"Chloe," his voice softened, and I pressed my hands to my face as a sob left me.
"No," I whispered as he wrapped his arms around me.
"I just want what's best for you. Finn is..."
I pulled away and poked my finger in his chest. "Finn is a good man. He's hard working, and he's never once said anything nasty about you. Not once."
"Why should he?"
"Because if I know you at all, then whatever happened between you and Clark was your fault." I poked harder. "Whatever you said to him today has him broken – again."
"I told him the truth." My father swatted my hand from his chest and gave me a stern look.
"The truth." I laughed darkly. "The truth is that I was going to change all my plans. I was going to stay here with you and Parker. I was going to ask if I could work under your wing and learn what you've learned or help you build your business. I was going to move my life and dreams around, and Finn is the main reason why we might have gotten our family back."
"Chloe-"
"No. Fuck all of it. I'm done with you. Finn and I will be together."
"I'm not supporting that."
I let out another angry chuckle. "Good. I'd hate to have to hear you touting your greatness when it works out to be the best love affair of all times."
I didn't give him a chance to respond before I turned on my heel and half-stomped to my bedroom, slamming that door for good measure. I hated him, and even worse, I hated the way I acted because of him.
Finn and I could figure out everything on our own, and if we didn't work out, I'd do what I'd been doing for the last eight years. I'd do it my damn self.
Chapter 24
Finn
Her father was right. I honestly had nothing to offer Chloe, except my body. I would be her whore as long as she would allow me to, but that was it. I didn't have money or a future that I could show her to prove why our relationship was safe to take to the next level.
She was going to consider staying in Aspen with me and give up on her dreams. I needed to figure out a way to tell her that she needed to go live her life, and when she was done, come back to me. My dreams and ambitions were smoke I'd blown up my own ass for years. Nothing was going to become of it, and I knew it.
My phone buzzed as I headed to the newest run for an afternoon of losing myself in the beauty of the mountains.
"What's up, Dad?"
"Where are you?" His voice was pinched, and I figured I had an ass chewing on the way. No doubt Chloe's father had called and given my old man a piece of his mind, much like he'd done me.
"I'm around. What do you want?" I couldn't force fake happiness.
"Finn. Come over to the house and let's talk."
"I don't want to talk, Dad. I worked my ass off for you today. I'm going to take my board up in the mountains and try to pretend like everything is okay." I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.
"Everything is okay," my father growled, and I could tell he was holding back his angst. "Look. I want to tell you about what happened with Jonathan Burke. It's a story you need to know, and after I'm done, if you want me to fix it for you and Chloe...I will."
"I appreciate that, Dad, but honestly, I'm good. Chloe's a great girl, but she's far too much woman for a simple man like me. I'm not sure what I was thinking. Like you said, I should have listened to you and kept my dick in my pants."
"Finn, stop it. Get your ass over here." He was losing his grip, and I was done upsetting him.
"I'll stop by later. Love you, Pops." I dropped the call and parked the old truck by the road, not wanting to get a ticket, seeing that the slopes were closed. They never would let patrons on the mountain after a hard snow without packing it. But I'd been skiing my whole life. It was no big deal. I'd just have to be ready to shift at a moment’s notice if the ground felt too unstable beneath me.
My phone buzzed, and I turned it to silent and dropped it in my back pocket. After working to get myself layered up with clothes, I started the long trek up the side of the mountain. It took me a damn hour just to get to the top. I'd never appreciated a ski lift so much in all my life.
I checked my phone to see messages from my father, Brian, Parker, and my girl. I chuckled and dropped it back in my pocket, not willing to feed their emotions. They were overreacting. I was spending a couple of hours by myself, remembering why I wasn't all the things Chloe's dad said I was. Somewhere along the afternoon, I'd started to convince myself that he was right.