Page 37 of Who's Your Daddy?

I spit out the white foam then rinse my mouth, growing more annoyed by the second. “That isn’t an accurate description of my life.”

“Well, maybe not every night, but you get what I’m saying.”

“No, I really don’t.”

She crosses her arms over her chest, readying herself for a fight that I don’t want to be the other party to. “On Sunday night, you got a call from a girl named Linda.”

“Which I didn’t answer.” I grab my hair trimmer from the cabinet and switch it on.

“Because of me.”

“No.” I take a deep breath, making an active effort to tamper down my aggravation. “Because I didn’t want to talk to her.”

“And last night, I overheard you listening to a voice note from Shelly.”

“Shelby,” I correct, stroking the trimmer across my cheek to neaten my stubble so that it’s giving three days instead of five.

“Whatever. She asked you if you wanted to go out, and she was going to‘bring a friend’.” She air-quotes the words as if the actual meaning was lost on either of us. “And then you just stayed home, playing backgammon with me and listening to music from the seventies.”

“Sixties,” I correct again. “If you want to have this discussion, at least get your facts straight.

“Peter.” She stomps her foot, frustrated that I’m not giving this the seriousness she wants me to.

I wash my face, then grab one of the expertly folded towels to dab my skin dry. “Li, just get to the point.”

“I just...I feel like I’m cramping your style.”

I walk over to her, getting so close she has to crane her neck up to look at me. “You know, dollface, I wouldn’t have let you unpack if I knew you were going to be taking these guilt trips so often.”

I drop a quick kiss on her cheek. When she’s in this mood, any form of affection annoys her, and I want to bring her up to the level she’s taken me to. Hearing the exasperated humph satisfies me, and only then do I move past her, back into my bedroom.

She turns around to look at me as I sit down on the edge of the bed. “Are you telling me you didn’t want to have a sweaty, dirty threesome with Shelby and her bimbo friend? I mean, I wasn’t even aware that people engage in those kinds of extracurricular activities on a weeknight, but she sounded very enthusiastic.”

The slight hint of jealousy in her voice gives me another dose of satisfaction. It’s a fact I’d like to gloat about, but I don’t because I’m the asshole here. I’m the one who passed up a dirty threesome with Shelby and her bimbo friend to play backgammon and listen to music from the sixties. It’s not a choice I’m proud of, but it’s a choice that took me less than a nanosecond to make.

On the one hand, there was the promise of raunchy, filthy sex with two incredibly hot women. And on the other hand, there was Lia. It was a no-brainer, but I’m not going to stand here and try to justify myself. I’m not going to explain to her just how easy it was for me to make that choice.

Largely because...

I don’t even understand it myself.

“If I wanted to go out and have a threesome, I’d go out and have a threesome. It’s an option that’s pretty muchalwaysavailable to me. Can we end this discussion now?”

Her eyebrows draw together because she’s still confused. “What do you get out of this?”

“Fuck, if I know. So far, it just seems to be nagging and complaints. I’ve been searching for the mute button on you for about two days now, but I can’t seem to find it.”

“Like your sense of humor?” she fires back.

“Like the deed to your penthouse.”

Her mouth drops open in shock. “Wow.” She blinks repeatedly. “Just give me a second.” She rubs her eyes, then blinks again. “Sorry, my eyes are just trying to adjust because it gotdarkin here so fast. That was dark even for you, Lestat.”

I try to hold back a smile. These vampire references are never-ending. I get renamed every day. “It wasn’t that dark.”

“That joke wasn’t just dark. It was...cold.” She hugs herself. “So cold. Do you have a jacket? I feel like I’m lost and alone in the forest. Are my nipples beading up? I’m freezing.”

I chuckle. This is something I really like about her. When she’s not stressing or overthinking, this playful, funny side comes out. It’s silly and dramatic, and I sometimes say things intentionally just to get that reaction. She bounces between stoic, withdrawn, and closed off, but every now and then, she drops the mask, and I get to see glimpses of who she really is. This is that special something I think her ex destroyed. This is the thing I keep chasing.

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