chisels into the aching silence. “You don’t want to be my dad, Ford?”
I sputter over my tied tongue. “What? I never said that, Peep.”
But I’m the last guy, aside from her biological father, who’s fit for the job. Another fissure of my heart cracks.
“I’m just your friend. You don’t want to suddenly become my father.”
The steering wheel creaks under the pressure of my squeezing palms. How the fuck do I handle this? Jesus, I feel like water is rising all around me and drowning is inevitable. “I can’t fill that role, Millie. And you shouldn’t want me to.”
Her forehead scrunches in the rearview mirror. “What do you mean?”
Having tough conversations is never pleasant. For me, this is worse than ripping off my fingernails. Pure fucking torture. The solution is simple, but that doesn’t make following through any easier. I clear the grit from my throat and shoot through the pitch black. “That man, my father, isn’t a good guy. He’s more of a villain. In order to protect you from him, things need to change. I probably won’t see you as often for a little bit. Just to be safe.”
“But I like hanging out with you.” Her whisper
