Page 78 of Try Me

“This is bullshit,” I said softly, and he cocked his head.

“I like that fire, son. You get it from me. And I’d like you to understand that what I’m doing here as a parent is looking out for your best interests when you’re clearly incapable of doing it on your own. That’s life. That’s what a parent does. You’ll get it someday.”

I laughed. “Looking out for my best interests is reminding me to wear a seat belt or to call an Uber if I’m drunk. Not trying to engineer my love life. Nah. I’m done.” I stood and dug my car keys from my pocket, tossing them to him. “Do what you’ve gotta do.”

Okay, so it wasn’t quite as poignant as in the movies. There was no victorious soundtrack swelling underneath my slightly slurred words. But it felt pretty good. And by pretty good, I meant absolutely terrifying.

Dad let out a long sigh and set down his glass. He weighed the keys in his hand as he met my defiant gaze. We had the same color eyes, but his were more piercing. Right now, they were scalpel sharp and merciless. I imagined them in the boardroom, and in the back of my mind I wondered if mine would ever look the same way.

I hoped not.

26

Chet

Istared across my desk to Mark’s empty one. Ten a.m. and he still hadn’t shown up or responded to the texts I’d sent earlier.

“You look like a lost puppy,” Liza said as she glanced up from her laptop.

“Here, pup, how about a treat?” Houston tossed something foil-wrapped toward me. I flipped them both off but ate the chocolate, because you never turned down chocolate.

Lena popped her head in a second later. “You have those files I asked for ready to go?”

“Yes’m.” I reached for the stack and handed them to her.

“Great, because you’re coming with me to court this afternoon.”

“I am?” I blinked, then broke into a grin. I’d been dropping hopeful hints for weeks but had resigned myself to the conclusion that I really was just an errand boy—which I totally understood given that I didn’t have any law classes under my belt or experience.

“Yep.” She cut me a wink. “And for the next few weeks if you’re interested and have all your other stuff done for the day.”

“I will,” I promised, trying not to nod too eagerly. That had to be a sign I was doing a good job, right? At least, I was going to take it that way.

As soon as she left, I pulled my phone out again and fired off another text to Mark.

Chet:ET phone home. Where the fuck are you?

Chet:I’m going to court this afternoon.

Finally, the dots popped up to indicate he was typing.

Mark:So fucking hungover. I called in earlier.

Chet:So the party went well I guess?

Mark:It was…interesting. Didn’t I text you last night?

Chet:Debatable. Unless you count a paragraph that insisted of mostly ccccyycyycycycyyyyyyy.

Mark:Ha. Yeah, I passed out with my phone in my hand.

Mark:You work tonight?

Chet:Yep, but I’ll be out pretty early.

Mark:Text me then. I’ll come over. Will probably be done hurling by then.

Chet:Want me to bring you something for lunch?