Page 115 of Who's Your Daddy
“Let’s go.” Murphy releases his dad and rushes past me.
Once he’s under the covers and I’ve settled beside him with The Lightning Thiefin hand, he sighs heavily.
My chest tightens at the sudden sadness wafting off him. “Everything okay?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Always,” I assure him closing the book. “What’s up?”
Blue eyes so much like Cal’s lower, his focus drifting to the bed, his fingers idly picking at the comforter. “Has my mom called or texted or anything?”
The question guts me. This boy has been here for months, and he hasn’t once spoken to the one person he should be able to count on.
I’m almost positive the answer is no, but I can’t say for sure, so with an arm around him, I pull him close. “I’d have to ask Cal, but he hasn’t said she has.”
His little body slumps against mine, cracking my heart in two.
“Even if she hasn’t called, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t care,” I assure him. “My parents love to travel, and when they’re gone, they’d love it if I was with them. But like you have to go toschool, I have to work. That doesn’t mean we don’t miss them though.”
“I do miss her,” he whispers, head tipped back and eyes fierce. “But I like it here.”
“We like having you here,” I promise him. “I’m sure your mom liked having you with her too. People show love in all kinds of ways. It may not always make sense, but usually, they love us the best they can. That might mean that certain people are ones we have fun with, while others are the ones we can rely on. You know what I mean?”
Murphy studies me, lips turned down. His expression far too knowing for such a young soul.
Two months ago, I never could have imagined saying this, but the words come easy now. “Cal will always be here for you. I can promise that. He may be a total goofball, but he wants to be more than just your fun dad, he wants to be the person you can rely on. Don’t discount that.” I swallow past the lump in my throat. “I think that by leaving you with your dad, your mom did what’s best for you. She knew that this way, you could go to school and that you’d have someone who loves you nearby all the time.”
He nods. “Do you think it will hurt Cal’s feelings if I tell him I miss her?” His eyes mist over. “If I want to see her when she comes back?”
I shake my head resolutely. “He would never be upset.” I hug him tighter to my side. “Cal’s got a big heart. He’d never be mad that you inherited that from him. You’re free to love whoever you want to love.”
Chapter 41
Cal
Bollocks. This is bad. So very bad. If I thought earlier I was having a breakdown, it had nothing on this.
I tug at my hair as I pace my bedroom, my heart pounding a feverish rhythm in my chest. I knew I was falling for Lola. These feelings have grown deeper by the day. But tonight? Watching the way she tended to Murphy, how she included him in conversation with her parents? It blew me away. Every part of tonight felt so damn natural. So damn right. Like we’re already family. It’s all too damn much.
She comforts him when he needs it, makes him laugh when that expression of his gets too serious. Hell, he seeks her out night after night, unafraid to ask her to read to him and tuck him in.
As devastated as I am that I’ve missed so much of his life already, the way he gravitates toward her doesn’t upset me in the least. I’ll give him whatever makes him happy if it’s in my power. And I understand why she’s what lights him up. I just—fuck, what if her feelings for me don’t match this intensity?
I’m falling in love with this woman. Scratch that. I’m already there. My heart is hers. I’m a pile of mush. Splat on the pavement outside this Jersey flat, desperate for her to reach down and help meup but terrified that she’ll walk right on past, eager to get back to New York City.
All I know for certain is that she hasn’t fallen with me. And I can’t blame her. The sex may be bloody out of this world, but outside that, all I do is make more work for her.
Okay, I make her smile too. I suppose I’ve got that working in my favor, but it doesn’t even come close to comparing to the way she makes me feel. For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m actually living. My heart beats out a steady rhythm when she’s around and when she’s not, this is what happens. I pace, pulling at my hair, my pulse erratic and my mind spinning out. Because any second now, she’ll wise up and drop me like the lousy sack of potatoes I am.
“Cal?”
Jumping a foot off the ground, I let out an embarrassingly high-pitched shriek and whip around, arms flailing.
Lola’s eyes are wide, her teeth sunk into her lip, like she’s holding back a laugh.
I suck in a breath. “You scared the bejesus out of me.”
Her lips twitch, and as she steps into the room, she breaks into a full-fledged smile. “The bejesus, huh?”
