True (True Believers #1)(57)
Author: Erin McCarthy

As the artist worked on him, he made a lot of noise, wincing and yelling out and looking like he wanted to die, but he toughed it out. Riley had suggested the outline of all the letters be done first, so if we needed to bail, at least it would read as something more than a half-done tattoo. Jayden did explain the meaning of the letters to the heavily pierced and tattooed guy working on him, and I think the guy was genuinely touched.

“That’s cool, man. Every tattoo should have personal meaning.”

“Hey, Rory, how do you spell your name?” Jayden asked me.

“R-o-r-y.”

“Hm. So it starts with R?”

“Yes.” I watched the letters of their own names appear on Jayden’s arm and I suddenly realized that if you added an R to the end, TRUE became TRUER.

Tears filled my eyes. It was like I belonged there. That I had always been meant to be added to their family.

“Are you crying?” Easton asked, coming over to us.

Busted. “No, I just have something in my eye.” But I pulled him in to my side and forced him to hug me, even though he squirmed. There was something to be said for touching the people you cared about. I was sorry I had spent the majority of my life avoiding it.

When Jayden had had enough, and the letters were outlined and shaded, we decided to call it quits. I took pictures of him before they bandaged his arm, and we let him go into the store next to the tattoo parlor and pick out some candy for his birthday.

“This is the best birthday ever,” Jayden declared. Then he looked stricken, like he had said something inappropriate. “Except Tyler’s in jail.”

That was definitely hitting the nail on the head. I was missing Tyler more than ever. He should have been able to share this with us.

So the next day, on my own, I went back to the tattoo shop and had him ink Truer on the inside of my wrist in small, feminine, scrolling letters. I wanted to be able to look down at any time and see those letters linked together, a visible reminder of Tyler and my commitment to him and to his brothers.

Permanent.

Like love.

Chapter Nineteen

“Excuse me?” I asked my father, blinking across the dinner table at him. He could not have just said what he did.

“You’re forbidden to see Tyler,” he said, stabbing a spear of broccoli with his fork and avoiding my eye. “I’m sorry, Rory, I know you care about him, but I can’t have you putting yourself at risk.”

Very, very carefully I put my own fork down as I tried to calm myself down enough to be rational. Arguing wasn’t going to accomplish anything. “You can’t forbid me to see him. I’m twenty years old and I don’t even live here the majority of the time.”

“I’m still your father and given the circumstances, I have every right to limit your involvement with him.”

I suppose I shouldn’t have been so surprised, but I was given that I had been home an entire week and nothing had been said to me about Tyler at all. My father had been ignoring that he even existed and for the time being, that had been fine with me. Dad knew Tyler was serving his sentence in jail because I had told Susan, who had told him. There had been no response from my father, until now, two days before Christmas.

“Well, I’m not going to stop seeing him,” I said flatly. “So you can just forget about it.” I tugged at my sleeve, making sure my new tattoo was covered. I didn’t need to give him anything else to freak out about.

“Yes, you are.” Dad stared at me, as if the force of his will could convince me.

Except I was just as stubborn. “No. This is a serious relationship, Dad, do you understand that? This isn’t just some guy I kind of like. I would marry Tyler if he asked me.” Not tomorrow, but in a few years. But I wanted Dad to get it. This was no casual first crush.

He blanched. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“No, I won’t, because I’m not ready for that,” I admitted, punching holes in my argument. But I was hardwired for honesty, I couldn’t help it. “But I’m telling you, I won’t stop seeing him.”

“Then I’ll stop paying your tuition.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you serious?” I whispered.

He nodded. “He’s in prison, Rory! He’s a convicted felon. His future is ruined. I don’t want him dragging you down with him. I’m sorry for the circumstances of his life, but that doesn’t change the fact that if you stay with him, he’ll ruin your potential. I am not going to just stand here and let that happen, and you can be as angry at me as you want, but I’m not going to back down.”

“Susan,” I said, my voice strangled, looking to her for help. “Tell him this is ridiculous.”

But she just shook her head, lips pinched. “I’m not getting involved in this. You’ve already been using me as a shield, and I can’t be a part of this. It’s between the two of you.”

She was right. I had been. “I’m sorry,” I told her. “But listen to him. He’s being ridiculous!”

“Maybe I should have encouraged you to date more in high school. Maybe Susan shouldn’t have moved in here. I don’t want you to feel like you need some sort of replacement family because you’ve been displaced here.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? Do you honestly think my relationship with Tyler has anything to do with you at all? Because it doesn’t! I don’t give a crap if Susan lives here or not . . . that’s between you two. And you could have encouraged me to date in high school as much as you wanted to, and it wouldn’t have mattered because no guys wanted to date me! This isn’t some weird plea for attention or a lashing out because I don’t want you to date. God, Mom has been gone for twelve years. I think I’m okay with you having a love life.” Why did parents always think it was about them? So, so annoying. “I met Tyler and we clicked. He’s a wonderful guy. That’s it. End of story.”

“I’m not going to back down on this.”

“I’ll just lie and tell you I’m not seeing him. How are you going to know?” I asked, defiantly.

“I can check your cell-phone records and watch your social-networking posts and check-ins.”

That was playing dirty. But he meant it. I could see it on his face. “Then I’ll get student loans and pay the tuition back myself.”

I could see he was considering whether he would have a legal leg to stand on to block my getting a loan, but I knew that loans could be taken in my name. And since I was over eighteen, he had no say in it. So we just stared at each other, both strategizing.