Page 32 of Baby By my Best Friend's Daddy

I nodded. “I know,” I said. “I’m glad I came, too.”

8

LANDON

Iwasintrouble—deep,deep trouble.

I was falling for Rebecca. It wasn’t just the kind of infatuation that came with lust, the kind that went away after a good fuck, and it was out of my system.

Last year, when we’d been together, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. Now, it was game over. I wanted her to be mine. Not just for sex but for everything: laughing and joking, talking about the serious stuff. I wanted to share my life with her, and I wanted her to share it with me.

“That sounds serious,” Ted said when we sat at the bar at the Cavaliers HQ. It was still early—most of the other Cavaliers were working. Ted and I, at our age, had earned the right to fuck off out of the office whenever we wanted.

“It is,” I said. “I’ve never felt this way about someone before.”

Ted was the one guy I could talk to about this. He looked at the world differently because he’d never walked the same path as the rest of the Cavaliers, and because of it, his advice was a refreshing angle.

“I say go for it,” Ted said.

“What?”

“Date her. Marry her if that’s what you want.”

“Well, we’re not there yet… you really think I should just go for it?”

“Yeah, man, do what makes you happy. Life is too fucking short, especially for us now. The last thing you want is to hit the end and look back with a shit-ton of regrets. If you like this girl, and she likes you, I can’t think of a solid reason not to do it.”

I sipped my whiskey. This was exactly why I liked talking to Ted about serious stuff. He had such a straightforward outlook on life.

“A lot of people aren’t going to be happy if I do this,” I said.

“Yeah?” Ted said. “Fuck them. They’re not the ones living your life, they’re not the ones knowing what is and isn’t real behind closed doors. They’re just here, pointing fingers and judging and being full of shit. This whole Cavalier thing is such an honor, right? Well, to me it seems like it’s an excuse to be holier than thou, and no one needs this shit.”

I grinned at Ted. “You’re still here, though.”

Ted shrugged and drained his glass. “Where else am I going to go?”

He was right.

“Take it from the man who spent too much time chasing the wrong shit. There comes a time when you know what you need, and if you ignore that, you only have yourself to blame.”

Ted lifted his hand for another drink, and I nodded, slowly sipping mine.

I wanted to be with Rebecca, and when Ted put it that way, it all made sense. I was the one who would live with my choices, just like he said, and I was so sick of having no one to share my life with. I had so much to talk about, so much to dream about, and I wanted to be able to tell someone. Rebecca listened when I talked and when we were together, it felt like we were on the same page.

She was a wonderful person in every way.

I could see what Brad saw in her—he liked spending time with her, and I understood why.

Thinking about Brad made my stomach twist.

“Brad won’t be happy with this,” I said.

“So? He’s your son, he’s not your father. So, what if he doesn’t like it?”

“Rebecca is his best friend. He got there first, you know?”

“Is he in love with her?”

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