Page 139 of Chasing Lyric
So I pull my shit together and smile at her, my insides warming hearing more about the rest of her family. “I like hearing your family stories.”
Lyric links her hand with mine. “And I can’t wait to hear yours.”
“Stylo, can you help me with dessert?” Annie calls out from the kitchen.
Instantly, my back straightens.
What if she tells him about what just happened?
What if she twists the truth?
Fuck, I have no idea what this woman’s capable of.
Stylo stands, walking out to the kitchen as I sit here, sweating bullets. My knee bobs up and down, wondering what the hell she’s telling him. If Stylo thinks I tried to come onto his wife, he won’t want me around his daughter.
Is this all going to hell?
I stand abruptly. Lyric turns to watch me, stopping mid-conversation as the color drains from my face before I rush toward the kitchen.
“Chase?” Lyric calls out.
“Just giving your parents a hand, babe,” I yell back.
“God, he’s so fucking polite it’s sickening,” Clef murmurs as I reach the double swinging doors.
I take a deep breath, hearing muffled voices as I steady my shoulders, open the doors, and walk in, ready to defend myself against this lying scarlet woman. The doors fly back, and I see Annie with her finger in Stylo’s mouth. He’s sucking off some whipped cream. I shudder thinking I’m walking in on some weird sexual thing, and immediately I want to backtrack. Sweat beads on my temple as they both raise their brows at me in question.
Annie pulls her finger from Stylo’s mouth, popping it into hers for a brief moment, then she places her hand on her hip. “Back for round two, Chase?” she asks.
I choke on thin air as Stylo glares at me.
She told him.
But she told himhertruth, not mine.
“Stylo, listen—”
“No. You listen, Chase,” Stylo grunts, storming toward me.
I tense, thinking he’s going to hit me, but he stops short, gripping my shoulders with both hands, staring me straight in the eyes. I open mine wide, wondering what the fuck’s going on.
“I know what happened with Annie.”
I jerk my head back in confusion. “You do?”
“I do because I told her to do it.”
“What?Why?”My body riddles in a cold sweat as I try to figure out what the fuck is going on.
He cracks his neck to the side as Annie dips her finger into the whipped cream again, then shoves it into her mouth like she’s enjoying this bullshit. “I’m a father.”
And I’m confused.
“I understand, Stylo, but—”
“So, I need to protect my baby girl at all costs.” My body begins to relax a little as the cogs start shifting into place. “I’m not around a lot, hardly at all for her. When you called and told me what happened, I was grateful to help, but it also made me cautious of you.”
With my head still swirling, somehow I mutter, “I can understand that.”
