Tamed by the Bad Boy Next Door

Wingman

Ainsley’s immediate response was to make a face. “Ugh.”

George couldn’t help but wince. “That bad?”

“The guy’s insufferable, Dad,” Ainsley complained. “We don’t get along at all.”

George sighed. “I suppose tomorrow’s off, then.”

That brought Ainsley up short. “What’s happening tomorrow?”

“Well…” George shifted a little in his seat. “You were supposed to be with your mother this weekend, so… Sibyll and I had made plans. I was thinking… instead of canceling, maybe we could just make it a family thing—me bringing you along, Sibyll bringing Sebastian? But if you’d rather not—”

“No, no, no,” Ainsley hurriedly said. “I’m totally down with it.” Smiling sweetly, she propped her chin on both of her hands and added teasingly, “For you, Daddy-o, I can put up with that guy’s company for a whole day.”

George laughed. “You at least think well of Sibyll, right?”

“Oh, I do~” Ainsley replied. “She’s like a fairy. Or a friendly neighborhood witch. I really like her, Dad.” While her father was smiling in relief and confusion at her description of Sibyll, Ainsley suddenly frowned. “But how could someone like that produce a son like Sebastian? I don’t get it.”

George asked worriedly, “What is he like?”

“He’s so damn bossy,” Ainsley said, back to complaining. “He keeps telling me what to do like he thinks I’m stupid.”

Her father’s eyes narrowed. “And what does he tell you to do?”

In turn, Ainsley’s eyes widened. She sounded guilty when she answered, “Um… lock my door?”

“You don’t lock your door?”

“I do!” she said hurriedly. “I just, um… I forget sometimes. But! I always check before I go to sleep!”

“Ainsley…”

Her dad’s softly admonishing tone made her wince.

“I know, Dad,” she said repentantly. “I’ll be more careful.”

After staring at her to make sure she’d take this to heart, George nodded and said, “Well, I’m glad he’s looking out for you. I don’t think he’s a bad kid, hon. If it makes you feel better, his mother said he thinks all girls are stupid.”

Ainsley pouted. “That’s rich of him. If anyone’s stupid, it’s him. He doesn’t even know something so basic as comforting a heartbroken friend.”

“There seems to be a story there,” George said. “Let’s hear it.”

And so, over their food, Ainsley finally updated her father on what was currently going on in her life. She spared him no detail as usual, but even amid her struggles, she didn’t fail to notice it when a waiter walked by to serve a different table.

Nice and gentle-looking, he was just her type. He thereafter became a bonus appetizer to the hearty meal she was having.

George saw where half of her attention was and could only look at her resignedly.

“I’m glad it hasn’t affected your ability to have fun,” he said in a dry tone after Ainsley had let it all out.

“Ehe…” she laughed, sounding only a little guilty. “This is different. I’m not likely to see him again, am I?” After saying that, she became more serious. “As for taken guys like Jay… I’ve learned my lesson there. Once there’s a girlfriend in the picture, they’re out.”

Having been reminded that she still didn’t know how to fix her mistakes, Ainsley sighed and looked bummed. She felt so down that she even stopped eyeing her crush of the moment.

Her father intruded on her thoughts by saying, “How about just becoming a girlfriend yourself?”

Ainsley looked at him in surprise. “Uh… Is that something a dad says to his daughter…?”

George laughed, looking conflicted. “Believe me, honey, I’d much rather that you stay my little girl forever. If it’s really your choice to stay single for the rest of your life, I’ll support you 100%.” He paused and hesitated. “I’m just worried… What happened between me and your mother, I keep wondering if that has affected you in some way. If that’s what’s causing you to turn away from relationships, I…” He let out a heavy sigh. Shaking his head in regret, he continued, “I’m really sorry for what we’ve put you through, Ainsley. If I could somehow change it—”

“Dad,” Ainsley called, interrupting George midspeech. She was nothing like her usual self when she smiled at him. She looked mature—all grown up. “It wouldn’t have made me happy either, you know? You guys staying together, both being miserable. It would have been a different matter if you still loved each other, but Mom made that impossible.” She reached for her father’s hand, and he clasped it. “You’ve sacrificed enough for us. Now I’m just glad at least you could get a shot at happiness again.”

Feeling emotional, George smiled and tried to joke, “Who are you and what did you do to my Ainsley?”

“Ouch, Dad,” Ainsley joked back, snatching her hand back and puffing her cheeks as if in affront. “It’s still me.”

George continued to smile. “It seems my daughter has become an adult before I knew it. Makes this old man feel a little melancholy.”

“Oh, don’t worry~” Ainsley replied, back to her usual self. “I can mooch off you as you long as you like if that would make you happy~”

“Now that’s where I draw the line,” George said, sounding amused though he wasn’t entirely joking. “Graduate on time and find a job soon after. You’re on your own if you don’t.”

Ainsley pouted. “Okay, fine. But also boooo.”

Back on the road a time later, Ainsley decided to open up some more. No matter how childish she was on the surface, after all, her father was right—she was no longer a child. She should at least try to ease some of his worries where she was concerned.

“That’s one of my fears too, you know,” she began vaguely, prompting George to pay close attention. “That I’ll become like Mom, depending on you for everything.” She paused. “That’s also what’s stopping me from getting into a relationship. What if I have the same tendencies as her? What if I become so attached to someone that it makes me lose all reason? I don’t want that.”

“Honey…”

“But don’t worry, Dad,” Ainsley continued. “I’m not totally opposed to the idea. I’m just not—you know—going out of my way to find someone to like. Really like, I mean. Not just moon over for the fun of it. If it ever happens naturally though… who’s to say? Maybe I’ll overcome my fears and just go for it. I’ll never really know what it’ll be like unless I’ve tried it, right?”

Trusting more and more in his daughter’s ability to deal with her own issues, George nodded slowly. “That’s right. You still have a long way ahead of you. There’s no need to rush.”

“So you don’t think I should hurry and become someone’s girlfriend anymore?”

George showed a complicated smile. “I really only said that because I don’t approve of your idea of fun.” He threw Ainsley a serious look. “You giving young men that kind of attention… your current troubles aren’t the worst thing that could happen as a result. You said you’re scared of becoming like your mother—but Ainsley, there are already others like your mother out there. You might be attracting them to you without you knowing it.”

This was the closest George had come to telling his daughter about the separate stalker-like incidents her apartment’s caretaker had observed. If it turned out to be nothing, he didn’t want to scare her, nor did he want to curtail her freedom to do what she wanted.

It was a tough thing to balance for a parent like him. On one hand, he wanted her to remain safe at all times. On the other, he didn’t think it was fair to have her live her life full of fear just because she happened to be born female. In a perfect world, she and so many others like her really shouldn’t have to.

But this was far from a perfect world. And so…

While Ainsley was still seriously thinking over what he’d said, George suddenly changed the subject.

“I’m really glad Sebastian is right there looking out for you.” At those words, Ainsley turned to look at him, frowning in confusion and just a tiny bit of displeasure. But that displeasure overpowered everything else when George pleasantly continued, “You two have a lot more in common than you realize, you know? Why don’t you take the opportunity tomorrow to get to know him better?”