Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134830 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“You think he knows?”
I draw nonsense shapes on her leg as I think, the words tumbling off my tongue before I can even make sense of them. “I don’t always understand him, and definitely don’t always like him, but my dad is a man of pride, of morals and ethics, who expects nothing less than the best from everyone. If he knew I wasn’t his, I can’t imagine him reacting with anything less than nuclear fallout. But that hasn’t happened, which makes me think he doesn’t know. But then there’s the way he’s always treated me, which makes me think he does.” I shake my head. “I don’t know. I’m lost.”
I meet her eyes, which are dark with concern. I feel like mine must be full of the confusion I feel because either option is awful. If Dad knows and treated me like shit because I’m not his, I selfishly wish he would’ve just bombed our family and set me free. If he doesn’t know and still treated me like shit, then all those teenage thoughts get louder and there’s some other reason he doesn’t love me the way he does my siblings. Like maybe I’m just unlovable.
I’m someone people use to serve their own needs, someone good for a laugh or a bit of fun, or a good fuck. Not someone worth more… worth loving.
“My parents love each other, like love each other. They’re not perfect, but even when I’ve been furious at Dad, cursing his existence, raging about my own existence, and damning the entirety of the world, there’s one thing I’ve always known without a doubt. He loves my mom. It’s like his one redeeming quality because if she can see something good in him, it must be there, even if it’s not there for me, you know? But I can’t help thinking it’d explain a lot of how he treats me.”
“What are you going to do?”
“That’s the million-dollar question that I don’t have an answer to. I can’t ask my mom, sure as fuck can’t ask my dad. Cameron’s the oldest and might remember something, but he would protect my parents at any cost, even mine. Kayla’s probably my best bet because she somehow always knows everything about everything, but she’s as tight-lipped as they come, especially if telling me the truth wouldn’t serve the greater good, as in the family’s greater good, not mine.” I close my eyes, sighing heavily. “I don’t think I can just live in la-la-land, though, not knowing the truth.”
“What about doing a DNA test? Swipe a hair or something from your dad and send it off for a paternity thing.”
“It’s not a Maury Povich ‘you are not the father’ moment,” I joke dryly, but it falls flat. And when she glares at me ruthlessly, I concede, “I might have to do that.”
“Family shit sucks,” she says finally.
I gather her back to me, and she lies against me, throwing her leg over mine. “Feeling better about your forced date now?” I tease.
“Is it awful if I say yes? I mean, the worst part was that after I almost fell asleep because he was droning on and on about himself, he thought we were actually going out again.”
“He probably thought you were a good listener.” My heart stutters. “And fuck, I just did the same thing, didn’t I?”
She squeezes me with her leg and the arm she’s laid on my chest, keeping me from running away at that thought. “No, not the same thing at all. I want to hear about you, even the messed-up stuff. I did not want to hear about Nick’s plans for upgrading his SUV after he’s making manager-level money.”
“Don’t say his name when you’re lying in bed with me.” A beat later, I correct, “Scratch that, don’t ever say his name.”
“Whose name?” she teases, and I can hear the smile in her voice. “Nick’s, the guy who took me on a date tonight?”
I pull her on top of me until we’re nose to nose. “And who was the guy after that, the one who had you coming so hard you forgot everyone’s name but his?”
“Hmm,” she hums, her eyes bright as she taps her lip. “I forget. Maybe I need another reminder?”
“Jesus fuck, Dani. Get on my dick then,” I say on a fake sigh, already lifting her hips and guiding her back onto my hardening cock.
The feel of her pussy teasing over my tip raw for a moment is all the distraction I need, and by the time she hops up to grab another condom, all thoughts are wiped from my mind except for one…
Daniela.
CHAPTER 19
DANI
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to wake up. It’s too early, I’m too tired, and my bed is so warm and cozy. And then reality slams into me.