"I realize that you and my father have some old score to settle, but that's between you and him. I've done nothing wrong." I kept his gaze, not willing to give up on pleading my case.
He chuckled. "Let me get this straight. You're here because you want to give Parker snowboarding lessons, and you think by convincing me that you're nothing like your piece-of-shit father, that I'll allow you to do so. Is that it?"
Heat ran from the top of my head to my toes. My father was everything to me. I spoke through clenched teeth, not liking this bastard at all.
"My father is a good man. You guys fucking each other over in your younger years doesn't change that."
"You don't have a clue what you're talking about, boy." He crossed his arms over his chest, and glared down at me. "Is this about Parker or Chloe?"
"Both." I stepped closer to him. "You have no room to judge me, seeing that you're as much of a whore as I've been the last ten years."
He stiffened, and I knew I'd hit him square in the chest without having to touch him. I continued, though I shouldn't have. Attacking Chloe's dad wasn't at all the plan. I'd only wanted to see her.
"From what I hear, you have a different woman across the table from you every day." I shrugged and brushed my fingers by my lips, wishing I could just shut the fuck up. "Oh yeah, everyone knows."
"Did your dad tell you that? Is he spreading lies about me?" He moved toward me aggressively, and I held up my hands.
"No. Like I said, my father's a good man. He doesn't want me involved with Chloe because he assumes she's a greedy asshole like you, but she's not. She's a great woman with huge dreams and an even bigger heart."
He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me against him, his nose pressing to mine as anger burned through his expression. "You stay the fuck away from my little girl. She deserves better than you could ever give her. Do you hear me? You're a piece of shit who will rot in this town, boning any available woman and dreaming about a life that will never ever be yours. Do yourself a favor and don't bring down Chloe to your level. You'll hate yourself for it later. Ask your father about that."
He pushed me, and I stumbled backward. His words burned down my veins painfully. Did the situation between them have to do with my mother?
"Fuck you, old man. You don't know anything."
"Right. That's why I live in this house and drive these cars, Finn. You're righ
t. I'm ignorant." He snorted as if it were funny and turned back to the house, disappearing inside it and leaving me feeling like absolute shit.
He was right. Chloe did deserve better. Much better than me.
Chapter 23
Chloe
I laid around Finn's for most of the morning and then decided to clean the place up for him. Having figured it would only take an hour or two, I was shocked when I looked up to see it was already after noon. I cleaned myself up and grabbed my keys, deciding to treat myself to a muffin, coffee, and a fabric store. The type of material I needed to work on my ski jacket design wouldn't be easy to find, but seeing that it was a common fabric for Colorado, I had high hopes.
The snow had piled up so high around my tires the night before that I had to find a stick and force most of it away. I would need to get my father to show me how to put the chains around the tires later that day, but it could wait. Most of the main roads were salted, and I could take it slow until I came to them.
Moments later, Christmas music blared from the radio and heat from the vents. My mood was high and my heart full. I would have loved to have called Jessie and told her the good news, but I couldn't bring myself to talk to her just yet. The situation with her and Seth was still a little too raw.
I made it to one of the large shopping centers in town and parked by a row of trucks before getting out and walking into the fabric store. I paused at the front and breathed in deeply, finding myself at home in the midst of all the different textures and colors.
"No. It's too girlie, woman. I told you to get brown." A man's voice rose up from an aisle over, and it was too familiar not to check it out.
"It is not. Blue is a man's color, too." A pretty blonde pushed at a guy's chest and smiled like the world revolved around him.
He turned to look up at me as I walked down the aisle, having planned to skirt by them.
Finn's dad. A smile lifted his lips, and he extended his hand to me.
"Chloe. What a nice surprise." He shook my hand as I offered it, and nodded toward his friend. "This is my secretary, Milly."
The woman flinched, and I had to assume it was the title he used with her.
"Nice to meet you. I'm a friend of Finn's." I shook the woman's hand before turning my attention back to Clark. "You finally get a day off? That wayward boy of yours working in your absence?"
He chuckled as he released my hand. "I'm sure he's out working hard after all this snow we got."