There were numerous rounds of sex before the night was over, and eventually, we fell asleep with our bodies locked together. My muscles were tight as I shifted my body away from Adrienne who was still sleeping with her face buried into the pillow. The rays of sun burst through my curtains and a yawn escaped my chest. Without waking sleeping beauty beside me, I snuck out of the bed and stepped over by the window.

The alleyway was covered in a blanket of snow that sparkled when the sun kissed it. There were thick clouds threatening to overtake the sky and more snow was on the horizon. I gripped the curtains in my hands and pulled them closed so that Adrienne wouldn't be blinded when she awoke. My eyes roamed to her sleeping form and a smile crept onto my face.

My life was a mess, and I was a broken shell of a man; however, with each day that I grew closer to her, I felt stronger. My inner demons made me who I am, but they did not dictate where I was going with the rest of my life.

Her small body stirred beneath the covers allowing a brief glimpse of the perfect curve of her waist and dip of her back. She was a beautiful work of art that I had spent the night signing my name on. As much as I wanted to wake her to hear her sweet voice, I decided to let her sleep a little longer.

The door shut with a gentle click as I left her in my bed. I avoided the creaky steps as my feet carried me down the stairs before coming to a halt in the living room. My fists clenched, and my pulse quickened as I laid my eyes on a strange woman standing in my living room.

"Who the fuck are you?" I growled as my eyes narrowed on her.

She was a slim bean pole of a woman with thick black hair pulled into a tight ponytail, only a few wisps of her hair stuck out around her face. She turned her dark eyes onto me as she placed her hands with freshly manicured nails on her hips.

"Is that anyway to speak to a woman? Use some manners, young man." She pushed a box full of our family pictures across the floor.

I stared her down. "Use some manners? You're in my house. I don't think you get to make the rules."

She pointed a red-manicured finger at me. "This is your father's house, Spencer. I am his guest here."

My jaw locked at her words. So, my father let this one come home with him. My eyes glanced to the box of family pictures on the floor. After all this time I had been trying to remove those old memories, he allows her to toss them to the side with no questions asked. My blood was boiling and my skin raced with heat as anger consumed me.

"Where is my father?" I asked through gritted teeth.

She reached to remove the last picture from the shelf. "He's taking a shower, but he will be out soon. He has some stuff he wants to talk to you about."

She stepped back to admire her work. My eyes narrowed on her left hand where a glistening diamond sat on her ring finger. It wasn't just any diamond, it was second ring my mother talked my father into right before their wedding. My mother gave me her original wedding ring which sat in the corner of my nightstand drawer, in the same place it had been for ten years. There was no way he proposed to her, was there?

I tore my eyes away from the ring and stepped to the kitchen, deciding to grab something to eat to settle my stomach that started to churn. I needed a few minutes to breath, but unfortunately, her light footsteps were behind me. I spun on my heels to look at her and raised an eyebrow. "I don't need a babysitter. You can go back to whatever you were doing before I came downstairs. Just act like I'm not here."

That's what my father always did.

"Well, your father wanted us to sit down and have a nice breakfast together. I don't want you to ruin your appetite," she said with a demanding tone.

I folded my arms across my chest as my eyes glanced around the kitchen and then back to her face. "My dad wants to cook a breakfast?" I laughed, shaking my head.

"What's so funny?"

"Dad doesn't know how to grocery shop, let alone cook. The only thing he knows how to do is buy bottles of Jack from the liquor store up the street."

Her eyebrows crashed together and she let out a frustrated breath as she folded her arms across her chest. "Spencer, do not talk about your father like that. You wouldn't be where you are without him."

Another amused laugh escaped my lips. She was absolutely right. I wouldn't be where I am; tied up in the Southside gang or failing school. I wouldn't have struggled with depression or bullying, if he had cared even the slightest bit.

"Don't tell me what I can do. You may be engaged to my father, but don't get it twisted. You are not my mother," I barked as my chest tightened. Who the hell did she think she was? I didn't even know her name, and she was trying to act like I was her own son.

She looked at me with a hurt expression before she raised a finger to point it at me. "I may not be your mother, but I will not have you disrespect me." She stepped closer to me.

A growl was building in my chest. I was about to respond when Adrienne entered the kitchen. Her blonde curls fell around her face which remained clouded with a hazy sleepiness, and her tiny frame was covered by one of my t-shirts paired with shorts. Her eyes locked onto my father's new fiance before settling on me, pleading for help.

A shocked look crossed the woman's face as she glanced at Adrienne and she raised a hand to her lips. "You are not allowed to have girls sleepover, Spencer."

I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh. My irritation with this woman was growing by the second. "That has never been a rule. My dad could care less." I moved past her to put an arm around Adrienne's shoulders.

In response to my touch, she leaned against my side and it sent a volt of electricity across my body. We moved together like two planets in orbit, always shifting in response to the other. Her face flushed red and my eyes glanced down to her before I placed a kiss against her forehead.

The witch cleared her throat from across the room. "Your father does care and so do I."

I narrowed my eyes at her. Could I not have just a moment with Adrienne? Was that too much to ask? My hands clenched into fists. I took a step forward, but was halted by Adrienne's small hands grasping my arm. "Spence."

My name coming out of her mouth soothed the anger inside of me, extinguished the flame with ease. "I don't even fucking know you, and you come into the house making rules." I enjoyed the feeling of Adrienne's fingers tracing across the skin on my arm.

She flicked her finger at me. "My name is Marissa and don't use that language with me."

A throat cleared behind me causing the muscles in my shoulders to tense. Adrienne looked over her shoulder.

My father's tall form slumbered into the kitchen with a look of disappointment on his face. "I taught you to be respectful, Spencer. I expected better from you." He stopped in front of the fridge.

The fact he thought he taught me anything was amusing in itself, but what was even better was the fact the only thing he taught me was he didn't give a shit about me. I could have died on the streets, and there was a fifty-fifty chance I'd end up as one of the unclaimed bodies at the city morgue. He would have been too drunk to notice.

My chest tightened. "Seriously? You expected better from me. Take a look at my role model," I snarled.

"This isn't necessary, Spence," Adrienne whispered beside me.

But it was. This conversation was a long time coming. I wasn't about to let him think he was the perfect father. My father's eyes darkened as he turned away from the fridge with a beer in his hand. It wasn't even nine o'clock, but the drinks started. Marissa stood beside him and allowed it to happen without even a second glance.

"Spencer, do not speak to me like that. I know things have been rough between us since your mother left, bu-" he said, but I cut him off.

"She left ten years ago, dad. Thing's haven't been rough between us, they've been non-existent for ten fucking years. You were consumed by that damn bottle in your hand."

His face fell as my words sank in and he looked at the bottle in his hand.

I stepped forward. "It's too late to start acting like a real parent. It's too late to start a happy family, dad. I spent too many nights alone to forgive you. I begged on the street for food because you spent all the money on alcohol. I went to school with dirty clothes because you couldn't keep the water on. I was kicked off sports teams because I had no transportation to get to practices, but you didn't see any of that because I didn't matter to you."

Adrienne's hands gripped onto my arm. Her eyes lingered on my face, but my attention was focused on my father across the room. Marissa turned to look at him as he placed the bottle on the table and took a step back. His eyes flashed to mine and they glinted with sadness.

"Spencer. I. . . I'm so sorry," he whispered as he took a step toward me.

I recoiled back and shook my head. "Without actions, your apology is worthless, dad. You had more than enough time to fix this and you chose not too. Now, it's my time to make a choice." A deep breath escaped my chest as I glanced at Adrienne beside me. She gave me the strength I needed.

My eyes flashed back over to my father who was standing in the middle of the room. "I'm done here. It's time I move on with my life, and I don't want you to be part of it." My jaw locked.

This moment should have happened a long time ago. I turned my back on him, but his firm hand grabbed my shoulder. I shook it off. I let out a deep breath before turning to meet his intense gaze.

"Spencer, we aren't done here."

I took a step away from him. "Yes, we are. It's time, dad. There's been plenty of time to fix things." He was hurting, but it needed to happen. He needed to understand his wrong-doings.

He closed his eyes. "I can't lose you like I lost your mother." He put his fingers to his temple.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and gripped Adrienne's hand in mine. "You already have."

With that statement, I lead Adrienne out of the room, and left him standing there in the kitchen just as my mother did the day she left. The walk to my room was silent apart from the creaking of the stairs, and once we reached my room, I locked the door.

The anger I held in flooded through my body, racing through my veins until I couldn't control it. I yanked a framed picture from the wall and threw it with force across the room. The glass shattered as it hit the wall and sent shards cascading onto the floor. I kicked a ball into my bed frame.

"Fuck," I growled. My breathing was heavy.

I clenched my fists as I dropped down onto the edge of the bed, and shoved my head into my hands, my body trembling. Her weight causes the mattress to sink as she sat beside me, and rubbed her hands across my back.

"I'm here for you if you need me," was all she said.

I kept my head in my hands as I worked to calm the storm of emotions that filled my body, threatening to drown me. My heart ached because as much as I hated him for failing at raising me, he would always be my father. I loved him, but I knew it was time to move on.

Just like my mother had done.

Her hands continued their back and forth motion against my back. I let out a heavy breath, opening my eyes to my room. I couldn't stay here any longer. It was time to move on to better things. I rose from the bed and bent to grab a duffle bag off the floor, tossing clothes into it without hesitation. My leather jacket was cool to the touch as I slipped it on my shoulders.

"What are you doing?" she asked from her place on the bed.

I pulled open the nightstand and dug through the drawers. "I can't stay here any longer, baby girl."

The spare pistol was smooth against my fingers as I shoved it into my jacket pocket. I grabbed a handful of other items before pushing the drawer shut. I had gotten so absorbed in my problems that I was oblivious to hers.

"So, I know you told your aunt and uncle you were coming to chill with me for a while, but I don't think they planned for you to stay the night. They aren't going to try and kill me or anything, right?" I glanced over at her with a teasing smile on my face.

She laughed causing her eyes to sparkle and looked at her hands in her lap. "No, not at all. I texted them last night when you fell asleep and told them you didn't think it was safe for us to walk back that late at night." She smiled.

"Why such the big smile?" I tossed my bag over my shoulder.

She rose from the bed and brushed her hair behind her ears. "Because. . . I think they like you."

I stepped closer to her, our bodies brushing against each other as I tilted my head. Our lips touched for a moment, and happiness swelled inside me forcing me to smile. "Good. Let's keep it that way." I pulled away from her.

Her lips curved into a smile as she grabbed her bag from the floor, slipping it on her back. "So, where are we headed?" She stepped over to the window.

We slipped out of the window. "A place where I'm always welcomed." I shoved the window shut behind me with a grunt.

When I turned back to her, she was watching me. "Where's that?"

"The Northside."

Cam would welcome me with open arms. He was the only person I could trust right now apart from Adrienne. He would help me plan my next steps because I was done with the south side of the city.