Page 88 of Shortcake
“She’s not wrong,” I chimed in. “It’s a classic for a reason.”
Addy nodded. “You should convince your book club to make it the next read for the meetings.”
Our server came back, smiling at all three of us. He seemed like a nice enough kid. He was all smiles with a bounce in his step like the weight of the world hadn’t crushed him yet.He must still be in college, I thought with way more bitterness than he deserved.
I forced a smile on my face as he asked, “Sir, how are you and your daughters enjoying the first few bites of pancake?”
“Daughters?” Harper said, screwing her face into a look.
Yep. Daughters.Plural.
He thinks Addy is my fucking daughter, too.
The growl vibrated in my chest and I swerved accusing eyes at him until, across from me, a little squeak brought my attention back to Addy. I watched with a narrowed gaze as a breath whooshed out of her parted lips.
Harper fell back in her chair, arms flung across her bouncing stomach as she laughed. “You think we’re his daughters? Oh my God, that’s hilarious.”
Leaning forward, Addy rested her chin in her folded hands and batted her eyelashes at me. “What do you think, Daddy? Can I order a mimosa? Pretty, pretty please.”
Fucking. Hell. And there went all my blood right to my dick once more.
At this rate, I was going to need to be careful next time I stood up so that I didn’t get lightheaded and pass out.
“Addy,” I snarled.
Fuck me. If we were in private right now? I’d bend her over my knee and spank her cute little ass until it turned pink.
To his credit, the server went beet red and started stammering. “Oh, I uh… I just assumed. She looks so young. And you…” he added, gesturing at me. “You look so, uh, so—”
“Careful,” I growled.
“Yeah, dude,” Addy said, scrunching her nose. “You might want to quit while you’re ahead.”
This time, the tips of his ears were nearing a purplish hue as he dropped his head and muttered, “The rest of your food should be out shortly.” Then, he scuttled away.
The commentshouldn’tbother me as much as it did. Addy wasn’t my daughter. I would have had to be like 13 or something when she was born for that to even be feasible.
But it still gnawed at me. This thought that any time we’d be out together, there would always be this odd narrative that we didn’t belong. That we didn’t fit.
I hated that I was letting some idiot college kid’s one-off comment bug me so much.
Harper shook her head, giving one last snicker. “That guy’s on crack,” she said.
“Language,” I muttered, but I didn’t really have it in me to discipline her at the moment.
“Saying he’s on crack isn’t a bad word!” Harper argued. “I mean, come on. Don’t get me wrong. Addy’s young and cool and hot—”
“You hear that?” Addy interrupted with an eyebrow raised. “I’m coolandhot. I’m all the temperatures.”
Rolling my eyes, I stabbed my fork into another bite of pancake. “Brag much?”
Addy winked at me as Harper continued talking. “You know what I mean. I was just saying that as cool as you are, there’s still no way you could be his daughter.”
Addy jutted her bottom lip out. “Awww, you think I’m old.”
Harper rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. “There’s no winning this is there? Either way, it’s an insult to one of you!”
Addy laughed and shook her head. “No, no. I’m not insulted. But you know what I think?” The question was directed at Harper, but I sensed that whatever she was about to say was more for me than my daughter.
