A Shade of Dragon by Bella Forrest Read Free Book Online Page A

or turn out to be crazy, or use me for my money. You and Mom are the reason I can’t even meet someone without assuming the worst about them.” I raised my eyes to meet his. “You taught me that people just do whatever they want, no matter what.”
    Dad blinked and then raised his cup of coffee to his lips, drinking deeply. I didn’t think he’d yet taken a drink throughout this entire speech. “I’m not going to say there aren’t risks,” he finally said. His voice was hushed. “That’s not all me. It’s not Patty, either. When you’re older, I hope you understand.”
    “Understand what? That people just leave? One day, I’ll leave too?” I sneered.
    Dad’s gaze was locked onto his own hands around the coffee cup. “That life isn’t as simple as kids think. People should keep their promises. So simple, right? But… we can’t predict the future. We just have to go on what we feel. There is no agreement on what ‘right’ is—we’re playing a game without rules. Outside of murder, rape, and theft—the general consensus is to do what you want. Nobody knows.”
    I rolled my eyes. Here I had been, waiting for some great explanation, and it was lawlessness, chaos. Predictable. “That’s the name of the Satanic Bible, you know,” I muttered, pushing up from the table. “Do What Thou Wilt.”
    “You sound just like your mother.”
    “You taught us the same lesson! Do you know how many men Mom has dated since 2004? Let me see; maybe, maybe ten? First, there was Parker the Dorkier, who was a coworker, in 2007—”
    “Parker Almquest, from the Sherman Group?”
    “Auuugh, this is exactly my point,” I moaned, covering my eyes. “Look at how selfish you’re being. By the time she was finally giving someone a chance—three years later—you had already been with three other women!”
    “That is not true,” Dad cried.
    “Yes, it is! Toni, then Natalie, and then Roberta.”
    “Oh, I forgot about Robbie.” Roberta had been a flight attendant with a kinky cap of auburn curls and a genuine smile. She and Dad had paired well together. I’d met her once—backpacking, cycling, and kayaking on a three-day trip together the summer of ’07—but there’d been no sign of her at Christmas. “Well, sugar, sometimes things just happen. Once you’re out of the house… and you’re able to meet, be with, or love whoever you please… you’ll realize that things can get complicated.”
    I rolled my eyes.
    “What? Toni and I could never have lasted. We were both carrying around the ghosts of our families; maybe in another life, we could have made it work. And Natalie was very sensitive to criticism. She was an alpha, I’m an alpha, it was bad. And then Roberta… well… She had a bad upbringing.” His eyes panned away; perhaps he was thinking of me in that moment. “She didn’t understand love. To her, indifference was more exciting.” He glared back at me again. “She broke up with me, you know. I’m not always the bad guy. Real relationships are a blood sport. Do you think we’re the only animal somehow to have figured out a fair system? Do you want me to tell you that you’ll never have to make difficult choices? You’ll never have to weigh one person against another, one imagined future against another? Do you want to hear that you’ll never make a mistake? Never walk away from someone you didn’t even deserve in the first place?”
    “Yes!”
    “I can’t.”
    I shook my head at him, frustrated and disillusioned. I had nothing more to say, and couldn’t stand to listen. I turned and marched from the room, not shaken and fleeing, but purposeful and… and unshaken. I did not want him to believe for one second that his words had forced me to forfeit a debate, but—as I ducked into my room and closed the door, sagging against its frame before pushing off of it—he had. He was right.
    I pulled the drapery open. The rocky beach exposed between the outgoing tide and the cliffside made a