Page 28 of Pool Girl - An Instalove Possessive Age Gap

“You’ve been calling each other on the phone?” he asks furiously like I’ve just spit in his eye.

“Only texts,” I promise, “and nothing that isn’t absolutely necessary.”

Like Piper showing me what I’ve been missing out on every breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I’m not sure if he’s being serious or if he just has to block out what he knows is really going on between me and his daughter. I remember it was a fight to have her move in with me in the first place. At first, he insisted on separate rooms, which I arranged easily, considering he’s not at my house to see where Piper is at every hour of the day or night.

But I really feel that Piper needs to see me, in person. Something’s up. I can feel it.

“Daddy! Will, you just let him in, please. I need to talk to him. It’s important.”

Guy closes the door in my face and I hear him stomping up the stairs, then a low murmur of his voice mixed with the shrill tone of Piper’s voice has me counting down from ten to stop from losing my shit altogether.

I’m forty for Christ’s sake, not fourteen.

After a few minutes, Guy reappears at the door, smiling like he’s won a raffle.

He waves Piper’s phone in front of me and wags the finger of his other hand in my face too.

“You’ll just have to wait until your wedding day tomorrow young man,” he says glibly, making want to snap his damned finger off.

I have to let it go, he’s been so good about everything so far. Even insisting on paying for the wedding himself, out of money he’s saved all on his own.

I shrug and hold both hands up, promising Guy I’ll be ready in the morning. That I won’t be late and most of all… I won’t leave his daughter standing at the altar.

As if.

Turning to look up at her window as I leave, I have to shake my head again. The old man has even boarded up her window with inch thick plywood.

‘til tomorrow then darlin’The next morning, after a sleepless night and getting out of bed with a hard on that speaks of almost three days now without my girl, I get the call.

“Ah jeez, Will. I’m sorry. I shoulda let you see her yesterday. She’s a mess. Been up half the night and now throwing up all this morning. I thought it was just nerves but now she’s talking about hospital-”

He keeps talking, but I’ve dropped the phone. They live about twenty minutes away, I make in about five.

The front door’s already open and there’s a stream of people in and out, flowers, a hairdresser, and of course, the wedding dress I’m not supposed to see.

But everyone looks worried and a hush falls once I leap from my car and sprint up the drive.

I bound up to Piper’s room. I can hear her dad in there talking to her so I knock gently.

He opens it a fraction, only letting me in once he sees it’s me.

He’s shaking his head too, looking thoroughly miserable. Like the whole thing’s about to be called off.

Over my dead body.

I shoo him out, and instead of smothering Piper like I want to, I notice her depressed look and kneel down in front of her instead.

I’m almost sure I see a small grin flash across her face, but when I look down at her again, and she’s looking worse than ever.

“Piper, tell me what to do. I’ll do anything but for god’s sake just tell me you’re alright,” I beg her.

She hides her face in her hands, listing off everything that’s wrong.

“…and now the dress doesn’t even fit. They had to send it back to be altered. I only had it on a few days ago. I’m such a pig!” she exclaims, and I feel wounded just hearing her talk like that.

I try to put my arm around her, but she pushes it away.

“I’ve been so sick, every morning really. Been hiding it from you, Will.”

I feel sick myself, wracking my brains to figure out how I missed any of this.

Damned Guy, he’ll pay for this. If only he’d let me see her-

And there it is again.

I could swear I just saw her smiling through her fingers up against her face.

Remembering her love of having me on, of having the upper hand… and recalling how she proposed in the first place, I decide to play along.

“Then, I guess the wedding’s off. I can’t marry a sickly girl who won’t keep her dinner down, let alone anything else in her mouth.”

She snatches her hands away from her face, her eyes slits and her mouth pressed into a frown.

I laugh and kiss her on the forehead.

“Alright, sweetie. You win. You got me. Now what is it, really and honestly now. No more fooling. You’ll give your dad another heart attack.”

---