Falling For Dad’s College Rival by Flora Ferrari

Chapter Twenty-One

Brooke

Trent wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted to set me up with my own side of things, even though it’s ‘us’ together.

I kind of see his logic though, do I want to ask him for money every time I want or need something? Need to have him let me in every time I step outside? No.

It’s sudden, but I can see how much it means to Trent so I bite my tongue every time he comes up with something new, like when he adds me to his insurance on the cars.

“Cars?” I ask. “You mean car.” I correct him. But he shakes his head.

“I’ve got several, it’s not a big deal. Just need your details to add you on there, I can do it now online, and that way you’re covered when you drive anywhere.”

I almost joke about health insurance, but something tells me that’s another thing he’s waiting for. Not wanting to overwhelm me with all this stuff, but he is in business and like he says, he’s a stickler for details.

It’s Tuesday, meaning we’ve been together all of four days and a night, not that I’m counting. Already I have a key card to the building, my own credit cards, and bank account, and now insurance to drive his car. Cars.”

Within a half hour he announces it’s done and coming from his office as I’m coming out of the shower, he jingles a set of keys.

“We should go somewhere today. No point in being cooped up all the time. It’s cleared up outside, why don’t we head down to the bay?” he asks, meaning do I want to drive us both down to the bay.

“I’d love to,” I pipe in. “But I don’t have to drive, I mean… You drive well enough,” I tell him, making him shrug in that way he does when he doesn’t mind something either way.

A half hour later, when we’re in the garage, he moves to the passenger side of the car without saying a word.

Guess I’ll drive us then.

I’m nervous at first, this car is worth more than my dad’s whole house, I’m sure of it.

But once we leave the building and there’s some open road between the city and the bay, I feel like I’ve been driving it for years.

“You like it?” Trent asks, and I nod with excitement.

He’s been watching me since the moment we left. Not being anal or anything about how I’m driving, just watching me enjoy the ride.

Like he’s enjoying every second of watching me get used to our new life. A life I never thought I could ever experience on my own.

With the fine weather, we’re not the only ones who’ve headed to the bay area, and finding a parking space isn’t as easy as I thought.

“Ooh, there’s one,” Trent points out excitedly after we’ve driven in circles for almost fifteen minutes.

“A tiny space,” I mumble, remembering I’ve only ever parallel parked once and that was the day of my test.

“Want me to—” Trent starts to ask, but putting his hand on my knee, he reminds me this car can practically park itself.

Here goes then.

I make a few attempts, but the warning sounds the car gives off are nerve-wracking, putting me on edge. Trent pushes a few buttons and they stop, and he reminds me I have two cameras as well as the mirrors for reference.

“Thank you,” I clip in short reply, feeling my own temper starting to get the better of me, hating it when I can’t do something so simple.

Like cooking dinner or parking a—

BANG.

I feel my body jerking back into the seat, and Trent asks me if I’m okay before anything else.

“I’m fine,” I groan, knowing full well I’ve just reversed into the car behind us, its piercing alarm wailing like a guilty verdict as a small crowd gathers.

Some shaking their heads, another laughing once I step out of the car.

They stop laughing when they see Trent get out of the car though, and the crowd magically thins out.

He asks me again if I’m okay and I tell him I’m fine. But his voice changes after what I assume is him assessing the damage.

“I don’t fucking believe it,” he growls, and I wonder for a moment if everything we’ve enjoyed for the past few days is about to come suddenly undone, especially over something so stupid but all my fault.

“It’s not so bad.” I hope, moving to the back of the car, observing the dent in the fender of the car behind us. Trent’s car looks unscathed.

But looking up, I can see what he’s talking about.

I think I know who this car belongs to now.

I see her first, and then my dad, who’s two steps behind, carrying two ice cream cones.

The woman he’s with picking up speed as she figures out it’s her car I’ve just backed into.

There’s a sickening moment when all our eyes meet. Hers resting on mine, and then my dad’s on me, and finally, it’s all eyes on Trent.

The most unmistakable player in the drama, not just because of his sheer size.

“Well. I hope you’ve got insurance,” is the first words out of the woman’s mouth. She’s the one from the reunion but dressed in a uniform of some kind. Like she’s either going to or coming from work.

Nice touch, Trent. I completely understand your logic now. But seriously, who would have known?

The next words I hear are my dad’s.

His ice creams melting over both his hands and I’m sure it’s not because of the temperature outside today.

“Honey? Brooke, are you… Are you alright?” he asks, moving past the woman and looking me up and down, hardly recognizing me in my new clothes. My new designer sunglasses.

“Hi daddy,” I hear myself chime, noting his girlfriend’s eyes roll as she swears to herself.

“Oh my fucking god, are you kidding me?” she mutters, her hands moving to her hips as she stands firm, her legs moving slightly apart.

A fighting stance if ever I saw one.

“Hiya Mike,” Trent pipes in. “Bit of a bump but no real harm done,” he adds jovially. “Looks like you got your hands full there,” he observes, noting my dad’s ice cream covered hands.

I move quickly to the glove box, finding some wipes, thankfully, and trotting over to my dad I try to help.

“What the hell, Brooke?” is all he can say, balling up the ice creams and wipes, tossing them into the nearest trash can before pulling me by the wrist to one side.

Bad move dad.

I wouldn’t get physical with Trent around, not even a friendly tug of the wrist.

“I warned you,” Dad snarls. “I told you to stay away from that man… What the fuck’s going on here?” he demands to know, lifting my chin with his thumb and yanking my sunglasses off before Trent’s shadow blocks out the sun.

“Uh. Think you’d better take a step back there, Mike. Take your hands of Brooke. Now,” he growls. The most serious I’ve ever seen him.

My dad does what he’s told but only to turn his anger towards Trent.

“Then maybe you can tell me,” my dad spits, waving off the woman who I think is named Tracey by the name tag she has on, who seems more worried about her car than anything else.

Trent draws up close to my dad, not looking so friendly since he grabbed my wrist like that.

“Brooke here backed into your lady friend’s car trying to park,” he says in a low voice.

“That’s not what I’m talking about, Trent and you know it,” My dad hisses, turning a scary shade of red as his sticky hands ball into fists, shaking with rage.

“Dad, don’t,” I hear myself tell him. Not pleading or asking. Telling him for his own safety if nothing else.

Trent shoots me a look and I shake my head subtly, signaling him not to do anything to my dad. I couldn’t bear it.

This is hard enough.

His look softens when our eyes meet but his body is as tense as I’ve seen it.

Sensing the situation, Tracey moves closer to my dad. “Alright. Let’s just all calm down here. Let’s start from the beginning,”

It looks like Tracey’s a nurse or something similar, someone who usually handles pressure for a living.

But my dad isn’t having any of it.

“Butt out, Tracey. This is my daughter and this man’s picked the wrong father to fuck with,” he snarls.

“Brooke,” Dad barks louder. “Get in the car, the other car. I’m taking you home, right now,” he snaps. Not taking his eyes off Trent’s for a second.

But I’m not going with him, or with his girlfriend. I’m going to the bay with Trent, and after we’ve had our day out, I’m going home with him.

Our home, to our bed.

“Dad?” I say, in a strong voice, one I’m not used to hearing myself use.

“You know Trent, and I haven’t met your new friend yet. But I’m not going anywhere with you right now. I’ll talk to you later. Maybe once you’ve calmed down. But for now, Trent and I are going to the bay,” I tell him firmly.

I turn to Tracey, letting her know if she gives me her details, I’ll take care of the insurance side of things.

But my dad’s shaking his head still, not wanting to believe any of this is happening.

“You son of a bitch. You sonofabitch,” he shouts at Trent who remains unmoved. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you? Tracking me down, finding out the one thing I had that you never did. The one thing I did right in this life and all without your fucking help, that’s for sure!” he bellows even louder.

“Yeah, I had a daughter, Trent. I had a family of my own, even after you told Naomi I’d be better off without her, telling her to dump our kid and run. Hell, you even paid her to do it,” he spits, shaking his head violently as Trent folds his arms.

“But you’re not having her, Trent. I won’t let you anywhere near the one good thing I’ve done in this life. The only thing I got right, apart from staying clear of you. I raised her right, helped put her through college as best I could, and now I’m taking her home where she belongs,” he adds with some bitterness.

“Home Trent. My family, not yours. You can go fuck yourself with all your goddamned money, cars, and houses. You’ll never have what we have you asshole. Never!” he shouts, getting right up in Trent’s face, but Trent isn’t budging, and neither am I.

A few moments pass and Tracey puts her arm around my dad’s shoulders.

“You done?” Trent asks him, unmoved still even when my dad looks to me, tears in his eyes, begging me to get in their car.

“Just come home, sweetie. We’ll forget all about this. Just come home now, okay?” he sniffs.

But I feel my head shaking.

It’s hard, I won’t lie about that. But somewhere along the line my dad either got the wrong story or twisted it to suit his own situation.

Either way, as much as I love my dad, I know which man I truly belong to now.

I know who’s mine too.

Dad’s new girlfriend, if that’s what she is after today, leads him into her own car. He’s lost all his rage and sinks into the seat, his head in his hands.

Trent hands her one of his cards, assuring her the car will be repaired at his own expense and she looks thoughtfully at me before they leave.

She opens her mouth to say something but thinks better of it.

Trent pulls me closer to him as we watch them both drive away.

“He’ll come around,” he murmurs softly, and I look up at him, wondering if that’s true.

“You think?” I ask, surprised again by my calmness.

Surprised but more relieved, knowing that there are no secrets anymore.

That’s a bigger wreck than a dented fender, sure. But Trent and I are all that matters now.

“Yeah, he will,” Trent says firmly, nodding his head, and I believe him.

The one man who’s known my dad longer than I have ought to know.

More than friends, brothers really. They should know how things will go between themselves, as much as I do with me and my man, Trent.

“We can go home if you want,” he sighs, but I slip my hand into his. Squeezing it tight.

“Are you kidding, and stay cooped up all day?” I smile. “I can park your car now I have some room, and then I think we should take a wander around the bay, maybe grab some lunch?” I suggest. “My treat,” I add, hugging his arm, reminding him that I can pay my own way now.

Now we have each other, everything shared and every problem halved.

Through good times and the not so good, from now on.

“I love you, Brooke,” Trent smiles, leaning in to kiss me hard as he lifts me off the ground.

My own love for him is beyond words, but I tell him a dozen times that day before we finally head home.

Home to us.

Our home. Our life, together from now on.