“Well…I forbid it.”
“Wait, what?” Colton shook his head. “Just like that? Don’t you even want to quiz me first, find out how totally awesome I am, check out my teeth? Something?”
My dad sent me a dry glance. “I don’t like him. He’s disrespectful.”
Colton gulped audibly and sank closer to me. I lifted our entwined hands to my chest and scowled stubbornly at my father.
“Is this the only reason you came all the way up here? Because you heard I was dating a white boy?”
Dad’s jaw tensed at that. “This relationship, or whatever it is you two have going on, is over. The color of his skin has nothing to do with it.”
Yeah, right. I snorted. “How can you say that? You don’t even know him.”
“Little girl,” he boomed. “Do you really think I came all this way without checking him out first? The kid came from the poorest neighborhood in Pennsylvania. He’s trash who grew up in a trailer house with his three siblings, who all had different fathers, by the way. And his mother was a drunk, drug-addicted crack whore, who had sex with men for her next hit.”
When Colton flinched, I stepped closer to him. “He can’t help who his parents were, Dad. That was a low blow. Did your research lead you to the fact he hasn’t lived with his mom since he was eight and he went on to graduate as the second smartest student in his high school class?”
“Sure, but he enrolled into college with his degree as undecided. He has no plans whatsoever for the future. Hell no one’s ever even turned in a W2 for him, meaning he doesn’t have a job either.”
I was about to argue that he made a very lucrative career out of making Vines—where I’m guessing his sister took care of the money matters—but my father would probably turn his nose up at that too and call it frivolous and irrelevant or something.
“You’re not being fair,” I muttered. “He’s only eighteen. What do you expect, he’ll have a complete resume on hand, with a detailed blueprint planned for the rest of his life?”
“And he’s only eighteen years old!” My father jabbed out his arm as if making a point. “Which is four years too young for you. Child, what are you thinking?”
“Actually, uh, it’s three years and four months,” Colton said. All this time, he hadn’t said one word in defense of himself. But he spoke up now? For that?
My father and I both turned to look at him as if he were insane. He just shrugged. “Well, it sounds better than straight-up four.”
Dad shook his head and focused on me. “He’s not one of us. He will never respect you.”
“Respect me?” I barked out a laugh and set my hand against my throat. “Colton has done nothing but respect me, something I can’t say for Shaun.” That tattletaling sack of shit. “And he’s always made me feel like I fit into his life. It breaks my heart that you don’t even want to give him a chance. And I hate not having your approval, but honestly, Dad, this isn’t your decision to make. I am with Colton now, whether you like it or not.”
Clearly, the man did not. He narrowed his eyes and pointed at my nose.
“You are to stop this nonsense right now, young lady, or I will take you back home with me tonight. Is that clear?”
I stared at him a moment before sighing. “No.” I shook my head. “That is not clear at all. I’m twenty-one years old. You can’t order me to do anything.”
“Is that so?” He glanced around the living room of my apartment before declaring, “I pay for this apartment, Julianna. I pay for your college. Your car. Your phone. Do you want me to keep providing for you or not?”
My mouth fell open and the air whooshed from my lungs. “Are you giving me an ultimatum?”
My father and I had a brief stare off before he slowly began to nod. “Yes, I guess that’s what I’m doing.”
I swallowed, feeling as if he’d just pummeled me in the chest because the breath left my body.
Colton was the first to react, even though he’d experienced a moment of frozen shock too. “Dude, what?” he exploded. “You would cut off her money for college? Why would you do that? I mean, I could totally see it if she was like some wealthy heiress or something and you said you’d cut off her trust fund as a way to drive me away, like testing to see if I was a fortune hunter or something. But messing with her education doesn’t affect me at all. It only hurts her.” He spun to me, incredulous. “What the fuck? I thought you said he was a good dad.”
Before I could answer, Dad grabbed Colton’s arm and spun him around so they were face-to-face.