Who Falls Hardest (Clearwater University)

He’s on the phone when I arrive. The door to his office is open, and his eyebrows raise slightly when he sees me standing in the threshold. After wrapping up his call quickly, he gestures me inside, a slightly concerned look on his face.

“Trent. Come on in. What are you doing here? Is everythi

ng okay with Emma?” He shakes his head. “I knew I should’ve insisted she stay with me. All this business with the hacker, it’s too much—”

“No, Mr. Holloway. Paul.” I hold up a hand. “That’s not what I’m here about. Well, not directly anyway. The situation with Leslie is getting sorted out, and Reese, West, and I will do whatever it takes to keep Emma from getting hurt by any of it.”

The intensity of my tone seems to startle him a little. He leans back in his chair, resting his elbows on the arm rest as he regards me.

I honestly have no idea what Paul Holloway thinks of me. I know I was a fucking asshole the night he and my mom took me and Emma out to tell us about their relationship. Mom was pissed as shit at me for that, which she had every right to be—but she’s my flesh and blood, so forgiveness comes easier for her. Paul? He probably still thinks I’m an asshole, although I’m sure for my mom’s sake, he’s tried to give me the benefit of the doubt.

But I don’t think he’s ever had any idea of the depths of my feelings for his daughter.

Now isn’t the time or place to get into all of that with him, and I don’t want to make things harder for Ems by saying too much. She’ll tell him what she wants him to know when she wants him to know it, and I’m not going to spill her secrets.

I am gonna make sure her dad knows she’s got people in her corner though.

“My mom told me the two of you split up,” I say, and Paul stiffens at my words. A flash of pain cuts across his features before he puts on a neutral expression again.

“Yes, that’s—that’s right. Just for the time being, I hope. I really do care about her, but with everything Emma’s gone through, with getting kicked out of Clearwater and now this whole hacking business… I felt like I needed to make her my priority. To be there for her if she needed me.”

I can hear the truth in his words, and self-loathing roils my gut. This man loves his daughter. He’d do anything for her, and I’m positive if he knew all the shit my friends and I put her through, both in high school and more recently, I wouldn’t have even made it inside the building to have this conversation with him.

He cares about my mom. It’s obvious in the way his features soften a little every time he mentions her. But he gave up his own happiness because he thought his daughter needed him, and he didn’t want her to be on her own to face the struggles coming her way.

“I understand that. I respect it.” I step farther into the room, taking a seat in the chair opposite his desk. He didn’t invite me to sit, but I need to look him straight in the eyes for this conversation. “I just want you to know it’s not necessary. Not that Emma doesn’t need you in her corner, because of course she does. You’re her father, and she’ll always need you.”

A small, fond smile passes over his face at that. “She’s the best thing in my life. I see so much of her mother in her.”

I lean forward, my voice dropping a little as I continue. “She’s lucky to have you as a dad. But you’re not the only one in her corner. She’s got people looking out for her, and I just wanted you to know that.”

Paul nods slowly, his brows pulling together a little as he regards me seriously. “So, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying you should have room in your life to think about yourself. And to think about other people you care for, other people who are important to you. That you can have a life and still know that Emma is taken care of.”

His expression freezes as he finally comprehends my full meaning. This isn’t just about promising him I’ll watch over Ems. It’s about giving him and Mom my blessing.

“Thank you, Trent,” he says, his discerning gaze still locked on me. “That’s good to know.”

Silence fills the space between us for a moment as we both regard each other. We’re not friends, and this short conversation hasn’t magically made everything better. But I think I feel something shift between us, and when Paul smiles, he seems to genuinely mean it.

“You know…” He shakes his head. “The friendship you and the other two have with Emma always sort of boggled me. You were all so close, I kept waiting for the day she’d come home and tell me she was dating one of you. Then after we moved away, I know she sort of lost touch with you all. But I gotta say, I’m glad you three are back in her life. I’m glad she has people watching out for her.”

His words are like a shock to my heart, and I can’t help but reach up and absently rub at my chest as I answer.

“I won’t let anyone hurt her, Paul. I swear it.”

Not even myself. Never again.

11

West

The house is empty when I get home from campus. I dunno where the fuck Reese and Trent are—I think Reese has a class that goes late today—but I know Ems is at work.

It’s her first day at her new job, and watching her get ready this morning was cute as fuck.

She must’ve tried on three or four different outfits trying to pick the right one, and every time she stepped out of the bedroom to ask our opinion, I had to fight down the urge to pick her up, carry her back inside the room, and tear the clothes off her body with my fucking teeth.