I laugh, hard, but nervously, not having the time to explain that the kids who go here don’t generally become nuns. Just because I now hold that information doesn’t mean I have to spew it. It takes lots of context, and church history, and things I don’t actually have enough information on yet.
Taking a cleansing breath, I maintain eye contact with Mollie as I tell her everything about Roland. Well, everything that I know about him. Including his profession, last name, and the fact that this is all still a secret to my CU friends. Of course I include stories about all of them, too. My friends. Their language and behavior and beliefs are things I’ve shared with her in snippet form here and there, but once I’m on a roll I can’t stop. I don’t leave out my uneasiness about Joy or my love for Maggie, my RA. I spill every tiny detail into my declaration of I’m a Crappy Friend. I don’t know what is gossip or boarders on gossip, but it feels like the world’s longest exhale to tell Mollie every single thought and feeling I’ve had since stepping on campus.
And I do it all without swearing, even though I really, really want to.
I hold my breath at the end of my spiel, thankful that Mollie has remained stone-faced the entire time, save for a few eye-widening moments, but who can blame her? When she senses I’m through, she blinks rapidly, as if a bright light has just been blasted on her face.
“Your dad is the hot preacher guy?” is the first thing she says.
“Mollie!” I yelp. “Shh! And ew! Do you hate me, though?” I twist my face to brace for the emotional impact.
Mollie reaches across the table and grabs my arm. “This explains so much, Kennedy. Your parents were oddly quiet on the ride down here.”
“Ah, you were riding next to the giant elephant that is Roland.” I smirk, thinking of my ride to the coffee shop.
“Seems so.” She shrugs and sits back, crossing her arms. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks quietly.
I note that she hasn’t responded to my question of whether she’s mad at me. I move seats so I’m sitting next to her in the corner bench. Resting my head on her shoulder, I sigh. “I was embarrassed. Confused. Angry, hurt, nervous…”
“You and your expectations…” Mollie trails off.
“What?” I lift my head, eyeing her pointedly.
“You didn’t tell me about him because you were afraid that whatever scenario you have painted in your head wouldn’t turn out the way you painted it and that, somehow, you’d be wrong. You were too worried that you’d have to be vulnerable for five seconds in front of me. You’ve always done that, Kennedy. You’ve always stuffed your expectations down to avoid getting disappointed. Or being disappointed in front of someone.”
“Are you taking psych?” I mumble.
She laughs, her bony shoulder rocking my head slightly. “Yes, but you know I’m right. Admitting the freaking hugeness of this situation puts you in a really vulnerable place, doesn’t it?”
I shrug. “I guess.”
“You like him,” she states matter-of-factly.
“Roland?” I sit up.
She nods.
“I guess.”
“Stop guessing,” she commands.
“Yeah.” I sigh. “I like him. I want to learn from him. Not just about God stuff, but about family stuff. My biological family. He has parents and a brother and sister who each have kids. There’s this whole life I could be a part of. If he wanted me to. If I wanted to. I don’t know.”
Mollie wraps an arm around my shoulders. “This is big, you know.”
“I know.”
“Everyone at home thought you had a mental breakdown to choose CU over Cornell or Yale.”
“I know,” I groan, remembering the looks of shock and horror on the guidance counselors faces when I told them where I was going.
Mollie gets a twinkle in her eye. “Your mom must be losing her mind.”
I smile. “I think she’s got duct tape superglued to her head, honestly. She is being great about everything. As supportive as she can be, I guess.”
“What about that letter on your birthday, huh?” Mollie shakes her head at The Fifth Birthday Story, as I’ve come to call it in my head.
“Right? Seems cold for my mom, doesn’t it? She’d be more the type to knock on his door with me swaddled to her chest, breastfeeding or something, wouldn’t she?”
Mollie laughs so hard she starts choking on her drink. “Nailed it.”
We high five, but I’m compelled to ask her again, “Do you hate me?”
“Hate? No. I’m hurt, yeah. But you know what? That was way too much drama for my high school brain to handle, anyway. You really did me a service by not telling me.”
It seems half a semester of college has brought our friendship to a new level. One I’m grateful for, because I need Mollie more than I let myself realize.
“Jonah, too,” Mollie says as if we were talking about my friends at all just now.
“Jonah, too, what?” I ask, reaching for my drink.
“You like him, too. I don’t care what sorcery you used to get him and Eden together.”
I laugh at her turn of phrase, but turn serious quickly. “No sorcery. And I don’t like him like that. He’s just a really good guy. Too good, maybe.”
“You think you’re not good enough for him.” Mollie lifts her eyebrows in challenge.
Jesus Freaks: Sins of the Father
Andrea Randall's books
- Sacred Sins
- Sins and Scarlet Lace
- Sins of a Ruthless Rogue
- Bed of Roses
- Son Of The Morning
- Cover Of Night
- Affairs of State
- A Profiler's Case for Seduction
- Because of Rebecca
- Conflict of Interest
- Eclipse of the Heart
- Flames of Attraction
- Illusions of Love
- Keeper of the Moon
- Keeper of the Shadows
- Legacy of Love
- Love Proof (Laws of Attraction)
- Miles of Pleasure
- Of One Heart
- Off Limits
- Off Sides
- Out of the Dark (The Brethren Series)
- Out of the Depths
- Pool of Crimson
- Prince of Wolves
- Rules of Entanglement
- Shadow of My Heart
- Something of a Kind
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Taste of Desire
- Taste of Love
- Translation of Love
- Web of Deception
- Words of Love
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- The Scars of Us(Scars Series)
- Dreams of Lilacs
- House of Ivy & Sorrow
- A Question of Honor
- The Owner of His Heart
- The Heir of the Castle
- Tower of Glass
- The Last Prince of Dahaar
- Terms of Engagement
- Secrets of a Bollywood Marriage
- David Lord of Honor
- Return of the Prodigal Gilvry
- Killing Me Softly(A Broken Souls Series)
- Starting Over(Hart of Seattle)
- The Resurrection of Aubrey Mill
- OFF SIDES
- Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom
- Stolen: Warriors of Hir, Book 3
- The CEO Buys in (Wager of Hearts #1)
- The Law of Moses
- A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)
- Arouse: A Spiral of Bliss Novel (Book One)
- Awaken: A Spiral of Bliss Novel (Book Three)
- The Art of French Kissing
- Leo (A Sign of Love Novel)
- Echoes of Scotland Street
- Stinger (A Sign of Love Novel)
- Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)
- The Song of David
- The House of the Stone
- Ashes of Honor: An October Daye Novel
- The Weight of Feathers
- Blood Brothers
- Face the Fire
- Holding the Dream
- The Hollow
- The way Home
- A Father's Name
- All the Right Moves
- After the Fall
- And Then She Fell
- A Mother's Homecoming
- All They Need
- Behind the Courtesan
- Breathe for Me
- Breaking the Rules
- Bluffing the Devil
- Chasing the Sunset
- Feel the Heat (Hot In the Kitchen)
- For the Girls' Sake
- Guarding the Princess
- Happy Mother's Day!
- Meant-To-Be Mother
- In the Market for Love
- In the Rancher's Arms
- Leather and Lace
- Northern Rebel Daring in the Dark
- Seduced The Unexpected Virgin
- Southern Beauty
- St Matthew's Passion
- Straddling the Line
- Taming the Lone Wolff
- Taming the Tycoon
- Tempting the Best Man