Moving Objects

Chapter 18

"I'm going to shower," I said before leaving the gym, rolling my eyes the way there. Men.

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I was sweating harder than I had at the gym, it was running down my back and chest in beads. I wiped my face with the back of my hand, gesturing for him to go again.

Dad stood across from me in the field, maybe twelve feet, and he gave me a look that asked if I was sure. I nodded and braced myself, opening my mind up, projecting a shield against Dad, pushing him back. I could tell he was strained, working against it as he took heavy, jerky steps, but he was slowly made his way towards me. I pressed even harder, trying to make him stop completely, only to shoot him back three feet. He laid with an audible thump in his back.

"Shit," I exclaimed, "Sorry!"

Dad laughed and pushed himself up, dusting his pants off. "Don't be. You're doing amazing, I'm very proud of you," he said as he walked towards me. I smiled and sank to the ground, laying on my back as I caught my breath. Dad chuckled and sat next to me, patting my knee.

"I had a nice chat with Belikov last week."

"I know," I said with a laugh, "He told me that."

"Did he tell you what he said when I asked him if he would marry you?"

My smirk fell from my face and I narrowed my brows. Pardon me?

I looked up to Dad to see the cocky grin on his face and sat up. "No, you asked him that?"

"Of course I did. I'm your father, it's my place to ask why an older man would be interested in my younger daughter. Plus, I wanted to watch him squirm a bit. You should be glad that I lead the questioning and not your mother. She had much more, let's just say, blunt questions. I figured it would better for my poor ears not to hear the answers to those."

I rolled my eyes but I needed him to answer the question. "What did he say though? About marrying me?" I asked quietly, not looking at him directly. Dad was quiet for a moment, assessing me. I wasn't the kind of girl who thought about marriage, but I mean, I'm still a girl. We still think about stuff like that. Plus being with Dimitri made me want things I never thought I would.

"He was clear that he intended to be with you for the rest of his life. I have to applaud him though. If I thought putting up with Janine was tough at times, he deserves a medal for putting up with equal parts Janine and equal parts me," Dad joked, giving me a grin. I smacked his shoulder and rolled my eyes before getting up from my spot. It was true though, Dimitri deserved a medal for putting up with me and my bullshit. I rocked on the balls of my feet as Dad looked slightly hesitant

"I want to try something, but I'm worried it will upset you," Dad said awkwardly, looking to Pavel who was sitting in the grass. I raised my brows at him and waited as he waived Pavel over.

"I know that you're able to subdue Dimitri, but you also know how he fights. After what happened in Bora Bora, I worry about you. Yes, you are a strong Guardian, but you are still my little girl. I would hate for someone to think they could take advantage of you."

I looked at Pavel, "Ok, and?"

Dad shifted his weight and it was odd to see him so uncertain. I'd seen him interact with people at Court, some of them happy to see him but most weren't. Dad always held an air of confidence around him that was borderline cocky, but now, he just seemed nervous.

"I want to make sure that if someone ever did get the upper hand on you again that you could use your abilities to safely get them off of you," Dad finally spit out, his deep eyes boring into mine. I nodded my head and crossed my arms over my chest. HE wanted to make sure that I could do so without killing someone.