“Can you have some friends over tomorrow night, Ally?” Diane asked. “I think your father would find that reassuring. Caroline is spending the night at Haley’s.”

“Sure. MC or Madison would come.”

“Invite them both,” Diane suggested. “It will distract your father.”

I wasn’t going to argue. “I’ll go call them.”

I’d never seen my dad standing so stiffly at the grill. Usually cooking steaks made him Mr. Happy Guy. Not today. He did appear to have calmed down some, but he wasn’t back to normal by any means.

“I’d like to talk to you after dinner, Ally,” he said when I brought him a plate for the steaks. “In private.”

I pasted a smile on my face. “Sure thing, Dad.” This could not be good. I slid a look at Caroline.

She grimaced.

As I walked past her, I whispered, “Pray for me.”

She giggled.

“No, I mean it,” I hissed with a glance at Dad.

“Oh, come on. How bad could it be?”

Mojo and Buddy barked excitedly about the smell of meat in the air. They were standing in the middle of Jonathan’s yard watching us. Dad didn’t seem to even notice them.

Dad served up the steaks and removed his Grillmaster apron to sit at the table with us. Diane had cut up some fresh tomatoes and baked some potatoes.

Diane and Caroline tried to keep up the conversation during dinner, but Dad and I were no help. Finally, he pushed back his chair and nodded in my direction.

I followed Dad down to his office. He sat behind the desk and pointed to the chair. I sat. I felt like I was being interrogated by the FBI. The only thing missing was the bare lightbulb and whatever torture devices. Dads didn’t need torture devices. They already had you in their clutches. Plus, they could always use the disappointment card to manipulate you. Suspects had all kinds of rights. Teenage daughters, not so much.

Dad kept me squirming for a few minutes by just staring at me with this resigned expression.

Finally, he said, “Your mother assured me that she had taken care of discussing s—” he sputtered but couldn’t quite get the word out, “the birds and the bees.”

“She did. She has. Everything’s fine. We don’t need to have a talk.” My assurances didn’t seem to help.

“The thing is Ally, I know you are more comfortable talking about these things with your mother.” There was that vein again.

“Yes.” If I could just head him off…

“Unfortunately, your mother has never been a teenage boy. And I have. I think it would be remiss of me if I didn’t share with you exactly what goes through the mind of a teenage boy.”

Oh. No! I didn’t want to be privy to any thoughts my dad had ever had on this particular subject. “It’s really not necessary—”

“It is necessary, Ally,” he said in a firm tone. “In fact, I shouldn’t have waited this long. You see, teenage boys are base sex hounds with nothing on their minds besides getting into a girl’s panties.”

My jaw dropped. Dads should never say “sex hounds” or “panties.” Ever.

How could I make it stop? “Dad, it was innocent really.”

He held up a hand. “It’s never innocent, Ally. Boys cannot be trusted. They will say whatever they think you want to hear. They are completely controlled by hormones, and honestly almost incapable of any sort of rational thought when a girl is around. Teenage boys have no redeeming values whatsoever.”

Now he had to be exaggerating.

But the lecture was just beginning, and thirty minutes later I stumbled from the room in a daze. Pregnancy, disease, lies… Boys were apparently the antichrist. What would he have said if I’d been a boy? Or if I had a brother?

One thing was for sure. I was really lucky those chastity belts weren’t around anymore.

Caroline was sitting on my bed when I got upstairs.

“Did you survive?” she asked.

I just nodded. “It was a close call.” I shut my door and sat at my desk. “Does your father give you lectures on how teenage boys are the spawn of Satan?”

The corner of her lip quirked. “Not exactly. I don’t think he’d say that because of my stepbrothers. But he has given me the whole, ‘boys only want one thing’ lecture.”

“Do our fathers think we’re stupid?”

“No. I think they just worry.”

“My mom worries about everything, but this is the first time Dad’s really gotten involved.”

“Yeah. I think you’re right. Moms worry about everything we do. Dads just worry about us having sex.”

“So what does your dad do when you bring a guy home?” I asked.

She shrugged. “It hasn’t really happened. I moved up here before I started really dating. I had boyfriends at school, but we just ate lunch together and stuff.”

“Does my dad act weird when you have a guy here?”

She thought about it for a minute. “I don’t think he’s really ever here. Plus, my mom and Ted have a deal. He doesn’t interfere with her parenting decisions and she doesn’t interfere with his.”

“Really? How weird.”

With a shrug, she said, “Whatever works.” She uncrossed her legs and climbed off the bed. “Let’s head downstairs for the night. We’ll bring Mojo in early.”

I think I was starting to like this having a sister thing.

When I reached the gate to Jonathan’s yard, it hit me that I’d never be alone with him again. I knew it was ridiculous to be nostalgic about our time together, but that didn’t stop the sentimental yearning.

“What’s wrong?” Caroline asked from behind me.

With a shake of my head, I answered, “Nothing.” No reason to tell her what a total dork I was.

Buddy and Mojo bounded over immediately, jumping all over us.

I realized we couldn’t just grab Mojo and leave. Jonathan would need to know that Buddy was alone out here. Otherwise he’d bark. They’d probably let Buddy in if I took my dog.

“I think we have to knock on the door,” I told Caroline and explained the situation.

With one look, Caroline took in my trepidation. “I’ll do it. You can just wait with the dogs.”

“No. I’ll do it. I’ll just look like a wimp if I don’t.” I just hoped his mother wouldn’t answer. I didn’t know if I could face her after my father had talked to them. No telling what he’d said. I hoped he’d at least omitted the part about holding hands.

“Ally,” Caroline said. “You aren’t moving. Are you sure?”

“Yes.” I started off toward the patio door as fast as I could. Don’

t think about what Dad may have said. Don’t think about Jonathan’s mom’s reaction. I was so busy talking myself through this encounter that I forgot to watch where I was stepping.

I sank into the grass a little farther than I expected, and when I looked down, I saw my malodorous mistake. I’d stepped into a pile of dog doo.

Caroline, of course, had noticed. She rushed over. “Oh my God, Ally. I’m so sorry.” But then she cracked up.

I glared at her, then turned my attention to wiping the bulk of the offensive substance on the grass.

“I know it’s not funny, I just can’t— ” Caroline almost collapsed with her giggles.

I fought the urge to grab her and wipe my shoe on her sandal. Okay, so I did snatch her arm and try to, but she wiggled away to safety.

“You really do have the worst luck,” Caroline said from a safe distance. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I prefer to think of it as just having a really bad day,” I said. I kept walking around the yard, scraping the dog crap from my shoe. I’d never get it all off, but I was really hoping for most of it.

“Yeah, but it hasn’t been that good a month for you either,” Caroline started.

“Caro!” I yelled, calling her that for the first time. “Please stop. I don’t want to think about it.”

I thought I had most of it off now. Ignoring Caroline’s laughter…Geez! Would she never stop? I started for the patio again.

The door slid open and Jonathan appeared with his mother close behind.

I guess we’d been making some noise between the laughing and hopping around the yard. My heart skipped a beat. Jonathan looked really good in his jeans. I’d never seen him in jeans before.

Whoever invented jeans deserved my thanks.

“Ally,” Jonathan’s mother said, drawing my attention from her son’s hot bod. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“Mrs. Coleman, I’m so sorry.”

She interrupted my apology. “Nothing to be sorry about, Ally. I know your father was upset, but Jonathan has explained everything to me. You’re welcome here any time.”

Tags: Juli Alexander
Source: readsnovelonline.net