Running from His Claim (Beauty and the Beast #2)

Chapter 54

I walked into the kitchen to find Dane and Keith talking. Dane saw me and grinned then set about dishing my breakfast.

Keith smiled at me when I joined him at the table. "Hey, kid."

"Hi," I smiled back. "Aren't you going fishing?"

He rolled his eyes. "A guy goes fishing once and you kids expect free fish every week."

I raised a brow and Dane supplied, "Dad and Ranger Lakes aren't exactly talking right now."

"What? Why?"

They shared a look and Keith grumbled, "He crossed a line."

"Oh-kay..." I decided to drop it and instead dig into my deliciously fluffy eggs.

"Got plans today?" Dane asked me.

"Yeah, Warren will be over in a bit."

"What?" Keith demanded.

Crap. Dad didn't know about this yet. I swallowed quickly, my mind racing. Well, I had supposedly gone on a mind clearing trip... "Um, yeah."

"What the hell does that kid want with you?!"

"Dad," I began softly, hoping to calm him down. "Relax. We're just going somewhere to talk, that's all."

"Like hell you are!" Keith stood abruptly, his chair flying to hit the wall. "That delinquent is not coming anywhere near my daughter! Why are you even talking to him?"

"We're going to talk things out," I supplied, focusing on my food to avoid his eyes because I wasn't backing down on this. "When I was gone yesterday we -"

"You left with him?" Keith thundered.

I looked up at him, saw the betrayal in his eyes. "No, Dad, but I did leave for him. Look, I recently found out that his relationship with Caitlin wasn't his choice so I gave him an ultimatum when I left, and came for me."

"You broke them up?" Keith's voice was quiet and I understood his shock. That was nothing like the daughter he raised.

I sighed. Guess I had to ruin my reputation for Warren too. "His father forced her on him. The son of a lord had to be with a woman of similar status... He's been living in hell the last few months, just like me. Dad, how could I just sit by with that information?"

Keith paced the room, looking overwhelmed as he processed. Dane raised a brow and I shrugged. Remove the supernatural aspect of the story and it was as close to the truth as possible.

"So you're back together?" Dad finally asked.

"No, that's why we need to talk. A lot has happened and... I don't know. We'll see after today if we can fix this or if it's really over. Either way I'll finally have closure."

"And that kid Victor?"

That stung. I took a deep breath and mumbled, "I'm figuring it out."

"What is wrong with this town?" Keith fumed. "Is my daughter the only girl around?"

"What?"

He stormed out of the kitchen. I turned to Dane. "What's he talking about?"

"What do you think he and Ranger Lakes fought about?"

I thought it through and frowned, "Me?"

"You know he's got a thing for you, right? I mean, come on. Who else calls him Darry?"

I dropped my gaze back to my plate. Darry had a thing for me? He called me sunshine... Wait, is that why he asked about my age that one time? Was he waiting until I was legal to make a move?