“Damn, does your father ever let up on you?”
Meagan shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not as bad as it used to be. Now that Taylor is going to be graduating college, my father will ease up on both of us. At least I hope he will.”
“I heard he was always a little harder on you though.”
With a lift of her eyebrow, Meagan flashed me a smile. “So how much did Grace tell you about me before we started officially dating?”
Leaning back in the chair, I flashed her my crooked smile that I knew she loved. “She told me you were bullied in college and that your father rode your ass pretty hard. Compared you to Taylor all the time and wanted you to be the perfect example for her.”
Meagan’s head tossed back with her laugh as I reached for my drink and took a sip. She exhaled a breath and nodded. “Ahh yes, all of that is very true. Although, he did let up for a little while when he realized I was moving to Colorado. I think he might have thought he pushed me away.”
“Did he?”
Meagan sat up a little taller as if she was still trying to prove something to her father. “I really did fall in love with it here when we came for our girls’ trip, and maybe I was running away from something I didn’t want to face.”
My elbows rested on the table as I looked into her eyes. “Isn’t that what you council kids to do . . . not run away from things. Face them head on?”
Her lips parted open as if she was going to argue with me. She didn’t though. My words must have been swirling around in that beautiful mind of hers because she was soon lost in her own thoughts.
Reaching for her hands, I rubbed my thumbs gently across her delicate skin. “Hey, look at me, Meg.”
Her eyes slowly looked up into mine. “You’re not that girl anymore, Meg. You’re a smart, beautiful, confident, amazing, woman and I’m so damn proud to be a part of your life.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. “My dad is coming to visit me and I guess I’m so afraid he is going to judge every single thing I’ve done and then he’ll judge you and I don’t want him to scare you off . . . and oh my God. Why is this bothering me so much?”
The waitress walked over and set our plates down as I pulled my hands back. “Is everything okay, sweetheart?”
Meagan quickly wiped her eyes and nodded. “My gosh, I don’t cry. Ever. Yes, yes, everything is perfect. Just emotional today.”
Giving Meagan a wink, the waitress glanced at me and asked, “Can I get anything else for you?”
With a polite smile, I shook my head. “No thank you.”
“Let’s eat and head back to your place. We can snuggle up and watch a movie.”
“When is your dad coming, Meg?”
Without so much as looking up at me, she softly said, “In a week. He’s staying for four days.”
So much for getting rid of her apartment.
“After that you’ll get rid of your place and move in with me, right?”
Meagan’s eyes softened as she looked at me. “Yes. Gray, there’s nothing more I want than to be with you. I just need to figure out how to do this and I need a bit more time.”
I nodded and took a bite of food. “But you’re going to tell him while he’s here that we’re engaged, right?”
Pressing her lips together, Meagan looked down at her food. “Maybe.”
I quickly grew frustrated. Whatever issues Meagan had with her father needed to be worked out during this visit. I was tired of feeling like I was a bad secret she needed to keep locked away.
“Meg, you can’t hide this forever. At some point I am going to want to actually marry you and have your family there.”
“I know! I know! Just let me worry about it when he gets here. For now we have a few days to prepare.”
I couldn’t help but feel like it was more than just Brad being a tough father. It was my past that was stopping Meagan from saying anything.
“Damn it, Bennett. Did you not learn a damn thing from me at all?”