Page 55 of Single Dad Dilemma
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.
When I finally looked up again, my parents were staring at me like I’d lost my mind. My dad still had one of Lily’s cookies in his hand, frozen halfway to his mouth. My mom kicked him under the table.
“I just ... I just asked how she made these cookies taste so good,” my dad said. “I didn’t know allthatwould happen.”
My mom tried to hide her smile.
It would’ve been so much easier to brush it all off, to change the subject, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that either. The decision to dismantle whatever softened feelings for Lily that had emerged had been a good one.
Smart and wise and logically sound. I didn’t have time to feel things. Didn’t have time to think about her tattoos or why she was alone or the color of her eyes. But there had been a slow deterioration of that decision over the course of the forty-eight hours that followed. When I stopped to think about that deterioration, the only thing that made sense was becauseLilydidn’t make any logical sense.
I couldn’t make her fit into a single, neat definition, and ultimately, it was proving to be my undoing. Helpless frustration, as it usually did, made me feel like the worst version of myself. Control clawed to the surface, a desperate bid to ignore the one thing—the person—making me feel the most out of control.
The dish towel sat next to the sink, and I snatched it up, then wiped down the casserole dish until it was dry.
My mom cleared her throat. “I’d already washed that, you know.”
I rolled my lips between my teeth, praying that the heat crawling up my neck wasn’t visible.
“Well, now it’s extra clean,” I said gruffly.
Dad was finishing the cookie when I turned around, sneakily reaching forward for another one when my mom reached over and smacked his hand. “You’ve had four,” she admonished.
“It’s Christmas,” he stated, shooing her hand away and getting a fifth. “And they’re really good.”
I crossed my arms, leaning up against the counter. “Kids okay while I finished up work?”
Mom nodded. “Perfect as always.”
I snorted.
“Perfect for us, at least,” my dad said. “Maggie’s gonna run the world someday, you mark my words.”
My shoulders relaxed at the change in subject. I just ... I needed to stay away from the topic of Lily. Needed to stay away fromLilyuntil I had a better handle on whatever this was.
“How was practice today? Archer getting in line for the last game of the season?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose.WasArcher getting in line?
He’d skipped all film-review sessions that morning. Hadn’t taken a single note in the offensive meeting. Hadn’t joined me for lunch with his receivers. And in practice, he’d said the game plan for Sunday was something his grandma could’ve planned better.
“Practice was fine,” I said tightly. “He’ll ... he’ll be fine by Sunday.”
There was a beat of silence, and I ignored the wordless glance shared by my parents.
“You okay, son?” my mom asked. “You’re not really acting like yourself.”
Not being the perfect son who never stepped out of line. Not being the guy who never lost his grip on the leash of his legendary restraint. She was right—I wasn’t acting like myself, and there was only one person to blame. It didn’t matter whether I wanted to be around her. I shouldn’t. Couldn’t.
I held her gaze and sighed. “I’ll be fine. I just need to get a few things under control.”
Chapter Fourteen
Lily
“Larry, I beg of you. We’re a hundred feet from home. You can make it.”
He sat down on the asphalt and stared up at me, unmoving even when I gave his leash a gentle tug.
