Golden Hearts | Rafe Cameron [1]

16

16

We didn't say much more on the way back. Rafe dropped me off at home without saying a word. It was clear that he was mad. But whether he was mad at me, my brother, or the Pogues, I was a little unsure. But it feels like he was mad at all of us, and that's a sign that I should avoid him for at least the rest of the day. If I have a choice, I'd prefer to avoid him longer.

It's not until I'm on my way to the front door of my house that I remember what also happened yesterday. Just before all the drama. Rafe almost kissed me. He's already done it once in front of JJ, but it wasn't meant anything. But this time, he tried to do it where there were no people. Where there was no one to show that I must belong to him. What could have happened if Kelce hadn't come?

"Adeline," I hear my dad say, and I look up to see him standing in the yard. I walk up to him, and he doesn't look happy.

He puts a hand on my back and starts walking around the house so that we come to our patio where he sits on one of the chairs.

"Sit down".

I do as he says and then see Nathan come out and sit down beside my dad. Nathan has bruises all over his face and doesn't look happy at all. It must have been a horrible fight last night.

At first, it's completely silent. None of us say anything, and my dad just sits quietly, looking at me and Nathan while Nathan stares down at the table. Was Rafe that aggressive?

"I'm disappointed in both of my children," my dad says, clearing his throat.

"That you ended up in a fight yesterday disappoints me greatly, and that Rafe participated also disappoints me. How do you think we're going to maintain our reputations if you keep getting into fights all the time? If people find out about this fight, you're done. You set fire to the whole damn screen," my dad says.

"What? The whole screen?" I ask, surprised.

"You were there; you should know what happened," my dad says angrily.

"No, she was unconscious, so she didn't see anything. Kiara was the one who set fire so that everyone would stop fighting," Nathan says honestly. It was still smart of her to do that.

"Hm," my dad says as if he doesn't believe what his son is saying. If there's anyone he usually trusts, it's Nathan.

"If this happens again, Adeline, you can forget about college, and Nathan, you're not welcome back here next summer".

"What?" Nathan says, surprised and disappointed.

"I hope you've learned a lesson now," my dad says before standing up. Nathan leaves before my dad stops when Nathan goes into the house and looks at me with a disappointed look.

"I thought I could trust you."

"I just tried to stop the fight-" I start, but my dad approaches me with determined steps.

"No, I don't want to hear your stupid excuses. I think you should go to Rafe now," he says.

"Why-"

"Because he's your boyfriend," my dad says loudly in my face, and I try to back away, but then he grabs my wrist. Hard.

"Let go of me!" I scream.

"I wish I had a daughter who was perfect and could behave. I actually feel sorry for Rafe, who has to hang out with someone like you. Go away now so I don't have to see you," my dad says loudly, and just as he lets go of my wrist, he hits me on my cheek, and I look up at him in surprise. He looks almost as surprised as me, and I hurry away while I hear him shouting that he's sorry after me.