A Shade of Dragon by Bella Forrest Read Free Book Online

that?”
    “Who was who?” I asked, attempting to move past him on the stairs. I wasn’t about to try to have this conversation with him, of all people.
    “Who was that on the porch with you?” Dad followed me up the stairs.
    “I don’t know, he lives on the strip.” My poker face had never been tighter.
    “I tried to call you.”
    “Well, my phone is in the ocean. Which room is mine?”
    Dad blinked at me for a second. “Uh…” He cleared his throat. “The second door on the left here.”
    I dragged down the hall with my bags and shuffled into my bedroom, hitting the light with my elbow. It was mostly barren, but there was a vague pink theme running throughout. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. At least it had a stellar view: a bay window with cream-colored drapes faced the open ocean and crystalline night sky. I rested my bags against the bed and tugged the curtains closed, just in case anyone—like Theon—might have been watching from below. I turned after having caught Dad’s reflection in the dark glass. His arms were crossed and his eyes were flashing.
    “I think we need to talk,” he snapped.
    I nodded. “Sure.” Didn’t even ask me if I was okay. I almost drowned; I could have frozen to death; I just went missing for an hour in the freezing cold with nowhere to go but the beach, and he doesn’t even wonder why my sweater is ruined. Why my pant leg is torn.
    “Let’s go downstairs and have some coffee.” Like my mother, we both treated coffee with the same reverence others gave to fine wine. It would be the one spot of nutmeg-flavored comfort in this moment, my little Christmas-themed mug, crowned with fresh cream.
    Once our coffees were brewed and we had taken our opposing seats at the kitchen table, cleaned of the tabouli salad, I lapsed into silence and let him take the lead. I knew he was dying to get something off his chest, and he was the most important person in the room, wasn’t he?
    I raised an eyebrow, prompting the speech.
    “I’m just going to go ahead and say that the way you’ve been talking to me is completely unacceptable. I thought that moving would make it better, but somehow, it made it even worse. And here I thought nothing could be worse than a damn sixteen-year-old.”
    I nodded. This was true.
    “I don’t want to feel like I can’t even be a part of your life anymore. I was never a deadbeat dad, you know. So why are you so mad about something that happened so long ago, and not even to you, but to your mother?”
    “First of all, it did happen to me, too. I was eight years old when it finally ended. Second of all, I guess I’m so mad now because… because I am growing up. This is the age when I’m supposed to be throwing myself into whirlwind romances and believing in happily ever after. But I don’t.” I sighed and took a sip from my mug. “I just can’t even consider dating without picturing the inevitable end. And if you go into every relationship like that, you can’t even believe in the beginning. Dad, I’m nineteen years old, and I’ve never had a real boyfriend.”
    “What about Andy?” Dad wondered, warranting a glare.
    “Andrew and I were strictly unattached,” I informed him. “Neither of us really believe in long-distance relationships. He’s dating Michelle now.”
    “ Shelly Michelle?” Dad gaped. “Aw, pumpkin, I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
    “It doesn’t mean anything,” I snapped, refusing to meet his gaze. “That’s what I’m trying to tell yo u. I knew it would end before it started. That’s how I’m fine now. I just met this guy down on the beach, and—”
    “That guy who dropped you off? He’s twice my size, Nell!”
    I thought back to his unlinedface. “He’s just a big guy.” I smiled in spite of the conversation. “He was really nice, and yet…” The smile died. “The thought of kissing him just… seems… so… stupid. Because I know what will happen. Eventually. He’ll run off with someone else,