His Nasty Virgin

JESSE

There was no escaping his fury. Wally’s cheeks were red, the vein in his temple threatening to burst out of

his skull. Fists clenched, jaw tight, nostrils flared. My son was normally a well-tempered young man, but right now, he was understandably anything but.

“How could you do this?” he hissed.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

“Wally, just calm down.”

“Calm down? Don’t you dare tell me to calm down! This is so messed up, I don’t even know where to begin.” Wally gestured in Vivian’s general direction, unable to look her in the eye. “She’s half your fucking age, Dad! What the hell are you thinking?”

I swallowed but found no reprieve for my dry throat. Our age difference had crossed my mind on several occasions. It made me feel weird at first, but it quickly became obvious that Vivian was so much more than her age.

“We’re both consenting adults,” I argued. “It’s what we both wanted.”

“What about the fact that she’s my ex-girlfriend? That she’s my friend. Did it ever occur to you how uncomfortable that would make me feel? How… How sick that is?”

Vivian took a step forward, her brow knitted into a frown. “Wally, we never meant to hurt you. It just sort of happened.”

“Just sort of happened,” he echoed in disbelief. “What the hell, Viv? Did you not respect me enough to at least talk to me first?”

“How was I supposed to bring something like that up?” Wally shook his head. “How long has this been going on? How long have you two been doing shit behind my back?”

I glanced at Vivian. I had a feeling that any answer I gave would still piss my son off to no end. Our silence must have been answering enough because Wally threw his hands into the air and huffed.

“Fuck. This is my fault.”

Vivian took another step forward. “Please don’t say that,

Wally.”

“But it is. I was the one who brought you here. I thought you’d be safe, but you wound up being preyed upon.” I gritted my teeth. “I didn’t prey upon her,” I insisted.

“It was a mutual thing,” Vivian added.

“If that’s the case, Dad should have made arrangements for you to stay somewhere else,” Wally hissed. “You’re supposed to be keeping her safe, Dad. Isn’t that rule number one of being a bodyguard or something? I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to fuck the client you’ve been charged to keep safe.”

“I need you to take a breath, son.”

He jabbed an accusatory finger at me. “What was the plan, huh? How long did you think this was going to last? Do you love her or something?”

I held my breath. I certainly cared for Vivian a great deal. Maybe I did love her, but this relationship was so new and our future too uncertain. We weren’t ready for that next step. Even if we were, Wally’s outburst only served as further proof that it wasn’t going to work out between Vivian and me. It was just too hard for him to accept, and I couldn’t even blame him for thinking this way.

“Vivian and I…” I started slowly, looking at her. “We have a connection.”

“Great,” Wally grumbled. “Just great. I hope your connection was fucking worth it.”

Vivian bit her bottom lip. “Wally, I know you’re upset, but-”

“But what, Viv? But what? What possible excuse do you have to justify this?” Wally ran his fingers through his hair. “Look, even though we broke up, you’re still my friend, Viv. And I expect my friends not to pull shit like sleeping with my forty-three-year-old father. That’s just…” His nose curled up in disgust. “What the fuck were you thinking? Did you think I’d never find out?” Vivian didn’t answer.

Wally rubbed his hands over his face. “I can’t believe this. Not only are you unsupportive of my dreams, you just had to go and fuck my ex. Do you hate me that much?”

“I don’t hate you, Wally,” I said.

“Really? Because these aren’t exactly the actions of someone you’re on good terms with. These aren’t the actions of a good father.”

“I don’t regret my time with Vivian,” I stated firmly. “Being with her is the best decision I’ve ever made, and I’m not going to apologize for that. Could I have handled the situation better? Yes. But what I have with Vivian… You’d never understand it, Wally.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vivian give me the faintest of smiles. She reached out and took my hand, squeezing my fingers.

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” she whispered. “But I’m sure we can figure this out if we just sit down and talk.”

“No,” my son said flatly. “No, I’m… I’m done.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Wally licked his lips and shook his head. “I found a place. An apartment. I’m going to move in with one of my classmates.”

“Son-”

“Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that.” His face screwed up in pain. “You’re the worst, Dad. The absolute worst. I get it now, why Mleddid ve you.”

His words were a dagger through my heart. They shredded my lungs and left my ribcage hollow. The look in Wally’s eyes was one of pure disdain. My boy, the one whom I loved and raised all these years, had transformed from my son to a resentful stranger. It wasn’t even a sudden transformation, but a gradual one, happening right in front of me. And now I was too late. I’d lost him.

“Don’t call me,” he said. “Don’t text me. Don’t try to find me. I want nothing to do with you, do you understand? And you can keep your fucking money. I’ll figure it out on my own. I don’t need you.”

The floor was crumbling beneath my feet. I was frozen in place, unable to move or utter a single word as Wally shoved right past me. He stormed out of the penthouse, and this time, I feared I’d truly never see him again. This was a nightmare.

Vivian peered at me, reaching up to caress my cheek. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “He’ll be back. I promise.”

I could barely hear her over the rush of blood past my ears. I was exhausted. Drained. “I don’t think he will,” I mumbled as I sat on the edge of the bed.

The mattress dipped as Vivian took her place beside me, her thigh touching mine as she held my hand. “Don’t say that. I know Wally. He’ll be upset for a little while, but I’m sure he’ll come around.” Something in the way her sentence tapered off into nothing told me she didn’t believe her own words.

“I meant what I said. I don’t regret it.”

“Neither do I.” She frowned. “I’m sensing a but in there somewhere.”

I took a deep breath. “But Wally’s right. Being your bodyguard and your…”

“Lover?” she supplied, almost teasingly, but it didn’t sound like her heart was in it.

“Sure. Your lover.” I brushed a strand of her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “I can’t be both, Vivian.”

“So what do we do?” Her eyes welled up with tears, a sad smile ghosting across her lips. “You want to end this, don’t you.” A statement, not a question.

“I don’t want to, but it’s best. I can’t protect you properly otherwise. And even if I could…”

“Wally would never accept us being together.”

I nodded solemnly. “If it were anyone else, I’d choose you. I’d choose you a million times over. But Wally’s my son, and I can’t lose him. It’d tear me apart.”

“I understand,” she mumbled, bravely holding back her tears. “I don’t want to come between you two. I’d hate myself for it.”

I wrapped her in my arms and hugged her as tightly as I could, kissing her cheek and stroking her hair. It almost killed me to hear her sob against my chest, her whole body trembling as she tried to keep everything inside.

“I’ll call Theo,” I said softly. “I’ll have you transferred to his care temporarily until I can organize a new safe house and security detail for you. Shouldn’t take me more than a day.”

“Alright,” she replied meekly.

I studied her face, committing every last detail to memory before leaning in to kiss her. It was chaste and slow and heartbreaking. Because this wasn’t a kiss we’d ever shared before. This was our last.

A final goodbye.

When it ended, Vivian held onto me tight, burying her face in the crook of my neck. I wanted to be a selfish man. I wanted to keep her all to myself, screw the consequences. But I wasn’t a selfish man, despite how easy it would have been. I knew her through and through. If I kept her, she’d blame herself for my fallout with Wally. The best thing I could do for her was let her go, no matter how painful it might be.

“In any other life,” I murmured against her ear, “it would have been you, angel.”