Page 17 of Don't Let Your Mind Go There

I watched him relax. My words had an effect on him.

The car slowed down, and he stopped at the side of the road. We were in the middle of the forest, still a long way from the nearest town.

Once he turned off the car, he ran both hands through his hair before turning toward me. “I need you to answer me two questions,” he said.

“Okay.”

“You’re aware that we can never let anyone know about the things we talked about, and the things we did, right?”

I quickly nodded. “I know.”

“Good.” He studied me before asking the second question. One that would hurt me more than I could’ve ever imagined. “And you know that we can never be what you want us to be, yes?”

I nodded again, swallowed hard. “Yes.” My voice was shaky and my eyes started to water. “But I wish it didn’t have to be that way.”

“I know, Tate. We don’t have a choice though. But…” He rested his elbow on the car door and covered his face with his hand as he took a long break. “If you promise not to tell anyone—”

“I won’t. I promise. I would never. This is between us.”

He looked at me again, his brows furrowed. “I’m serious here, Tate. We can’t let anyone know about the things we do.”

“I know. I promise nobody will ever know. I need you, Dad. You know I do.” I was so emotional that I could’ve started crying, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to overwhelm him even more than I already had.

He reached out his hand and cupped the side of my head, pushing his fingers through my hair as his eyes dropped to my lips. “Your mind is twisted. Yet, I always told you not to let your mind go there.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t help it. But you feel the same, no?”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t dare to admit it, but I knew I was right.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. I can feel your love. That’s all that matters.” I smiled and put my hand on his wrist, gently rubbing my thumb on his skin. “I love you, Daddy. So much.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

His words made my heart skip a beat. Hearing him say those words was all I needed to be happy.

He kept his hand on my face, gently caressing my cheek with his thumb while he looked into my eyes. We were both quiet, but our silence spoke louder than words ever could.

When he leaned in, I wasn’t expecting much because all the other times he did that, he wouldn’t kiss me. This time, he surprised me in the best way possible. His mouth covered mine, pulling me into a deep and sensual kiss. I held my breath, needing a moment to realize what was happening. But once I snapped out of it, I melted into him and enjoyed every second of this kiss.

It didn’t last as long as I hoped it would, and when he moved back again, we looked at each other.

“We can’t be gone for too long,” he told me, brushing back a strand of my hair.

I didn’t argue. We’d have this morning with each other, and once we’d get back to the cabin, I was sure things would change. At least to the point where we could show each other some affection, hidden from the others.

***

My lips were still tingling from our kiss earlier in the car, and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t stay away from him in the store. Hell, I didn’t want to stay away. Not when we were alone.

While Dad was pushing the cart, I walked right next to him, with my hand hooked around his arm. We kept putting things into the cart, not really following Mom’s grocery list that she sent Dad.

When we stopped in the snack aisle, I turned away from him to study all the chips in front of us. “I’ll pick something Ronan will like too. Maybe these?” I asked, pointing at paprika flavored chips.

Dad came up behind me, and he put his arms around me while resting his chin on my head. “He’ll eat anything.”

That was true.

God, I couldn’t focus.

---