Addicted

He glanced up, covered in sweat and grease, but nodded, sitting back on his heels. "Yeah. This going to be a short talk or a long one?"

"Long." I moved out into the garage as he stood up and cleaned off his hands.

"Okay. First let me say this..." He reached up and wiped his forehead with the back of his forearm. "Had I known that Clark's boy was going to get hurt, I never would have said anything to him. I can't imagine having to go through almost losing you or Parker, so I'm sorry for that. I still don't like the kid, but wishing him harm isn't at all who I am."

Letting out a long breath, I nodded. I was beyond grateful to hear that he wasn't a total monster. Now to see how far his benevolence could go.

"I'm sorry about attacking the other day."

"Don't be. You were right." He leaned against the car and sucked his bottom lip in his mouth before patting the hood next to him. "Come here and sit beside me."

I walked out without hesitation and sat down next to him, pulling my legs up and wrapping my arms around them.

"I grew up not too far from here, the mountains behind the old house was my favorite place to play. One of the reasons I love bringing you guys up here during the winter is because I honestly wanted you to experience some of the fun that I did as a kid." He paused and wiped his head again. "My best friend lived next door, and we did everything together. I mean from the time we could walk to slapping each other in the face with our diplomas. He meant everything to me."

Sickness rolled through me. I'd come out to talk about Finn, but something told me that we were talking about his father.

"So things went on as they always did until we got to college. We both went to the University of Colorado because we loved to snowboard and there was no damn way we were splitting up." A smile brushed across my father's face as he got a faraway look in his eyes. "We were there three years before I fell in love with this beautiful brunette in my history class. She was so damn funny and left me feeling alive, like really alive."

"Dad. You don't have to talk about this if you don't want to." I reached out and touched his arm, not sure why I was giving him grace, but I was.

"No, it's good. I need to get it out." He glanced over at me and continued. "The problem was, my best friend decided to snatch her up before I could get to her, even though he knew that I'd had my eye on her for the last year. I was just waiting for the right time."

I didn't want to hear anymore. My father hadn't been at fault from what I could tell, yet I had pinned him as the villain without even considering that Clark might have started the whole thing.

"So, he starts dating her, and as you can imagine, the riff between our friendship, our brotherhood, was deep and wide. I hated his ass, and without thinking too much about it, I got her drunk and made love to her on a night that I knew he would show up." He turned to me. "He stabbed me in the chest, and instead of trying to work it out, or even walking away, I cleaned off the dagger and I drove it deep into his heart."

Tears filled my father's eyes and I couldn't fight back the ones in mine, too. There was so much hurt in his face. I reached out and wrapped my hands around his thick arm before pressing my cheek to his shoulder.

If I had been in love with Seth, and then Jessie had taken him, I wasn't too sure I wouldn't have stabbed her in the back, too.

"So you see, it's not just about seeing Clark that twists that dagger around in that old womb, but his boy is a product of the relationship that was supposed to be mine." He sniffled and wiped at his nose. "I think the only thing that healed me was finding your mother. All those years we were together, none of this mattered, and honestly, it doesn't now, either, but when she died, it came crashing back in. I don't want him near you, and I don't want Clark near me."

"Dad, it was thirty years ago and you both hurt each other." I moved from the hood of the car to look at him. "You can't put that one incident on me and Finn. I'm in love with him, and I want my life to be here in Aspen with you, Parker, and Finn, but if you think you're going to disallow that..."

He lifted his hand, and I stopped.

"I don't want you with Finn, Chloe, but I've lost too much in my life already. I don't want to lose you, too." He paused and pursed his lips again. "The night I had to co

me get Parker from the hospital, I saw Clark for a minute, and the fear and agony on his face left me breathless. I'm still hurt over our old shit, which is ridiculous, I know, but I can't let it affect you and Parker."

I moved closer to him and slid my hands over his shoulders. "Then, stop pushing me away. I'm just like you, and if you would just bend a little, that can be a good thing."

"I know, pumpkin. You just have to give me a little bit of space, though. Okay?" He reached up and touched the side of my face.

I moved into his arms, hugging him tightly and praying that this was a turning point for us. I needed my father back as someone who would be on my side.

"I love you, Dad." I kissed the side of his cheek and moved out of his hold.

"I love you, too, and hey, I got you something pretty nontraditional for Christmas."

"Parker told me." I smiled.

His smile faded as his eyes widened and anger brushed along his features. "What? He wasn't supposed to say anything. It was supposed to be a surprise."

"No, Dad. He just said that you got me something pretty cool, but that he couldn't tell me what it was." I put my hands on my hips.

"Oh, good. I thought he told you what it was."