Shamelessy Bad

5. Unwillingly Free

Cassie's POV

"Thanks for letting me come over for dinner. It's been a while since I've had an actual home cooked meal that wasn't something Lip brought from the school cafeteria." He says as we walk out onto the front porch. I nod my head.

"My pleasure."

He leans in, closing his eyes and attempting to kiss me. I turn my head, giving him my cheek. His lips are warm against my skin, giving me goosebumps in the cool autumn air. He pulls back, another look of confusion on his face.

"Sorry, it takes more than one night at dinner to get a kiss from this Belle," I explain to him. He scrunches his eyebrows and lets out a frustrated sigh. "Now, you should get home. I'll see you tomorrow for our walk to school. And we WILL make it on time this time." I order.

He tries to act like my orders displease him, but an adorable grin shines through. He kisses the back of my hand before turning to walk back across the street. When I look over there, I see that every light is on. I can't help but wonder what kind of things happen over there. The way Carl talked about them, his family seems a little dysfunctional. I feel intrigued to go watch the mayhem unfold just once but instead turn around and go inside.

I walk upstairs to write in my journal. I've only started before Daddy comes knocking on my door, startling me. I slam the book shut and toss it under my bed. I already know why he's up here. He wants to talk about Carl.

"Carl seems like a nice boy, doesn't he, Daddy?"

I hope to hear him swear me off of him, but that's not the case. Instead, he nods his head as he leans a shoulder against the door frame. He props one foot at an angle behind the other in kind of like a 4 figure. He also crosses his arms in front of his chest. A smirk plays on his face as he decides how to reply.

"I thought he was, yeah. I also think that you're not as slick as you think you are about bringing him over here." He walks in and sits at my desk in front of me. I cross my legs behind me with my feet up in the air as I lay on my stomach.

"W-what do you mean?"I stutter. My hands become clammy. I've never been able to hide things from him too well.

"You know exactly what I mean, Bud. You only asked him to come over for dinner because you thought I would scare him off. Now, why is that?" He asks, squinting as he looks at me. His face has taken a more serious tone now. I shrug, looking down.

"I don't know," I tell him.

"See, you've done this ever since boys started taking an interest in you. Back then, it was because you were tempted and didn't want to break our promise, but that can't still be the case. You're a senior in high school." I look up at him, my eyes threatening to mist. "It is? Cass, you're seventeen, now. It's okay. You don't have to do this anymore. Just make sure you're covering yourself so you don't run into trouble." I slap my hands over my ears.

"Oh my God, Dad. We're not having this conversation." I squeal. He chuckles and gestures for me to lower my hands.

"Alright, alright. But you should give the boy a chance. I think he likes you." He tells me.He then asks me about my first day at school. I explain to him what actually happened and about Carl and I staying out across the street. He raises his eyebrows at me.

"You better make sure that you get to school on time in the morning. You may be almost grown, but that doesn't mean that you get to suddenly start skipping school. Not on my watch, you hear?" I nod in agreement.

"Yeah, I hear you, Daddy. Don't worry. Staying out one day was enough to drive me crazy. I'll be up bright and early in the morning. But in order to do that, I need to get to bed soon, so if you don't mind." I sit up and reach for a hug. He makes his exit shortly after.

The next morning, Carl is standing outside of the porch waiting for me. His face brightens up when he sees me.

"Holy fuck." He says under his breath. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Excuse me?" He shakes his head.

"Oh, uh, nothin'."

I heard what he said. I wanted to see if he'd be brave enough to repeat it.

"So did your dad ask you any questions about what you did yesterday?" He asks squinting in the sunlight.

"Yeah."

"What'd you tell him?"

"I told him what we did." He snaps his head around and looks at me, his face contorted.

"Why would you do that? Do you not get the concept of sneaking around? You don't tell them 

what you did or it wouldn't be sneaking around." He lectures me.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't lie to my Dad." I bark back.

"He's gonna think I'm too bad to be with you now. How are we gonna be together if he doesn't like me?" I whip around and back him into a tree.

"Let's get one thing straight. We are not a we, got it? You better straighten up before you even think of us becoming one." I holler at him before stomping away.

I can feel him eyeing me up and down. Without turning around, I reprimand him.

"I thought we talked about this yesterday. If you want to walk with me then you will not eye me like you're doing right now." He immediately catches up and matches my pace.

"Sorry. Your ass is great. Like damn. None of the chicks up here are built like you are." I roll my eyes at what I assume he thinks are compliments.