The Hazards of a One Night Stand (Hazards #2)(55)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

I spent the end of November leaving secret gifts and decorating Jade’s dorm room. One of the best parts of being a sophomore was becoming a sorority big sister. Jade guessed it was me right off, but that just made it better. We stayed out super late the night of the reveal, and I knew I’d pay for it the next morning. It was worth it though. Jade was an awesome little sister, and I knew we’d become really close friends.

My alarm sounded louder than usual. I rolled over, trying to hold on to the last few minutes of sleep.

I hit snooze on my alarm clock again. Until that semester, I hadn’t even known how to use that button. Normally, I’d have already been to the gym and back by eight a.m. but it felt like the middle of the night that morning.

“Could you stop doing that?” Juliet asked sleepily. Like me, she’d been up late. My roommates had even stayed at the house to celebrate the big sister/little sister reveal.

“What? Hitting snooze?”

“Yeah. Either get up or turn off the alarm.”

“I’ll get up.” I pushed back my covers, lying there for a moment before I could get my legs to move me to sitting.

I reluctantly left my bed and rummaged through my closet for something to wear. I settled on a pair of jeans and a light weight v-neck sweater. It was my usual fall attire.

Just as my hand closed on the knob, the door was thrown open. “Mallory, hey.” Jana stood there in her running clothes. Although we’d never talked about the whole party incident, things were back to normal with us.

“Hey.”

“Your dad’s here.”

“What?” I stepped out into the hall, pulling the door closed behind me. “Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He seems really nice though. He’s waiting on the porch, so I wouldn’t make him wait too long.”

She had to mean Rob. There was no chance my dad would come to my school. He hadn’t even called me since I visited him in the hospital.

I took the stairs slowly, in no rush to face whoever it was waiting for me.

My father turned to look at me when I stepped onto the porch. “Hi, Mallory.”

“Dad? What are you doing here?” He looked good. I’d have never imagined he’d just had a heart attack a few months before.

“I thought it was a good time for a visit.” He was dressed casually for him, in a button down cotton shirt and khaki slacks. His loafers were what I used to call his weekend shoes.

I eyed him skeptically. “You never visited me once last year.”

“This isn’t last year. It’s this year. Why worry about the past?”

“Because the present is built on the past.”

“You sound like your mother.”

I crossed my arms. “Good.”

“Let’s get some breakfast.” He demanded it. There was no question in his words.

“I have class.”

“Have you missed any this semester?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Good. Let’s go.” He started down the porch.

I wanted to defy him, I wanted to refuse, but I couldn’t. The little girl in me was too happy that my dad was even gracing me with his presence. I couldn’t give up on the chance to spend time with him, even if the visit probably wasn’t for a good reason.

He walked around and held open the door to his Audi. It was a different car from what he was driving the last time I’d visited him. He waited until I was seated and buckled before walking around to his side.

“Where do you want to go to eat?” I leaned back against the leather.

“Eli’s Table. I’ve heard it’s good.”

“It is.” My opinion on the locale wouldn’t matter, so I didn’t bother to make any suggestions.

We sat in silence for the first part of the drive. While we were sitting at a red light, he glanced over at me. “You look good. I forgot to mention that at the hospital.”

“Thanks. It was understandable considering where we were.”

“I mean it. You’re keeping in shape. The college years are when most women lose their figures.”

“Right.” Because that wasn’t an awkward conversation to have with your dad.

“It’s usually from a lack of exercise and high amounts of alcohol consumption.”

“If you’re talking about the freshman fifteen, I had the freshman five last year and lost them over the summer.”

“Good for you.”

“Glad you care so much about my physical well-being.”

“I care about everything involving you.”

“You’re not great at showing it.” That was putting it mildly.

He exhaled loudly. “Are you angry at me, Mallory? I thought we aired all that.”

“We did. I’m just surprised you’re here.”

“Your visit made me realize how much I missed you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why are you really here?”

“Can’t I just want to visit my daughter?” He parallel parked.

“Sure, but that’s not why you’re here.”

“Let’s get something to eat.” He came around to open my door, but I was already out. We walked inside and were seated at a window table.

I looked over the menu, quickly making up my mind.

He scanned the menu. “You already know what you want?”

“I always get the same thing.”

“Just like your mom.” He needed to stop comparing me to my mom. It was getting old.

“You say it like it’s a bad thing.” Dad never talked disparagingly about Mom directly, but he also didn’t pretend to love everything about her.

“It’s not. It’s safe. I like safe for you.”

I rolled my eyes again. He made me do that a lot. “An omelet isn’t something that can be safe.”

“Sure it can.” He spread his napkin out on his lap. “It’s safe because you already know you’ll like it.”

“Fine. I’ll order something else.”

He touched the hand that I had resting on the table. “No. That’s not what I’m saying. There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you want. It’s low risk. Those investments can pay off.”

“I’m not an investment or a transaction or whatever.”

“I know.” He smiled lightly. “You’d be much simpler to deal with if you were.”

The waiter came over to take our order.

“I’ll have the breakfast stir fry, please.”