Because of Low (Sea Breeze #2)(25)

“Your knuckles are turning white,” Amanda chirped.

I relaxed my tight grip and took a deep breath.

“Cage is a little confused about things. Low will never marry him. She’ll tell you so herself. She’s special.”

“Like Sadie was special?”

I thought about it a minute and then nodded.

“Yeah, like Sadie I guess. You don’t come across girls like those two often. Trust me, I’ve looked. They’re definitely rare.”

“Like I said before, this time you aren’t up against a rock star. My money’s on you.”

I grinned and reached over and squeezed her knee.

“So tell me about this car Dad’s giving you.”

An immediate frown tugged the corners of her mouth down.

“My Jeep has all kinds of issues and Dad said that’s what happens when you buy inferior automobiles,” she rolled her eyes. “Anyway, he’s giving me some trade in he just got. A sports coupe or something. I think he said a 250CL... maybe. I don’t know. But I need a car and I can’t afford one on my own.”

Figures, Dad was putting her in a Mercedes. Let the world see the Mercedes King supplies his daughter with a car. He won’t be getting my ass in a damn Mercedes. Nothing was wrong with my Chevy truck. It was paid for, by me.

“It’ll be a safe car. If you end up going to Tuscaloosa in the fall then I’ll feel good about you being on the road in a Mercedes coupe.”

Amanda fidgeted in her seat and cleared her throat. Uh oh. That was never good. Those were her nervous ticks.

“Um, about college. See, Jamie and Hannah are going to Auburn”

“Ah no! Amanda please tell me you’re joking.”

“Let me finish Marcus, GAH!”

I did not want to hear this but I let her continue.

“Like I was saying before you went all ‘Roll Tide Monster’ on me, Jamie and Hannah are going to Auburn. Jamie got a cheerleading scholarship and Hannah’s daddy is an Auburn alum, and I want to be a veterinarian. You know I love animals. It’s what I really want to do,” this was not happening. Amanda shifted in her seat until she was turned toward me. “If you weren’t a die hard Alabama fan and someone asked you the best college in Alabama to go to if you wanted to be a veterinarian what would you tell them? Hmm?”

I let out a frustrated sigh, “Auburn,” I mumbled.

“Bingo! Which is why I applied there... and I got accepted.”

Well shit. My baby sister was going to freaking Auburn.

“I mean I could’ve applied to an out of state college and moved off really far away.”

I shook my head, “No, I wouldn’t want that.”

“That’s what I thought. I’ll secretly still cheer for Bama during the Iron Bowl every year, I promise.”

Shaking my head I decided to focus on that kiss with Low. It made me happy. My sister’s choice in college did not.

My dad was standing outside his dealership when we pulled up. He was tall and in shape with a few silver streaks in his brown hair. He was laughing all relaxed and happy looking. You couldn’t tell by his jovial appearance that he was tearing his family apart. It didn’t appear to be bothering him at all. Clenching my teeth tightly shut I kept my thoughts to myself. The last thing Amanda needed was to hear me vent about what a complete ass our father was.

“You getting out?” She asked glancing back at me as she opened the truck door.

I shook my head, “I’ll just see you in a few minutes at the house.”

“Okay,” the understanding in her eyes reminded me I wasn’t alone in this. We were a team.

She stepped out of the truck. My dad began walking my way. I debated spinning off before he could get to my truck window. But for Amanda’s sake I didn’t. I rolled down the window as he approached.

“Marcus, you’re not getting out to see your sister’s car?” His question chaffed me. As if I didn’t care about Amanda.

“I’ll see it in a few minutes at my mother’s house.”

That caught him off guard. He cleared his throat and shifted his feet.

I continued to glare out the front window.

“The other day I wasn’t prepared for your verbal attack. I may have said some things I shouldn’t have. I apologize. But this is between your mother and I. You kids don’t need to be caught in the middle. You’re both almost grown.”

I jerked my head around and shot my glare directly at him.

“This will always affect me. My mother is falling apart. She’s my mama. The woman who fed me soup when I was sick and held me while I threw up. She was the one who fixed my scraped knees and held me while I got stitches because I ripped my arm open. She read me stories until I fell asleep at night. You expect me to just not care that you’re hurting her. Hell, you’re killing her. My mother and my sister are the only two people in this world I’d die for. I’ll do anything I have to in order to make them happy. So NO Dad this isn’t just between you and mom. When Mama cries, Amanda cries. Then I’m the one who has to go pick up the pieces of this mess you’ve created.” I stopped ranting and took a deep breath because at the moment I really needed to hit something and my Dad’s face was looking very appealing.

“I didn’t realize your mother was sharing our personal problems with you. I’ll speak with her about it.”