The Lion's Cat | Completed

35 ⚡ Awkward

Chapter 35

My neck burns as I down the red wine my father is always so fond of. Foxy is meowing in my mind, begging me to stop the embarrassing situation, but all I can do is get drunk while listening to dad and Xavier bickering about who knows Alexa better.

For the record, no one knows me apparently, because they would have figured out that me drinking alcohol is a way to forget about this situation.

"Did she tell you about her little... Diverse love experience?" Dad says while eagerly eating the bowl Xavier made.

Diverse love experience. I don't know if I should laugh or cry at this.

"Of course, I'm friends with her ex-girlfriend. They were cute, by the way, but luckily she has eyes only for me now," Xavier says, grinning like a child who finally received his Christmas gift.

My dad scrunches his nose at the news, making me roll my eyes and pour myself another drink. "What does she like to do in her free time?" he asks this time.

"Doing anything that relates to our species. I'm sorry, Mr. Reeds, but I don't think you'll silence—"

"Did she tell you about her mom?"

The glass of wine I had in hand shatters in tiny pieces. I might have put it down with too much force, but I finally get acknowledged by the two boys.

They both look at me wide-eyed while I glare at my father, who had the audacity to ask such a personal question. Silence reigns the room until the screech of a chair takes my eyes off my dad. Xavier grabs a roll of tissue from the counter, helping me clean up the fragile mess.

"If Alexa isn't ready to talk about her mother, then we won't talk about her mother," he says, throwing into the bin, located inside an empty cupboard, the damp tissues.

Regardless of what he said, my dad doesn't seem to care. "Why not? You should know what happened before deciding to mate her," he says.

"Can you stop?" I ask, my jaw clenching as the adrenaline level quickly rises.

The red-haired man frowns at me. "I'm doing it for you, sweetie."

"If you were doing it for me, you wouldn't have asked in the first place," I retort, taking a deep calming breath.

"I don't understand why you're getting so angry about it. It's not like you killed her or something," dad says, rolling his sapphire cat-like eyes.

"I'm mad because you asked that question just to shut my boyfriend's mouth."

Seems like his brain is processing what I just said because he stays quiet for a moment. His eyes drop to the empty bowl with his eyebrow knitting upward, fine lines appearing in-between them. "I'm sorry, Alexa. I guess I got carried away. Looks like the lion knows a lot about you."

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my small nose and closing my eyes for a brief moment. When I open them, my gaze falls over Xavier. The look of sadness breaks my heart, although he tries to hide it with a small smile.

He sits back down on his chair, and I let my hand grabs his. "My mother—"

"You don't have to tell me," Xavier quickly says as I hear dad's breath stop for a second.

I shake my head. "I want to. My mom left me—"

"Us, Alexa. Sometimes I wonder if you ever think about your own father," dad says, interrupting me.

I roll my eyes, starting again, "My mother left us when I was little because she didn't want to deal with me."

Xavier frowns. "How did you know?"