Letting You Go (Stone Lake 1)

Gavin immediately tenses. I start to say something, but he beats me to it.

“Not much to tell, Mr. Marshall. I’m only nineteen. Hopefully, that will change after I graduate though.”

“Nineteen? I thought Mary said you were in the same class as Luna?”

“I am.”

“You were held back? Do you play sports?”

“No. Don’t have much interest in them.”

“So you flunked out of school?” Dad asks.

“Dad. Stop!”

“No. I flunked out of my Freshman year. I’m still in school and set to graduate in May. I just turned nineteen a few days ago, Mr. Marshall,” Gavin answers calmly.

“A few days ago?” I gasp, feeling like the worst girlfriend in the history of girlfriends. “I didn’t know. Gavin Lodge! How could you not tell me that it was your birthday?”

“It’s just another day.” He shrugs.

“It’s not,” I huff.

“Babe, stop,” he grumbles, but he smiles at me to soften his words.

I roll my eyes and give in, but I will have to do something later to celebrate his birthday, even if it is late.

“Luna, don’t you think you should go help your mom in the kitchen?” Dad asks and I frown.

“I guess so. You want to go help, Gav—”

“Gavin can stay out here with me. The kitchen is no place for men,” Dad says and I pout. I want to point out that some of the biggest chefs in the world are men, but I figure the significance of that would be lost on my father. I could even point out that women hold down really powerful jobs these days, but again, I doubt he’d listen.

“I don’t—”

“It’s fine, Luna,” Gavin says, but I can tell from the look on his face that it’s really not. I lean up and kiss him gently on the lips. I know I blush deep red when I do it, because my dad is there, but I don’t care. Dad’s being a jerk for some reason, and I want Gavin to know that no matter what, I want him with me.

I love him… I wonder how Gavin would react if I tell him that?

Should I?

Chapter Twenty Five

Gavin

Well, this is going great. Luna’s father doesn’t like me. I’m pretty sure he might hate me. I probably shouldn’t let it bother me, after all, I knew how this would go. Still, it does. Only because, Luna is special, and I plan on being a part of her life. If her father doesn’t like me, that might get in the way and I don’t want any obstacles between us. Atticus is a big enough one to overcome, we don’t need anything else.

“What are your intentions with my daughter?” he asks and it’s all I can do to keep from laughing, even if there is nothing funny about any of this. I realize I don’t really date girls, but I didn’t think people really talked like this. My intentions? Part of me wants to tell him that I intend to sleep with his daughter and take her virginity. If I told him the truth, that I intend to make her mine and take her away from Stone Lake to live the rest of my life with her, I think he’d hate that answer even more.

So instead, I shrug. “We’re dating. She’s an amazing girl, sir.”

“She is. Luna is going places in life. I’m sure you know that. She’s been on the honor roll all through school and she’s already taking college AP classes.”

“Yeah, I know,” I tell him, not bothering to look at him, choosing to stare down at my lap instead and concentrating on my hands.

“You’re Roy Lodge’s boy,” he says on a sneer, and he doesn’t keep the disgust out of his voice.

I could tell him that I have the same disgust when it comes to my father, but I don’t. I don’t figure there’s much use. Luna’s Dad already has his mind made up about me and nothing I can tell him will change it. I don’t really disagree with him. Luna is too good for me, but I’m keeping her, and I’ll bust my ass to make sure that she’s happy. None of that will matter to this man. I already know it. His mind is made up. If I had a daughter, I’d probably be the same.

“I am.”

“Then you have to know how I feel about you hanging around my daughter.”

“I figure, I know. Figure I knew before I came here today, Mr. Marshall,” I tell him looking him in the eye at last.

“And yet you’re still here.”

“Yep. I’m still here.”

“I guess we know where one another stands,” he states coolly.

“I guess we do.”

“Dinner is ready!” Luna calls excitedly from the other room. I walk into the dining room behind her father, wishing today was over.

“Everything okay?” Luna asks me quietly as she walks over to me and grabs my hand.