Page 92 of Sellout
“No matter what happens, we’re in this together. You and me.” Dad pulls back, keeping his hands on my arms. “Do you believe me?”
Tears press against the back of my eyes. “Yeah, I believe you.”
“Good.”
I never should have been scared. My dad is on my side and he always will be.
“Do you want some burgers?” Dad asks.
I raise an eyebrow at him. “I wantaburger—just one.”
Dad frowns. “You don’t eat enough.”
“One could argue that you eat too much,” I say. “I’m not a shifter, Dad. I don’t need nearly as much food as you do.”
Dad puts his arm around my shoulder, leading me toward the house. “Are you and Parker still close?”
“Yeah.” I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. “He helps me.”
“Helps you how?”
I sit down on the barstool. “Whenever he touches me, he silences the voices.”
Dad stops in front of the fridge and turns around to face me. “When he… touches… you.”
I squirm in my seat. “Uh, yeah. Like, at school. It’s overwhelming. Being in the head of a bunch of teenagers sometimes makes me sick. But when Parker touches me, it completely blocks out their thoughts. He helps me get through the day. Without him, there is no way I’d be able to handle public school.”
Dad takes a step closer to the bar. “Is it just Parker? Or does any wolf shifter help?”
“Just Parker. Will tried to help. He does what he can. In the classes without Parker, Will writes me notes to distract me,” I tell him.
He raises an eyebrow. “Are you and Will dating?”
I wrinkle my nose. “Gross. No. Will is just a friend, trust me. Most of the time we argue.”
What I don’t say is that we’re usually fighting about Parker.
Dad leans against the bar. “What about Parker? Are you dating him?”
I frown, shaking my head. “No. He’s got a soulmate waiting on him, you know? And I probably do too.”
He tilts his head to the side, studying me. “But you like him?”
Not wanting to confirm, I simply shrug my shoulders. I don’t want to lie to my dad, but I also don’t want to talk about it.
Dad rubs at the scruff on his jaw. “I have to admit, I don’t have any advice for you. Before I met my mate, I never had a crush on anybody. Girls never held my interest. I was busy finishing med school.”
I keep my mouth shut, not wanting him to stop talking. I know this is hard for him to talk about.
“You’ll see one day. When you meet your mate, your entire world will shift. It’s incredible.”
“It sounds very nice,” I admit.
But I still don’t see how I could ever like anybody more than Parker.
Dad takes a deep breath. “How does Parker feel about you?”
I open my mouth, then close it. I want to tell my dad that Parker doesn’t feel the same as I do. I want to tell him that there is no way anything will happen between us. But I can’t. Iknowhe feels the same as I do. Which only makes things harder.