I found myself driving mindlessly before I ended up at a park. I parked my truck and got out and made my way over to the playground.
Pinching my eyebrows together, I looked around and realized where I had gone. My heart slammed in my chest as a memory played in my mind.
“What do you mean you have to leave, Daddy?”
My father looked at me as he placed his hand on the side of my face. “I
love you, Grayson and I’ve made some terrible mistakes in my life and I need to start over.”
“Start over? What does that mean?”
His eyes looked down as he shook his head. “Grayson, I want you to do me a favor.”
“Okay, Daddy! I’ll do anything for you.”
His eyes looked watery as he blew out a breath. “Someday, you’re going to meet a girl who you will love very much and you both will have a big strong little boy just like how you’re so strong now, buddy.”
I stood up taller and nodded. “I am strong.”
“Yeah, buddy, you are. Grayson, don’t ever look back and use me as an example. Grayson, your mother is going to make sure you never end up like me. I promise.”
“What’s that mean, Daddy?” I asked confused.
A car horn went off and Daddy looked over his shoulder. Turning back to me, he stood and placed his hand on my head. “You be a good boy for your mommy and I’m so sorry, buddy. I know you’re going to make her proud and me proud when you grow up to be a big strong man.”
Turning, my father walked toward a girl who was standing waiting for him. They hugged and my father got in the car. Little did I know that would be the last time I ever saw him.
My eyes snapped open as I buried my face in my hands. “Stupid fucking idiot.”
Running back to my truck, I pulled out my phone and called Meagan. I wasn’t surprised when it went to voice mail.
Quickly finding Grace’s number, I hit call and jumped into my truck.
“Okay, motherfucker, you better have a damn good reason why you made my best friend cry so hard she could hardly talk.”
I hit the steering wheel and cursed. “Fuck!”
“Yeah, you fucked up dickhead, asshole, motherfucking, manwhore; wrap your dick next time, jerk face!”
“Tell him how you really feel, Grace,” Noah said as he took the phone from her.
“Gray, what’s going on?” Noah asked.
Sighing, I shook my head. “I freaked, Noah. It was the last fucking thing I expected Meagan to say to me. All I could think of was my own good-for-nothing father. I needed a few minutes to think and clear my head.”
“Dude, you walked out without saying a word to her. You freaked? Can you imagine how Meagan feels?”
“He’s too busy being an asshole to care!” Grace shouted.
Rolling my eyes, I tried to keep calm as I pulled back into the garage of our apartment while Noah lectured me on the phone about how I wasn’t anything like my father and I seriously needed to make this up to Meagan. Her car was still parked in her spot, so that was a good sign.
“She told Grace she was coming to Texas and—”
“What? What did you just say?”
My heart pounded in my chest while I took two steps at a time, trying to get to the apartment as fast as I could. There was no fucking way I was letting her run from me. I made a mistake and I would do whatever I had to do to make it up to her.
“Meagan said she was coming home to Tex—”