Page 6 of Easter Daddy

“Yes,” she beams. “I’m great!”

I just raise my eyebrows at her before opening the fridge and taking out some grapes. She really is a horrible actress. I know since she hasn’t said anything about a party, she wants to hide it. Unfortunately for my dear mother, she can’t act if her life depended on it.

“Good to know, Mom.”

“So, how are you?” she asks me. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.”

“You sure?” she asks with the biggest, goofiest grin.

“Yes, Mom. I am,” I say with a small smile. I’m glad that she’s so happy. It will make whatever she has planned worth enduring.

I wonder if Liam will be there. Now that would definitely make everything worth it. I like him, way too much to be honest. Fantasies of being with him flood my mind, captivating me, and I feel like a pathetic schoolgirl thinking about such things.

He’s my stepbrother, and with our age gap, he would never want me. I know he’s attracted to me judging by the way he looked at me at the Easter egg hunt, but he’d never act on it. He’d never want more than what we have.

But what if he did? What if we could actually be more? Be together?

What the hell am I talking about? He’s my stepbrother! He’s forbidden. I can’t have him. It makes no sense lusting after him, pining for him, hoping that he’ll be at my birthday party when I’ll never be able to satisfy this yearning I have for him.

I can’t ask her if Liam will be there. I have to at least pretend to be surprised later on. I’ll do it for her. I’ve always wanted to do little things to make my mother happy. This is just one of them.

She throws her arms around me and kisses my forehead.

“I love you so much, darling,” she tells me. “And Jackson loves you, too.”

“I know.” Jackson has always treated me like his own daughter, which makes wanting to be with his son all the more disgraceful. “Love you too, Mom. Love you both,” I say, my voice muffled by her shoulder as she’s a few inches taller than I am. As a child, I was always short for my age. I had hoped that I would grow out of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t.

I go about my day like it’s a normal Saturday, pretending that nothing special awaits me. When 1 p.m. comes and goes with no sign of any excitement, I begin to wonder if I was wrong in assuming that today would be the day they throw me a “surprise.”

Thirty minutes later, Mom takes me to the supermarket, insisting that she needs help choosing what cheese to buy, which I find more than a little suspicious as she usually does grocery shopping alone. My little hypothesis is proven correct when I return to the house to find balloons and flowers everywhere.

“Surprise!” she shouts, and everyone jumps out at me from behind the couches and pillars in the foyer—my dad, stepdad, two best friends Sara and Monica, and Liam.

I do a double-take. No, I’m not dreaming. No, I’m not seeing things.

Liam is here.

He’s standing in front of me in his over six feet of pure sexiness. This is what undiluted sex appeal looks like, and I feel a rush of wetness down below.

God, I want him. I want him so damn bad, and knowing that he wants me too is frustrating. The air changes when he’s around. Why did he have to be my stepbrother? Then again, that probably isn’t the only issue for him. He’s most likely thinking of our age gap, too.

Why did I have to be so young? Why did he have to be so much older than me? Truth be told, I find his age to be appealing, but I doubt he feels the same way.

“Happy birthday, Lily!” they all shout in unison, and I can’t help the smile that blooms across my face. I don’t like celebrations, but this is touching. I feel… appreciated. Loved.

And a flood of romantic desire for Liam.

I have a sudden image in my mind of the two of us walking along the seashore together, holding hands, talking, and kissing. The little fantasy is only a few seconds long, but it’s alarming because it’s…romantic.

My feelings go beyond sexual desire, so I know I’m in trouble. Big trouble. I can resist the urge to sleep with him, but when you genuinely like someone? That makes it all the more difficult to not approach him.

Stop it. He’s off-limits, so are you, and you both know it.

But he’s just… the epitome of masculine perfection.

Thankfully, my mother pulls me into a tight hug for the second time today, cutting off my train of thought, and I hug her back with almost as much energy. Her zeal is honestly difficult to match.

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