“Shit!” I hissed, pushing at Will’s shoulders as I scrambled out from under him. “Get up!”
I was standing in the middle of the living room and Will had barely sat up when my dad walked through the door carrying my little princess.
She was clapping her hands, eyes on me, as my dad froze.
“What the hell are you doing here?” my dad snapped, making the baby jerk in surprise.
“Dad!” I scolded, moving toward him. He handed me the baby as I reached for her, but his eyes never left Will’s.
“This is Will Haw—”
“I know who he is. What’s he doing in your house?” he cut me off, his glare moving to me.
“None of your goddamn business,” I hissed back.
“Duncan,” Will finally said, lifting his chin a bit in greeting. “How’s it hangin’?”
“Good grief,” I murmured under my breath as my dad’s shoulders tightened. Will was purposely trying to piss him off, and it was working.
“This is why I took my granddaughter last night? So you could bring an Ace home?” Dad’s voice was full of derision, and it was so vile that I felt a little face press into my neck as small fingers pinched at the skin of my arm.
“Watch your fuckin’ mouth,” Will ordered, stepping forward.
I lifted my hand in his direction, making him stop.
“Get out of my house,” I ordered quietly, my voice shaking.
“Are you kidding me?” Dad huffed, looking at me like I had two heads.
“You’re the one who’s being an asshole,” I replied. “You’re the one who gets to leave.”
“I’m not keeping her again so you can go out screwing bikers,” my dad warned as he stepped backward.
I didn’t bother to reply as he slammed out of the trailer. He was being a jerk, and in a couple of hours he’d realize it and apologize. There had only been a few times in my life that my dad had spoken to me in that tone of voice, and each time he’d felt like shit afterward.
“Hey,” I murmured. “You want to meet my friend Will?”
I looked up to see Will watching me intently. He’d moved closer without me realizing it, and was only a foot away when our eyes met.
I was embarrassed, but I hid it as I gave him a sheepish smile.
“Rebel,” I said as my daughter’s face came away from my neck. “This is my friend Will. Will, this is Rebel.”
As Reb turned to face Will fully, his face didn’t change expression at all. He didn’t show even the smallest hint of surprise, so I knew that he was guarding his reaction.
Rebel’s hand went toward her forehead then slowly moved away, as she shyly signed hello.
“That’s hello,” I told Will proudly, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“Hello, Rebel,” he said sweetly, bending a little at the waist so he could meet her eyes. He glanced up at me. “Can she hear?”
“Yeah. Yes,” I said, clearing my throat. “She hears fine—she’s just not verbal yet.”
Rebel’s hand reached up to scratch at the side of her head above her ear, knocking her little purple glasses askew.
“No, baby,” I reminded her. “You have to keep those on so you can see.”
She huffed and glared at me, making Will smile. Then she kicked her legs in the universal sign for let me down right this second.
I set her on her feet and watched as she toddled toward her room.
“You didn’t say anything,” Will said, pulling my attention back to him. “With you all night and you didn’t say a goddamn word.”
“Why would I?” I asked seriously, looking at him in confusion.
“Are you shitting me?”
“You knew I had a daughter.”
“I didn’t know you had a—”
“Be very careful what you say right now,” I warned, my voice vibrating with anger.
Will’s head jerked back in surprise before he scowled at me, taking a step forward. “I was gonna say a special needs child,” he said, shaking his head. “Jesus Christ.”
“Why is that your business?”
“Oh, I don’t know!” Will’s voice rose before his words cut off and he clenched his jaw. “So you didn’t fuckin’ blindside me. Was this a motherfuckin’ test?”
“Oh, my God,” I blurted, throwing up my hands. “You’ve got a very high opinion of yourself.”
I crossed my arms over my chest as he silently stared at me.
“No, it wasn’t a test. You came home with me from a bar. I didn’t even think you’d ever meet her!”
“Oh, yeah? You take a lot of men home from the bar? Make ’em watch TV and sleep on your couch then kick them out before your kid gets home?”
“This is ridiculous,” I mumbled as Rebel came rushing back down the hallway, carrying a stuffed giraffe my dad bought her at the San Diego Zoo the year before. “I didn’t talk about Rebel at all last night. It’s not like I was freaking hiding her.”