“I just wanted to help. Be there for you. You didn’t have to accept what I was volunteering, but I hoped you’d at least acknowledge the attempt with a little more grace.” I didn’t know where I belonged in his life. If I belonged. Or whether I was even deserving of such knowledge after less than two weeks. But was the newness of our relationship a justifiable excuse for his behavior or a sign of what was to come?

He bowed his head. “It’s a vicious cycle. He drinks and thinks about my mom. Or he thinks about my mom and drinks. Either way, he calls me, and when I don’t jump, he goes off the deep end. Last night was the first time he tracked me down since I’ve been in the county. I’m just glad he had the sense to call a cab.”

“Like I said, this isn’t about your dad. It’s about you.”

Raising his head, Finn said, “But don’t you see? My dad is part of the package. You can’t have one without the other.”

“I would never ask you to choose between your dad and me.” I worked to keep my voice from shaking. “I just felt like an unwanted intruder, and you did nothing to reassure me otherwise.”

“It didn’t have to happen. If I’d just gone over there with tacos…but I put him off for your farewell tour.” He stood, kicked one of my sneakers out of the way, and paced the floor. “I should have brought him the damn tacos.”

I flinched. “Don’t blame this on me.” I got up, climbed over my open suitcase, and joined him in the middle of the room. “I asked about the tacos, and you said you’d bring them to him today instead.”

“‘Do you always answer the phone when he calls? Don’t you think you’re enabling him?’” he said, mimicking me.

I breathed in and out with purpose, choosing not to call him out on being a dick by parroting me. “It just kills me you have to bear so much responsibility on your own.”

His expression softened. “Adi.” He placed his hands on both of my forearms. “This is why I don’t do relationships. I tell you I’m not boyfriend material, but none of you listen. You always promise you can handle it. You’re ‘dating me, not my father.’ Famous first words. But then…” He dropped his arms and combed a hand through his hair until the ends stood up. “Here we are.”

My posture went rigid. “Please don’t lump me in with all your other girlfriends as if I don’t have my own identity.”

He huffed out a humorless laugh. “You’re absolutely right. You’re different. You and your romantic aspirations for impromptu snowball fights and grand gestures are one of a kind.”