Page 22 of A Game Of Love

“Like last weekend?” Mom’s brows furrow. I nod, a feeling of guilt hitting me.

How could I make things official with Bishop while our best friend was hurting? What kind of person does that?

“Hold up!” Bennett laughs excitedly. “Are you for real? The two of you are dating?”

“Are you not paying attention?” Toby growls. “She just said that.”

Bennett pays no mind to Toby’s obviously pissy mood and gets up from his seat. “This is amazing!” Bennett rounds the table to hug Bishop. Bishop laughs and gives him one of those bro hugs. “Good choice, sis. The other guys were losers.”

Bishop snorts, and I gape at Bennett. “They were not!” I huff. “Jonas is a sweetheart, and Ryan was too.”

Bennett raises a brow. “If you're anything like Mom, sweethearts aren't your thing.”

Now all my dads laugh, even Rain joins in.

“Hey!” Mom objects. “Theo is the sweetheart of the group.”

“Theo was the older professor you dated when you were in college. Sounds like Dad was a bad boy to me.” Bennett shrugs as Mom’s cheeks go pink. “He might look all sweet, but he’s not.”

Theo chuckles. “Don’t know if I should be offended or take that as a compliment.”

“Okay, can we get back to the fact you're dating my baby girl?” Chase growls, jumping to his feet as he stares angrily at my boyfriend.

I’m shocked. Out of all my dads, I didn’t expect him to be this upset.

“Dad, what the hell?” I narrow my eyes.

“You.” He points at Bishop. “I know all about you. You're a good guy. A good man. A good friend to our son. But you're also a manwhore.”

“Dad!” I gasp, eyes widening in horror.

“Don’t you ‘Dad’ me,” he huffs, still looking at Bishop. “Don’t think I haven’t overheard him and Toby talking about girls in the past. And by the sounds of it, he’s been with a lot of them. And good on him. But not when he’s now dating my baby girl.”

A sick feeling rolls in my stomach at the thought. Because sadly, he’s right. Bishop has never hid the fact that he’s been with a lot of girls. He had a new one on his arm every week. Not since I’ve come to SVU, but I saw it in high school and once he went to college.

“You're right.” Bishop clears his throat. “I have a past. But that's just it. It’s the past. None of those women meant anything to me. Lilly is the only one I want. The only one I see. And if we’re going to be open and honest here, I’ve been in love with your daughter for years now. I’ve wanted her to be mine since we were kids. But, I didn’t cross that line because...” He flicks his eyes over to Toby for a moment, and I hold my breath. “Because she was one of my best friends. I didn’t want to ruin what we had. We were still young, and I was a few years older than her. I knew I was going off to college, and I didn’t want to hold her back from enjoying her teenage years. As fun as having a boyfriend or a girlfriend back then can be, most of them don’t last past graduation. She means more to me than that. We’re older now—wiser, or at least I’d like to think so. I had my fun.I’m done with that; it’s in the past. I know what I want my future to be, and that's to be at your daughter's side.”

The whole room goes quiet, even the twins don’t make a peep.

Turning in my seat to look at Bishop, I stare up at him with watery eyes. My heart swells with emotion. His words... fuck, they mean everything to me.

“Really?” my voice cracks, my lower lip quivering.

He swallows thickly, nodding his head. “I love you, Lilly. There’s no one else on this earth I’d rather be with. When I think of my future, I only see you.”

“Bishop...” His name comes out as a soft plea. I don’t care that my family is watching, I don’t care about anything else at this moment apart from the boy sitting next to me.

Standing up, I loom over him and cup his cheeks. “I love you too.”

The way his eyes light up and the smile that takes over his handsome face will live rent-free in my head.

Leaning down, I kiss him softly, letting all my feelings for him flow into the simple action.

I wanted to wait, to make sure my heart knew it wasn’t going to get hurt again before I told another man that I loved him. But after a declaration like that, I know my heart is in good hands with this one.

The sound of a chair screeching has me breaking the kiss. Toby storms off, away from the table, and takes off somewhere into the house.

“Toby,” I whisper, instantly feeling like the worst person ever. I didn’t even think about how he would feel seeing that. My fingers press against my tingling lips as I watch him leave.

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