Page 9 of Easter Daddy

She’s just a few inches away. All I have to do is make the first move. And when I do, there’s no going back.

“Okay,” I say, shaking my head, both to say “yes” and to clear it of my foolish little fantasies.

I follow her outside to the garden that I remember frequenting as a child. My father would take me there and tell me about all the plants, something that I was never really interested in. But from her? I’d love to hear it. I’d love to hear anything, actually.

“So, to be honest, I didn’t really plant them in the ground, just in these pots I bought. I think they look pretty.” She laughs softly and adds, “Okay, maybe that sounds conceited.”

“I think it’s beautiful,” I tell her truthfully, but I’m looking at her.

“Yeah? Well, since it’s close to Easter… why are you looking at me like that?” she asks me, her forehead furrowing.

“Like what?”

“Like you’re laughing at me.”

“I’m not,” I say immediately.

“Then why are you smiling?”

“I like your voice,” I say honestly. “I like listening to you speak about something you’re clearly passionate about.”

She nods. “Okay. Right. Where was I? Oh yes, elephant ears. So. They’re my favorite plant.” She interlocks her hands behind her. My mind is only half following this conversation, the other half is down south.

That little demon in my head won’t shut up. We’re alone. We can do anything we want.

“Any reason why?” I ask, forcing myself to focus on what she’s saying and not how her cleavage looks up close.

“They remind me of my grandma. She died a few years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear.” I reach out and squeeze her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” she tells me quietly. “She was really sick, had pancreatic cancer that spread pretty much everywhere. At least she isn’t suffering anymore.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I just nod my head. She smiles slightly and gazes off into the distance. “She had many elephant ears around her house when I was growing up. She loved them and said that there was a strange magnificence about them. And I have to agree. Or maybe it’s just because they remind me of her. I don’t quite know.”

“I like them. The elephant ears. And I think they go really nicely with the pots.”

“Thank you,” she says, smiling up at me. Lust pools deep in my belly, seeing that smile, and I realize how much trouble I’m in, falling apart for this slip of a girl.

“You mentioned taking a gap year. You didn’t like school?”

“I prefer being out of it, to be honest. Looking for work. It was… restrictive for me.”

“In what way?” I ask her curiously.

She chews her lip in contemplation before speaking. “I could never relate to my classmates. Most of them would only talk about parties and boys—two things I wasn’t interested in. Except for Sara and Monica, I found the others insufferable.”

“I also helped out with the bills, so I was either working or studying,” she continues. “When Mom was busy, I took care of our house. I love my Mom, but sometimes, she can be too carefree. She even forgets to eat most nights.”

Lily gives me a sideways look, a soft smile playing on her lips. “Sometimes, I wonder how it’s going to feel to give someone full control of my life. Like for once, I don’t want to think about anything. Does that make sense? Being free from making decisions and just letting someone else decide for me? Take care of me?”

Fuck me.

Words lodge in my throat and I step closer to her. A lock of hair sticks to her forehead. Instinctively, I tuck it behind her ear. She gasps.

I should stand back and shove my hand in my pocket, perhaps walk back into the house. That’s what I should do, what a half-decent stepbrother would do. But these past few days, my thoughts have been anything but decent.

“Lily, I’d love to take care of you.”

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