Page 5 of Who's Your Daddy?

Again, the name makes him cringe. “Yeah, I love you. I love you like I love golf or going on a cruise...or having a night out with the boys. It’s a fun escape from reality, and it makes me feel young and invigorated again, but do I love those things more than my family? No.”

That cut so deep, I feel like my insides just spilled out and dropped onto the gravel. I stand there flabbergasted for a few moments, rapidly blinking as I try to absorb the shock. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do.”

“If you didn’t love me, why...why would you buy me a penthouse or pay for?”

“I already owned the penthouse. It cost me nothing. Besides, I wasn’t going to fuck you in a hotel and risk leaving a paper trail. It was just more...” He takes a moment to find the right word. “...convenientto let you live there.”

“Con-convenient?” The question is barely audible because it had to claw its way past the constricted knot in my throat, and it lost all sound by the time it reached my lips.

For a fraction of a second, I see the Teddy I used to know. His eyes soften and he reaches out to rub my arm. “Look, Lia. You’re great. I don’t want you leaving here thinking that I don’t care about you. I do. You made me feel things my wife hasn’t made me feel inyears. You never made me feel inadequate when I...you know, when I...”

“Couldn’t get it up?” I fill in, my tone scathing and hostile, but he ignores the comment altogether.

“You need to leave now, and I know you’re disheartened, but you’re gonna be fine. You’re not...smart, but you’ve got your looks and your body working overtime for you, so you’re gonna bounce right back from this, you’ll see. Keep your head up, champ.”

He taps a light fist against my jaw, a gesture that seems more appropriate for his teenage sons than the mistress he’s been fucking for the last fourteen months. He leaves me standing there like an idiot, and I’m too stunned to even speak as I watch him jog back inside.

It takes a solid five minutes before I’m able to move my legs, and they feel as heavy as lead when I walk back toward the reception desk. I should leave. I know I should, but I just can’t seem to let this go. I don’t know if the end was too abrupt, or the rejection was too harsh, but I must’ve trauma-bonded with this establishment because I can’t bring myself to leave it all behind just yet.

I sneak past the bar without Teddy noticing me and make my way to the outdoor dining area. A table behind a large pot plant gives me just enough coverage to discreetly spy on him, so I take a seat there. He’s drinking whiskey, laughing with his friends as if he didn’t just dump me like a sack of hot manure.

“Can I have a beer?”

The deep male voice behind me intrigues me enough to find out who it belongs to. I half-turn and see three men, two younger guys and an older gentleman. Well, one has his back to me, so I’m assuming his young based on his voice and jet-black hair. He’s broad, so broad that I can barely see the other two men.

“Pete,” one of the other guys complains, “we’re hitting the gym in an hour. Beer makes you sluggish, man.”

“Chill, Scott. I’m starting the weekend early. Our boy is getting married soon. We only have two more weeks to enjoy his freedom before he ties the knot.”

“He’s not here yet,” the one named Scott replies. “And we’re not even close to the weekend. It’s only Wednesday.”

“Can you just relax and enjoy it with me?”

“Where is Dylan, anyway? He’s supposed to be here already. He could at least call.”

I try not to eavesdrop and focus on Teddy, but listening to them is a great distraction from the tight ball twisting in the pit of my stomach. It’s just brain-dead chit-chat, so far removed from the crisis unfolding in my life right now, and there’s a weird form of comfort in being a bystander to the conversation.

I find out that the older gentleman is Scott’s father, and he’s been trying to get Scott back into the dating game by setting him up on various blind dates. Scott, on the other hand, prefers being single, and I get the feeling that he doesn’t want to date again because he may still be hung up on his ex-girlfriend.

“I’mhappy,” Scott assures his father, and the hint of irritation in his voice makes me think this is not the first time he’s had this conversation. “I’m doing what I love, working my way up the ranks. I’m the youngest member of the academic committee at one of the largest universities in California. Why do I need to be in a relationship to prove that? And by the way, Pete’s single, too. I don’t see you ragging on him to get a girlfriend.”

“There’s a fundamental difference between your single and my single, Scott,” Peter retorts swiftly. “I’m single out of choice. I’m still playing the field because I don’t want to settle down. Ever. You’re single because you want to be...alone.”

I roll my eyes just hearing that.Playing the field?Ugh! I hate guys like that. The arrogant assholes who think they’re God’s gift to women, the Chads of the world who just use women for sex, then discard them when they get bored.

For the longest time, I considered myself lucky because I thought Teddy was different. But my chat with him outside earlier proves that he’s right about one thing. I’m not smart because I believed every bullshit lie he told me.

A ringing phone pulls me out of my thoughts. It’s their other friend (Dylan, if I remember correctly), calling to tell them he can’t join them this afternoon. After a brief exchange, Scott dashes out of there faster than Husain Bolt, though I’m not sure why because my attention is unequally divided right now.

A few minutes later, Scott’s father stands to leave as well, but he doesn’t walk to the exit. Instead, he heads toward the group of men at the bar and taps Teddy on the back before shaking his hand. I half-stand, craning my neck to get a better look at them.

Part of me wants to march right up to him and expose him for being a cheating scum in front of all his friends. Actually...maybe I should do just that. I want to hurt him, humiliate him the same way he humiliated me. Teddy gets up, walking with Scott’s father to the exit, and I decide to just bite the bullet and do it. What do I have to lose? Not only did he take away all my material comforts, he stripped me of my dignity and self-respect as well. I’m going to pay that forward and do the same to him.

I shove my chair back and stand up. My feet shuffle forward, but my haste blinds me to my surroundings. I crash into someone. The next few seconds go by in a blur. All I hear is a “Watch it, lady!” before an arm catches me around the waist. That does nothing to stabilize either of us.

The sudden impact causes my legs to give in from beneath me. We’re both plummeting to the floor, but he wildly twists around so that he hits the ground first. His back slams against the floor with a hard thud, and he groans when I land on top of him. A strained gasp follows, probably because I’ve just knocked the wind out of him.

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