21. Max

The door closedwith a weighted snick. I felt like my life was ending, and it was going to happen in a church.

What the fuck are you doing here?

I don’t know what possessed me to follow Christa to her father’s office. My feet just started moving of their own accord. It had to be that I felt horrible for outing her in front of her old man. There was no other logical reason.

“Are you going to sit down?” her father asked.

“What?” They were both staring at me expectantly. I saw that leather chair and began to sweat. Nothing good would come from taking that seat. But I moved anyway. I got her into this mess with my loud mouth. The least I could do was help her out.

Clearing my throat, I took the seat, trying not to sweat under his steely gaze.

“I’m not even sure where to start,” he mumbled before looking up at us. “Christa…” Then he sat there staring at her. I actually felt bad for the guy. I couldn’t imagine any father wanting to have this talk with his daughter.

“Dad, before you start, you should know that Max didn’t do anything wrong. This is all on me.”

“What?” we both said at the same time.

I’d never in my entire life seen a woman stand up to her old man and take responsibility like that. Then again, I was probably thinking about the girls in high school I slept with. This was a different situation.

“Max is not responsible for my decisions.”

“And what possessed you to…sleep with this…brute?”

“Dad!” Christa gasped.

“He’s right,” I told her. There was no point denying it, but even her father seemed shocked that I admitted it. “Hey, I live my life the way I choose, and nobody’s going to tell me differently. I won’t apologize for that.”

“Still, you should think about the consequences. God is always watching.”

I chuckled as I looked at the man. “Well, let’s hope he wasn’t watching that night because the way your daughter—” My laughter immediately died out as I heard the words I was saying out loud. “You know, I’m gonna stop talking now.”

Her father took a calming breath. “This can still be resolved. Christa, you know you need to make this right with God. And once we start planning the wedding?—”

“I’m sorry. The what? It sounded like you said the wedding.”

“Yes, once you and Christa are married?—”

“Dad! I’m not marrying this man!”

“Hey,” I cut in, a little offended by how quickly she decided that.

“Do you want to get married?” she snapped.

“Well, no, but you could at least think about it before you decide I’m not worth it.”

She rolled her eyes at me like I was being the ridiculous one. “Max, nothing about what we have is in any way going to lead me down an aisle to you.”

“Still…we had something good. You could have at least given it a second,” I grumbled.

What the fuck am I doing? She doesn’t want to marry you. Count your blessings and move on!

“Dad, I know you don’t agree with what I did, but that was my decision.”

“But who is he?” my dad asked. “Why him?”

“He was there!” she snapped. “He was in the bar. I was in the bar. That’s all there was to it!”

Her father turned a dark shade of red as she blurted all that out. “You…didn’t even know him?”

“If it makes you feel any better, I danced with her first,” I grinned. Once again, I should have kept my mouth shut. I pulled at my shirt, feeling the walls cave in on me. “Any chance you got any of that wine laying around?”

“The sacramental wine?” he asked. “The blood of Christ?”

I snorted. “Yeah, that stuff.”

“You do not drink the blood of Christ unless it’s communion,” he answered, his fists clenching tightly on his desk.

I leaned forward, keeping my voice low. “But you don’t actually believe that shit, right? I mean, let’s face it. You picked it up at Costco or wherever. It doesn’t magically turn into the blood of Christ.”

You could have heard a pin drop. Knowing I was not making any friends around here, I slowly leaned back in my seat.

“Maybe you should just keep your mouth shut,” Christa muttered.

That was beginning to look like a good idea.

“Again, not that I would…approve of this man, but you should at least think about taking him as a…spouse. We can work on him.”

I snorted, but didn’t say anything else.

“Dad, let’s face it. This is about Paul. I know you wanted him to be my husband, but it was never going to work.”

“But why? He was so much better than…this,” he pointed at me.

“You don’t know that.”

“He probably was,” I said casually. “I drink a lot. I smoke cigars all the time, and I really don’t understand all this Jesus nonsense. I’d be a terrible husband.”

“See?” her dad snapped. “He doesn’t even try to defend himself. A man who has no self-respect is not worth having, but Paul?—”

“Paul cheated on me every second we were together!”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise at how quiet the room went. Her father looked absolutely devastated, and Christa looked relieved that it was finally out in the open.

“Say what you will about Max. Yes, he’s dirty and smelly because he doesn’t shower enough?—”

I nodded along.

“And he drinks way too much and doesn’t have the best manners?—”

Again, that was a good point.

“But he never made me any promises. I always knew that what I had with him was just for fun. He didn’t lie to me and lead me on the way Paul did. And when I went to counseling to try and please you, he had the therapist blaming me for everything. That man never loved me. He was just a jerk who took what he wanted.”

“Why did you stay with him then?”

“I didn’t know he was a jerk at the time,” she sighed. “I found out after five years.”

“Five years,” I laughed. “Holy shit, that man needs to give some lessons.” But again, the laughter on my lips died out when both of them stared at me. “Not a fan of jokes, I see.”

“You find humor in the fact that a man humiliated my daughter?” her dad asked me.

“No, actually, I think this asshole is an idiot. I mean, your daughter’s great, and not just in bed,” I chuckled, still reading the room wrong. I hurried it along, trying to save myself. “But why would anyone stay with someone they don’t want? Cheating doesn’t make sense. If you’re not happy, move on.”

“See?” Christa pointed at me. “A real idiot, but at least he’s honest.”

I was pretty sure there was a compliment in there somewhere.

“Why didn’t you tell us about Paul?”

“Because you loved him so much, and I didn’t want to out him. I hate gossip, and that’s exactly what would have happened. Instead of just moving on with my life, everyone would have talked about poor me. I hate that stuff.”

I nodded along, completely understanding. “I fucking hate gossip.”

“Language,” her father scolded.

“Sorry. I fucking despise gossip.”

He sighed, leaning forward. “I guess I can understand why you didn’t tell us, but…the rest of it… Is this why you’ve been missing work?”

Did they work together? Come to think of it… “What exactly do you do?”

“I’m the choral minister here.”

Huh. I would not have guessed that. Although, I still liked the idea of her in that robe. It was sexy.

“Get that grin off your face,” she hissed. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“You want to. Admit it,” I chuckled.

Her face flamed as her dad cleared his throat. Fuck, I kept forgetting he was here.

“I think you can see why marriage isn’t an option,” she laughed slightly.

Her father nodded. “Yes. We’ll discuss that later.”

“Right,” I stood, rubbing my hands together, eager to move this party along. “So, now that that’s settled, I think it’s time we blow this popsicle stand.”

Neither of them smiled. I was beginning to think I wasn’t their favorite person. I headed for the door when I remembered I still hadn’t finished my conversation with Christa. “Oh, and about…that thing. We’re cool, right?”

“What thing?”

“You know, the whole…taking your virginity. Because I didn’t know, and I really don’t think pinning your hopes and dreams on a guy like me is wise.”

She just stared at me.

“Right. I mean…we already agreed marriage was out. So…I guess I’ll leave that here.”

I shot out of there as fast as I could. I didn’t even break a sweat in front of her father, and I was definitely proud of that. But something nagged at me as I left the church.

She didn’t want to be with me.

I really thought I had her pegged. I took her virginity, and I thought that was the reason she was falling for me.

I stopped and looked back at the church. She told me she was falling for me, but inside, she told her father that she would never go for a guy like me. So, which was it? Was she lying to her father or me?

I slid my hat on my head, trying to shake off the chills I got. I started to walk away when the bells chimed in the steeple. I practically jumped out of my skin as I ran away. If I stuck around too long, I might burst into flames.