Top Dog

“Is there a difference?” I asked.

“There is, sweetheart. A nice guy puts on a front. A good guy doesn’t have to,” he said.

“And what would Ike be putting on a front about?”

“He’s too controlling. The way he talks to you, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

“It’s not unlike how you used to talk to people when you got angry,” I said.

“And I try to watch my tone and not allow it to get out of control anymore.”

“All I’m saying is everyone has their faults. Ike has good qualities too.”

“Hmm. How come I’ve never seen them?” he asked. “You have to stop fighting me on this. Ike’s a good man. We’ve been together a long time.”

“Doesn’t mean he’s right for you.”

I wanted to throw Grant in his face, but I bit down on my tongue. He had a lot of nerve disparaging Ike like that. I’d had a ‘good’ man in my life. I’d had what I wanted right there underneath the roof of our home, and he tossed him out like he meant nothing. And for what? He thought Grant and I were somehow fooling around behind his back. So to try and control me, he threw Grant out. If he wanted to talk about someone trying to control me, he should look in a goddamn mirror.

I wouldn’t let myself go off at him. His actions left much to be desired, but he was still my father. That and the fact that he was now living alone since my mother’s passing made me feel for him more than ever.

“I think I need to use the restroom,” I said.

I pushed my way into the bathroom and took out my phone. I went and sat down in a stall and furiously typed a text to Jane.

Grant’s back. He’s at my brother’s. I just found out.

I sent the text off and waited for her response.

Perfect timing. Dump Ike, jump Grant.

I sighed as I shook my head at the text.

I’m not dumping my boyfriend of eight years for a guy who’s forgotten about me.

I jammed my finger into the “send” button as I stood. Then, my phone vibrated in my hand.

This is your chance. Don’t waste it.

I rolled my eyes as I shoved out of the stall. I should’ve known what Jane would say. Despite being the one to push me toward Ike in the first damn place, she’d come to dislike him quite a bit over the past couple years. At first, she’d made jokes about his possessive behavior, then she started telling me to leave him.

It wasn’t that I didn’t see what she, or my father for that matter, saw. I just knew Ike better than they did. I knew how he could be when we were alone together. And I was supposed to throw what we had away for a chance at a guy I had no shot with?

She was a terrible influence. But I loved her all the same.

I placed my ph

one back into my pocket and felt my body relax. I splashed some water on my face before reapplying the little bit of makeup I’d managed to put on, then I rolled my shoulders back.

I still had two hours of this banquet I needed to stick out.

And I needed to do it with poise.

CHAPTER 4

GRANT

“What the fuck?”