Page 139 of More For Me

“Of course we’re on your side,” Cash says, then pauses. “I just like that Bodhi kid, you know?”

I deflate. Of course he does. Everyone does.

“He is pretty cool, Lele,” Uncle Daltrey agrees.

I rub my forehead. If I didn’t have a headache before, I do now. “We’re dropping this,” I say, trying to get back into the mindset of my job. “Cash, switch that jacket for the gray one, okay? And Daltrey, go ask the stylist to fix your hair. It’s doing a weird flippy thing around your collar.”

“The gray one, really?” Cash asks, adjusting his leather jacket in the mirror. “I like this one.”

“You’re not twenty-five anymore,” Daltrey tells him. “Don’t you think it’s time to hang up the leather jacket?”

Cash glares at him. “That’s funny talk coming from the only grandfather in this room.”

Daltrey jabs him with an elbow and Cash grabs him, trying to pull his younger brother into a headlock.

I’m going to scream at them. I really am. My temper has been right on the edge ever since I woke up and realized Bodhi didn’t see fit to respond to any of my messages. Trying to wrangle my uncles—who have a tendency to act like children even on their good days—might just push me over the edge.

“Hey,” a familiar voice says near my ear, and I turn to see my father standing behind me. “I asked the photographer for an early lunch break. Let’s go outside, okay?”

I close my eyes, embarrassment and frustration washing over me. Apparently, my mood has been even more obvious than I realized. This is so freaking unprofessional. “I don’t need an early lunch,” I tell him. “You guys are almost ready for the next set.”

He shakes his head, planting a heavy hand on my shoulder and nudging me away from my uncles. “The next set can wait. Come on.”

I want to argue, but I’m not sure I have the strength to go head-to-head with Reed Ransome today. So I allow myself to be led out of the studio and outside. There’s a food truck set up at the park across the street and Dad directs me to go find us a bench while he grabs the food. Once I’m sitting, I pull out my phone. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t check for messages from Bodhi until after the work day, but I can’t help it.

On the screen, right under my last text asking him to let me know if he’s okay, I see the wordread. Anger rises up in me, so swiftly my breath catches. He left me on read? He read that text and didn’t reply? I told him I was worried and wanted to know if he was alive and he just ignored me?

I can’t decide what’s worse—the abject pain I’d felt last night when he told me it was over or the flood of rage that fills me now.

“Maybe put the phone down before you crack the screen,” my dad says, towering over me. I realize that I’m clutching the thing so tightly my knuckles are white. With shaking hands, I slip it into my pocket.

“Carne asada?” Dad asks, handing me two foil wrapped tacos. “I got you extra hot sauce.”

“Thank you.” It’s a struggle to keep my voice from shaking. I can’t remember the last time I was this mad. Or frustrated. Or fucking hurt.

Dad sits next to me and opens his own taco. I manage to take a few bites, even though it feels like sawdust in my mouth. No amount of hot sauce would make this food taste good to me right now.

“You want to tell me what happened?” he finally asks.

“Not really.”

He sighs. “You want me to call your mom?”

There’s a note of…something in his voice. Hurt? I look over at him but he’s staring at the foil in his hand. “I don’t need Mom.”

He shrugs. “I know she’s easier to talk to than I am. Especially since, you know…”

“Since?” I ask, completely bewildered.

“Our fight.”

It takes me a minute to realize that he’s talking about our fight over the reality show. “Daddy, that was ages ago,” I say. “Do you think I’m still upset about it?”

He shrugs, still not looking at me. “I’mstill upset about it.” He must realize how that sounds because his head snaps up, eyes meeting mine. “Upset with myself, I mean.”

“Why would you be upset with yourself?”

“Because I pushed you away,” he mutters. “You needed me and I let my own fear and control issues blind me to that.”