Redeem Me (Kin #6)(43)
Author: Jennifer Foor

In one swift blow, I sent his cell phone flying across the room. “How could you?”

“Your car has been taken to the frat house. You can break my phone, but it won’t stop me from reporting it stolen. I’ll be making a complaint as soon as I leave here. They won’t have any problem arresting him, being that his fingerprints are all over the place.”

I thought about Parker going to jail for something he didn’t do. It would ruin his chances of having a career in football. I waved my hands in the air, frantically struggling with what to do to protect him. “I’ll go with you. Just leave Parker out of this. I need your word. Promise me that you won’t damage his chances.”

He motioned toward the door. “Gather your things and I’ll never make that call.”

I didn’t have a choice. If I refused to go with my father he was going to be a threat to Parker. Even though I was angry with him, I couldn’t let my dad hurt him. I loved him too much to hurt his chances.

I closed my eyes as I spoke. “Fine. I’ll go home with you.” My lips were trembling as I sealed my fate. There was nothing I could do. Even if I screamed and ran, he’d still hurt Parker. I grabbed my bag, throwing a few things inside. “Let’s just go.”

He led me outside, looking around for witnesses before walking me down the metal steps. Just like he’d said the car was waiting for us. As I stepped inside I looked back at the small apartment that I’d been sharing with Parker. I’d never realized that I loved it so much, until we began to pull away.

Chapter 29

Parker

It took me a while to get my shit together enough to be able to work. I didn’t do much, not that my father complained. He invited my mom to have lunch with us, and we all openly discussed how to make things right with Cameron. It was going to be a long road before I had her forgiveness, but I knew she loved me. I was willing to do whatever it took to convince her that I needed to proceed with marrying her, not because I had to, but because it was all I wanted.

Believe it or not, lunch with my parents wasn’t all that bad. I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. Of course, none of this meant that I’d ever be able to go back and change things, but I was content enough to know that being an uncle to the twins was better than being nothing. Shayne wanted me around, and I appreciated that more than he’d ever know.

Our family had come a long way. Now I just needed to show that to Cameron. Since this was such a huge issue for her, I decided to call and let Ashley know what was going on. She answered after the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Parker. I need to tell you somethin’, and I don’t want you to freak out.”

“I’m listenin’.”

“Cam knows the truth.”

“You told her?” I could hear concern in her voice.

“Not exactly. I butt dialed her while we were talkin’ yesterday. Ash, she heard everything.”

“Oh my God. No, no, no. This can’t be happenin’. How did she take it?”

“Not good, You can imagine how upset she is.”

“That’s why she didn’t want to come over last night. I’m sorry, Parker. I didn’t mean to cause problems for you. She’s been through enough already.”

“It’s not your fault.” It really wasn’t. Ash had every right to ask questions. She’d been through enough herself not to have to worry about me being a problem. “We both said things. I should have told her from the beginning.”

“What are you goin’ to do now?”

“Well, I’m plannin’ on explainin’ everything tonight. She’s got to hear me out. Cam’s pissed, but she’s also compassionate. She won’t be settled until she knows everything. I can only hope that after I’ve explained she still wants to be with me. I tell ya, I can’t lose her now. I’ll fight for her forgiveness if I have to.”

“I’m real sorry. If you need me to talk to her I will. I’m not sure she’d want to though. If I were her, I’d be a little jealous, not because I’m a threat, but because we were together. You and I know that we don’t remember the details of that night, but she doesn’t.”

“Yeah, she’s definitely the jealous type. I’m sure it’s botherin’ her. It’s probably best if I start with your breakup with Ford.”

“I can’t help you there. There’s still parts of my memory that haven’t come back. I don’t want to seem like an idiot.”

“I’ll take care of it. If she does want to talk to you, I wanted you to be prepared.”

“Good luck with your talk, Parker. Shayne and I will be here if you need us. I know this probably doesn’t help, but we appreciate the person you’ve become. We want you to be happy.”

I knew in some ways they wanted me to be happy because it gave them reassurance that I wouldn’t do anything irrational when it came to the twins. At the same time, I appreciated the sentiment. “Thanks.”

When we hung up I felt like I had backup. There was no telling how Cameron was going to react to our talk. I’d given her the whole day to calm down. She knew me well enough to be prepared to talk it out. Neither one of us liked leaving things unresolved.

My dad dropped me off in front of the shop. I waved as he pulled away, before starting the walk up the flight of metal stairs. The whole time I was thinking about what to say to her first. I had to make her understand that I was sorry. She needed to know that I didn’t hide the truth to spite her. I did it to protect everyone involved.

I opened the door and looked around, not seeing her on the bed, or in the kitchen. Figuring she was in the bathroom, I walked over and peeked inside. Cameron wasn’t there either.

I called out her name, “Cam?”

Nothing!

Since she obviously wasn’t with my mother, I was convinced she was at the farmhouse with my aunt. I’d had a hard day, and decided to take a shower to get cleaned off before facing my angry girlfriend. She’d probably be more forgiving if I didn’t smell like rotten onions from sweating all day.

Once I got out of the shower, I headed over to our shared dresser and pulled out some clean clothes. It was strange, but I could have sworn that Cam’s dresser drawers were full the day before. Since I’d been so distraught, I shook it off to confusion.

I sat down watching the sports network, waiting patiently for her to walk in the door. After another hour passed, I figured maybe she hadn’t seen me arrive home. I decided to walk over to my aunt and uncle’s house to find her.