The Bad Boy Kissed Me *ON HOLD*

Meet the Parents

My mom daintily places down her coffee and clears her throat. "It was not acceptable for you to spend the night together. So, while I'm sorry you're hurt, Colette, and grateful Gabe saw you received care from his father, you're not allowed to be alone with him.

"Addie," my father chides, rubbing his tired eyes. He's always had a hard time with jetlag. "She stayed so his father could keep an eye on her. We were aware."

"When we agreed for her to stay, we didn't know this was going on—that she was seeing this . . . player." She narrows her eyes on Gabe. "Yes, I've seen how many girls you prance in and out of your house when your parents are gone. I won't have my daughter involved with your nasty lifestyle."

Gabe stays eerily quiet, leaning back against the soft. He's got one arm across the back, his fingers twirling my hair. But all he does is stare at her.

Dad isn't a fan of Gabe's either. He had taken one look at our joined hands, set aside the sweet father who was prepared to thank him for everything he did to help me and switched to something I'm not quite sure I can describe. It's like he's disassociating, acting like every detail of our discussion isn't personal, even though I'm his daughter. However, he hasn't been rude to Gabe. Yet.

"Mom," I say, gaining her focus. "Don't talk about him like that. You don't know him. And what he did before me doesn't matter—I want to see where we go."

"That kick didn't knock any sense into you." She shakes her head, gesturing at my outfit. "From your father's clothes to this hoodlum's. I've told you a hundred times it was time to stop this phase of yours. By all means, date. But a respectable young man who'll have you acting like a proper young lady. Not him. He doesn't even discourage this unladylike look of yours."

"Mom," I say, so embarrassed to be her daughter. "You're going to lose a daughter if you don't stop."

Her mouth closes, and I turn my head to glare at my father. "I'm trying to be respectful, Dad. But Gabe did nothing to deserve this. And I don't need a man to turn me into a proper anything. I'm me. Accept me or expect no contact with me once I leave for good."

"Is sleeping in his bed proper?" my mom shouts.

"Addie," Dad snaps. "Enough! He came to introduce himself to us. They could've kept their relationship secret and chose to sneak around, but they didn't. She's not you, love. We don't get to dictate who she is. However, we will set boundaries while she is still under our roof."

He glances at me, then Gabe. "I won't insult you as my wife has, but I won't deny I am concerned about the lifestyle I have glimpsed—even as recently as last week. Out of neighborly respect, I ask that if you intend to discard Colette, as I have witnessed you do to other young women, you realize the close proximity you have to each other would be painful when things end."

Gabe shifts, still casually twirling my hair. "Colette is smart," he says in that deep, slightly annoyed tone. Though I can tell, he's trying to stay civil. "I would think if you respected your daughter and trusted you raised her well, you would already know she'll be smart about any relationship she starts with someone. She knows my past—even the mistake I let into my home last week—and she's sitting beside me, introducing me to you. That should tell you everything. But if you have rules while she's living here, I respect that. I'll abide by them."

I lean against him, slightly miffed because it's embarrassing that my dad saw him with the girl who kicked the shit out of me. Now I'm imagining his lips on Heather's, and I hate it. None of what happened before he kissed me should matter. But now I can't get the replay of his lips locked on hers and his cocky smirk out of my head.

He tightens his arm slightly, looking mean as hell until he studies my face. Something akin to understanding flashes in his eyes, and he pulls me closer and presses a kiss close to my ear, whispering, "She was a terrible kisser, vecina. I thought you'd picked River over me and made a stupid choice. But you know I was only wishing she was you."