In Bed with the Beast (Naughty Princess Club 2)

I look at my father, wondering what in the world Ariel is talking about. I mean, he’s my dad. Sure, he’s an okay-looking guy, I guess. He’s a little over six feet tall with close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair. He’s lean, but with some pretty nice muscle definition in his arms, since he’s a stickler for working out because both of his parents died from heart disease—and since his eating habits suck, he focuses all his attention on that instead of adding a few leafy greens to his diet. And we share the same bright-green eye color, which actually enhances his looks ever since his hair changed from the same dark brown as mine. But still. He’s my dad.

“Just so you know, I volunteer as tribute to be your new stepmom,” Ariel whispers, giving my dad a wink.

“I take it you’re the harlots who have corrupted my little girl?” my dad finally says, taking a step closer to us in the hallway and crossing his arms in front of him.

I immediately forget all about how much I’ve missed him when I realize a week apart still hasn’t changed his views. His face is pinched in disgust, like he just sucked on a lemon, as he stares at me and my friends

“Hey! I’ll have you know I haven’t been a harlot since I slept with this one’s husband,” Ariel says angrily, pointing her thumb back at Cindy. “And really, it was an honest mistake, since he’s a lying piece of shit who now has eye herpes.”

My dad’s mouth drops open and his arms fall down to his sides.

“Not. Helping,” I mutter out of the corner of my mouth through clenched teeth.

“I take it you’ve seen the error of your ways and you’ve decided to come home? I knew you’d realize what a huge mistake you made and just how difficult and scary it is out in the real world. I just didn’t think it would take you over a week to come to this conclusion,” my dad says with a haughty lift of his chin.

I want to scream and shout at him, but I honestly don’t have the energy to fight with him anymore. It’s clear that he’s looking at me right now, but he doesn’t even see me. He doesn’t see that I’m not a child who needs his protection from the big bad world anymore, and that does nothing but make me sad instead of angry.

Ariel opens her mouth to most likely let loose a whole string of profanities that will just make the situation worse, and I quickly clamp my hand around her arm and step around her.

“No, Dad. I’m not coming home,” I tell him softly. “I’m just here to get the rest of my things. I told you last week, it’s time for me to do things on my own. I love you, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I can’t do this anymore. I need to live my life the way I want to live it. And you need to live your life without your adult daughter living here, cramping your style. Get out of the house more, make friends, maybe go on a date. I don’t want to lose you. I want you in my life. I want to be able to pick up the phone and call you and talk about books and go to dinner. Don’t you want that too?”

My eyes fill with tears as I look at him hopefully. This man has been my everything for my entire life. I can’t imagine never speaking to him again, never cooking dinner with him again, or never being able to call him when I need him. I just want him to realize I’m not a little girl anymore, but that doesn’t mean I won’t always need my dad.

His nostrils flare and he shakes his head at me.

“I don’t know you anymore, Isabelle. You’ve let these . . . people corrupt you, and I can’t even look at you right now.”

With that, he turns and walks away, disappearing down the hall and locking himself in his bedroom.

Cindy and Ariel both put their arms around me, giving me a tight squeeze as the tears that were pooling in my eyes escape, falling fast down my cheeks.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Cindy tells me, resting the side of her head against mine.

“Me too,” Ariel says. “I still want to climb that man like a tree, but not until he apologizes to you. Hoes before silver fox bros.”

Cindy huffs, and despite what just happened and my almost overwhelming need to curl up into a ball and cry myself silly, I can’t help but laugh. With my head held high, I move out of Cindy and Ariel’s hold and lead them down the basement stairs to my old bedroom to pack up my things.