Chapter 47

"How was your night?" I asked as Sloane got into the back of the car.

"It was good," she replied eagerly. "And guess what? Todd wants to come over tonight!"

"Oh, so he's not cheating on you with his ex?" I asked.

"No, I think that was a misunderstanding." She shrugged. "I forgave him for hiding the text."

I nodded. "That's great."

Except it wasn't. Having Todd over tonight made for a bit of a tricky situation. I couldn't deny Sloane the chance to spend time with her boyfriend so I could have Graham over. That would just make her more upset with him. If I put my foot down too firmly, she was going to rebel. Things were already so tumultuous in our relationship. I needed to be as gentle with her as possible.

"Todd is more than welcome," I replied. "And guess what? I invited Graham for dinner."

Sloane frowned at me. "Why would you do that?" she demanded, her tone tinged with frustration.

I simply shrugged off her question. "I thought he might want to see you, and vice versa," I replied casually. "You haven't seen him in a week. I thought it would be nice to have everyone together. Even good old Todd."

"Fine," she muttered, her tone resigned. "But he better be nicer this time. I'm texting him to tell him that. He can't threaten to beat up my boyfriend. Not unless he cheats on me or something big. That's not cool."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate the warning," I replied with a laugh. "But he is your father and my guest. Please don't go nuclear on him. I promise he's trying."

I could hear the furious tapping of her keys. "I'm trying too," she said, not looking up from the screen. "I'm telling him nicely."

The angry tapping continued and I shook my head with a little smile. Her moods were kind of amusing when I wasn't the target of her outrage. Graham was jumping right in the deep end of being a father. Starting with a teenager was like playing on hard mode.

As soon as we got home, Sloane immediately rushed off to her room, while I tidied up a little. Angsty music blared from her room, loud and sad and ultra-dramatic. Oh, to be a teenager again. Having all those feelings and no idea what to do with them. I'm glad that's long behind me.

Then I thought of Graham in my bed, and I wasn't much better than my teenage self. I was definitely feeling lots of things, only now I knew exactly what to do with them—and with him. As I straightened up the living room, I texted Graham and told him he could come over anytime. He said he'd be over in time for dinner, which I thought was odd. I had expected him to be eager to come back. But he probably had things to do. I replied with a smiley face and told him to make sure he brought an overnight bag.

I got started prepping Sloane's favorite meal—homemade pot pie. It was one of the recipes I was actually pretty good at making.

"What's for dinner?" Sloane asked after limping from her bedroom to get something to drink.

"It's your favorite," I replied.

"Chicken pot pie?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Why don't you give me a hand? You need to learn how to make this so you can make it for yourself one day."

"Or my husband." She grinned.

I groaned and chuckled. "Slow down, please. I'm too young to be a grandma."

She laughed and bumped her shoulder against mine. "Whatever, old lady. Tell me what to do first."

Together, we set to work, chopping vegetables, rolling out dough, and preparing the filling for the pot pie. Sloane was managing to get around without her crutches, which meant she hopped with her leg out. She accidentally nailed me in the shin with her cast and apologized hastily, sporting a sheepish grin.

"I keep forgetting how big this thing is," she muttered. "I feel like an elephant."

"You're the cutest little elephant I've ever seen."

"I put my crutch on a girl's toe at school on Friday." She sighed. "I'm a danger to society."

I laughed and gave her a comforting pat on the back. "Well, at least it'll make for a great story once this is all behind you," I assured her.

Her phone chimed. "That's probably Todd," she said. "Are we done? The pies are ready to go in the oven, right?"

"Yes, go." I smiled as I carefully slid the pot pie into the oven.

The buzzer from the doorman rang. I quickly told him to send Graham up and went ahead and gave Graham clearance to come up whenever, as if anyone was going to stop him.

I met him at the door and immediately noticed something was wrong. "Graham?"

"Can we talk?" he asked.

My first thought was Sloane had said something. I would have to talk with her about respect. "Of course. We can go out on the balcony."

The cool evening air was a little unexpected. I closed the door and looked at him. "What's going on?" I asked softly. "If Sloane was too harsh, remember she's a teenager. The meanest beings on the planet."

"It's about your father," he began.

I groaned. "Did he call you again?"

"He showed up at my place earlier today," he answered. "He was waiting for me in the lobby when I got home."

I felt a surge of anger rise. My father's relentless interference in my life had long been a source of frustration and resentment. I hated his continued attempts to control me. I was thirty-two and didn't need him trying to run my life like I was an irresponsible child. "What did he want this time?" I asked.

"He thinks he can intimidate me like he could when I was younger," Graham continued, his voice thick with anger and frustration. "But he can't."

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He wants me to stay away from you," he confessed. "Thinks I'm a bad influence." His voice dripped with bitterness.

My heart sank hearing those words. My father's manipulations were a constant, unwelcome presence in my life, and now it seemed he was meddling in my relationship too. "He can't choose who I see, Graham," I said. "I'm not a teenager anymore."

"I know that," Graham said, turning to look out at the city lights. "But he continues to act as though he can. He is determined to get you back at his company. I think that's what this is really about. Unless you've told him we're sleeping together, he doesn't know, which means his problem with me is about where you work. He acts like you're his property and he wants you back."

"I'm not going back," I said firmly. "I'm serious. This isn't going to end the way he thinks it will. He's trying to threaten me with money, and it isn't going to work."

"I hate your father," Graham admitted suddenly.

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips at his blunt confession. "Makes two of us," I replied dryly, a hint of amusement coloring my tone.

"I'm sorry," he sighed. "I shouldn't say that. He's your father. I don't want to come between the two of you, but this guy is determined to make my life hell."

"He is my father, but that doesn't mean I condone what he's doing."

"What next?" he muttered.

"Just ignore him," I advised. "That's what I plan to do. When you're dealing with a bully, you ignore them. Don't give them the satisfaction of attention. He knows he can't get me back into the company, so he's going after you. He'll stop eventually. I don't even know why he's trying to get me back so bad. It's not like he actually appreciated anything I did."

"Power," Graham replied. "He wants to show you and me that he holds all the power."

"Which is why we're going to ignore him and not give him the satisfaction," I said again. "I'm with you. I'm not going anywhere."

Graham's expression softened. "Thanks," he murmured. "So, Sloane gave me the what-for in teenage speak," he joked.

I laughed lightly. "Oh, she did, did she? What did she say?"

He quirked an eyebrow, leaning against the railing casually. "Something about I better be nice to her boyfriend, or she'll never speak to me again."

My laughter grew louder at that, echoing into the quiet night. "That sounds like her. She can be pretty fierce when she wants to be."

"Apparently," he admitted. "I have no idea where she gets that from. Does the kid know I'm going to be here?"

"I'm sure she has warned him," I replied. "She asked if he could come over. I told her I already invited you."

"And she was okay with that?"

"For the most part," I said, putting my hand on his chest. "It's better to face the situation head on. She'll be fine."

"I don't want to make either of them uncomfortable," he said. "Scratch that. I want Todd to be very uncomfortable. But if she doesn't want me around, I don't want to push it."

"She'll be fine," I told him. "You are her father. She doesn't get to call all the shots. We're giving her some leeway because the situation is unique, but that doesn't mean she runs the show."

"Okay." He nodded.

"Let's go inside before we freeze."

"What are you cooking?" he asked. "It smells amazing in here."

"Chicken pot pie," I answered. "It's Sloane's favorite."

Sloane walked out of her room, her hair brushed and wearing lip gloss. "He's here," she announced. "Hi, Graham. Please don't scare him this time."

Graham smiled and raised his hands. "I promise I'll behave. It's just good to see you again."

Sloane rolled her eyes with a smirk. "You too. I'm going to meet Todd and bring him up."

Once she left the apartment I turned to Graham and he pulled me in for a quick kiss.

"So you're gonna behave, huh?" I asked.

Graham chuckled at my words. "I'll do my best, as long as the Toddster behaves."

A few minutes later, Sloane returned with her reluctant boyfriend. He looked nervous and things were a little awkward at first. I asked him some questions, but Todd was giving one-word responses like he was afraid to make a sound.

"Do you play football?" Graham asked him after a while.

Todd's eyes lit up at the mention of the sport. "Yeah, I'm the quarterback on the JV team. I'm hoping to make varsity next year."

And just like that, the tension between them seemed to dissolve, replaced by a shared passion for the game.

"Varsity, eh?" Graham replied, grinning at Todd, his interest obviously piqued. "That's impressive."

"Thanks," Todd said, looking slightly less nervous. "I've been working really hard this year and I'm careful about eating clean."

"I used to play football back in high school. Quarterback as well."

"Really?" Todd looked genuinely impressed. "I didn't know that."

The two of them launched into a detailed conversation about various plays and stats of other football players. Sloane seemed shocked at first, watching them hit it off, but soon enough, she looked bored and annoyed.

She dragged Todd away to hang out in her room.

"Leave the door open," I called out.

Sloane muttered something under breath, but I didn't care.

"Thanks for coming," I said to Graham, gratitude filling my voice. "And good job. You won the kid over."

"He might not be so bad, but I still don't trust him. Why hide the text if there's nothing to hide?"

I laughed. "He's a teenage boy. No one trusts him. Nor should they."

Dinner went well, with Graham and Todd still chatting about football things no one cared about. After dinner, Sloane and Todd went into the den to play Xbox a bit while Graham and I cleaned up the kitchen. Graham was not allowed to recruit Todd to do the dishes again, even though they had taken a shine to one another.

As always, Graham's very presence drew me to him. For just a moment, I stepped into him and allowed him to hold me. I felt so safe in his arms.

I heard Sloane and quickly pulled away. I wasn't doing anything bad, but I just wasn't ready to bring our relationship into the light. I saw the disappointment in Graham's eyes.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"It's fine."

But we both knew it wasn't fine.

It wasn't long before Todd left, and Sloane headed off to her room to most likely text Todd and her friends for the rest of the night. Graham and I settled in on the couch with a respectable distance between us, but it was difficult. I wanted to curl up next to him. I wanted him to touch me and tell me just how much he wanted me.

Graham yawned for the third time in a matter of minutes. I smiled. "You're exhausted."

"Someone kept me up all night," he said with a grin.

"I was just going to say the same thing. Someone kept me up all night."

"I'm good," he said.

"I think it's time for bed," I said with a sigh. "I'll get your blankets."

I hated that he had to sleep on the couch, but Sloane did not need to know we were sharing a bed. After getting him the pillows and blankets, I took a chance and gave him a quick kiss. "Goodnight," I whispered.

"Goodnight. Try not to think about me too much when you're in that big bed all by yourself."

"That's impossible," I said and walked to my room.

I got into bed, thinking about him on the couch. It felt wrong to ask him to stay the night but force him to sleep on the couch. But we only had to keep up the charade a little longer. Once Sloane was comfortable with Graham being in our lives, we could tell her. And then I could have him in my bed without caring who knew about it.