" "I'm okay." Ryan shrugged. "Not like it hasn't happened before." "Then why are you strangling your bag?" Ryan looked down and saw that she'd been tw...sting the strap of her bag in her hands to the point that her knuckles were white and her palms red. She cleared her throat. "It was just a rough day." "Ryan, Ryan, Ryan." He shook his head. "I'm not as clueless as I used to be. There may not be any angry music playing, but I can tell you're upset." "I'm fine, I'm—" "Give it up, sweetheart." She. Two months went by and then on the day of my birthday I stopped at the restaurant on my way home from work for breakfast. I ordered the blueberry pancakes and settled down to read the morning Rocky and about five minutes later Annie set my hotcakes down in front of me. I looked up from the paper and saw the she had put a lit candle in the center of them, "Happy birthday" Annie said, "Doing anything special?" No" I said, "Tonight's a work night. Jeri and I can go out and celebrate this weekend.". ”“And I’m not going to feel bad about making you pay for what you’ve done. There are consequences, Lexi. You can’t just go around fucking anyone...”“Stop it,” she said. “I know what I’ve done. You don’t have to bring it up every five minutes. I regret it, but it’s over. It’s not like I can take it back.”“No,” I said. “You can’t.” I crossed my arms. “You have to live with the consequences.” She looked me up and down quickly.“So let’s talk consequences, then,” she said, sitting down on the corner. He seems to have softened up a bit now, so I stand up and slowly walk over to him and join him on the couch. He looks at me, face dead serious, and says, “It’s not right for us to be doing these things.” I decide the best thing to do at this point is to bring out the fake Courtney tears. They work every time. Manipulative? Yes. But I’m someone who will do whatever’s necessary to get what I want. And today, I want daddy. I break out the waterworks. “But, daddy, I love you,” I say between sobs..