Falling

29

I couldn't even find the proper words to respond with. My anger was bubbling over in my mind and all I wanted to do was scream at him. My hands clenched at my sides so hard I thought I'd break my fingers.

"Jeff, I—" I paused, taking a deep breath to calm myself down. "I am invested. I can't do that. I won't."

"I just don't want you to end up heartbroken, Carson," Jeff replied, stepping closer to me. "Vinny's not... very stable."

I shook my head at him and started backing away.

"I know you like him, and I cannot think of a better person for my son to be with," he said. "But I'm warning you that this may not work out the way you hope it will. I just want you to protect yourself."

With that, I turned around and went to my car as Jeff went back into the house. I sat in the car for a moment, trying to process the conversation I just had. It didn't make sense to me. All it did was make me feel uncomfortable.

Jeff had always been like a father to me, I should have expected him to look out for me the way he had. But to do it against his own son put me in an awkward position and I was debating whether I should tell Vinny about it at all. Maybe he had said the same thing to him and it was just Jeff's way of trying to get us to break up.

Deep down I knew that wasn't the case. He had truly wished to convince me to break up with his son because he felt as though Vinny wasn't good for me. Or he thought that Vinny wasn't able to give me what I needed in a relationship.

The anger came back when I realized Jeff had no right to say that. He didn't know anything about our relationship or how the two of us worked. He didn't know that we had worked through things that caused problems for us already and he didn't know how open and honest Vinny was becoming with me.

He thought so little of the both of us that he didn't believe we were able to work things out and actually be good for each other. Jeff thought his own son was incapable of being in a relationship.

Jeff wanted me to break up with him and for what? To isolate Vinny further? To make him feel like he was incapable of making his own decisions? The thought left a sour taste in my mouth.

When I finally let myself start the car and drive home, I made it there in silence, not even turning the radio on. My mother looked as if she was getting ready to leave when I arrived.

"Carson, I'm going to Paul's for dinner. Do you want to come?" she asked.

I wanted to say no, but the hopeful look on my mother's face told me that she wanted me to come. And I couldn't say no to her, so I turned around and got into the passenger's seat of her car.

"Did you ask Vinny about coming to dinner some time?" Mom asked as she pulled out of the driveway.

I nodded before leaning my head on the window. "Yeah, he wants to."

"Great!" she exclaimed, looking at me briefly. Her smile fell. "What's wrong?"

I couldn't lie to her.

"I just had a talk with Jeff when I was leaving the house," I told her with a sigh.

"He knows about you guys?"

"Yeah," I said. "He thinks I should break up with Vinny."

Mom let out a gasp. "Why?"

"He thinks that Vinny's going to end up breaking my heart," I explained. "It was like he thought I would just do whatever he said. He doesn't even know anything about us."

"You're right, he doesn't," Mom said. "But there's no use in getting angry at Jeff for trying to look out for you."

"Looking out for me over his own son?"