Page 15 of A Play for Love

“With high school kids?” Sam asked.

“Yep.” I finished my beer and set the bottle down. “They said she’ll most likely graduate high school before she’s ten.”

“Damn.” Conner grinned. “That’s my girl.”

I shot him a look as I grabbed another beer.

“You obviously need some guidance on this situation, so talk to Charlotte.”

“I really want to hire someone to homeschool her, and when I mentioned it, she accused me of trying to make her anti-social.”

My brothers and cousins chuckled.

“What are Sofia’s thoughts?” Christian asked.

“She seems okay with it. Ella told me that now isn’t the time to be an overprotective father. I mean, come on. How can I not be? She’s seven years old and going to high school with kids way older than her. Teenagers. You all remember what we were like as teenagers and all the bad shit we did.”

“Ella isn’t like us, bro,” Jackson said. “She’s different.”

“She doesn’t need to be exposed to any of that type of teenage behavior.”

“Take it from someone who has a teenager,” Stefan said. “I know exactly how you feel, cousin. But there’s nothing you can do to stop it. You can’t stop her from learning at the level she’s on. She’s only going to school there. It’s not like she’s hanging out with those kids.”

“If she’s going to graduate high school before the age of ten, that means college is next,” Sam said. “How the fuck are you going to handle that?”

“It makes me sick just thinking about it,” I said as I sipped my beer. “Fuck. Don’t get me wrong. I’m so proud of her, but I want her to be a kid.”

“She’s still going to be a kid,” Shaun said. “She’ll just be an extraordinary seven-year-old kid who attends high school.”

“Talk to Charlotte.” Conner placed his hand on my shoulder. “She can offer some advice. Just so you know, we had sex in her office today, so you might want to stay off the couch.” He grinned.

“For fuck’s sake, bro.” Jackson shook his head.

“Thanks for the warning.” I rolled my eyes. “I have to get back to the house and tuck Ella in. I’ll see you, douchebags, tomorrow. And I’ll see the two of you at the office.” I smiled as I pointed at Sebastian and Conner.

When I stepped through the sliding door, I sent a text message to Sofia.

“Hi, babe. I’m back at the house.”

“Okay. I’ll be home soon. Kiss Ella good night for me.”

“Will do. I miss you, so hurry up.”

“I miss you too. Be home soon. Lots of wedding talk happening.”

I smiled but also couldn’t stop the anxiety that resided inside me. I wasn’t sure how to handle everything between Ella and the wedding. It was already taking a toll on me.

I went up to Ella’s room, pulled my credit card from my wallet, and sat on the edge of her bed.

“Pull up the site, and I’ll put in my credit card information.”

“Thanks, Dad.” She smiled as she turned her laptop to me.

“Why do you want to take this course, sweetheart?”

“Because I think it’s interesting. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about myself, my intellectual gift, and how everything in my life is shades of gray. What you might see as black and white, I don’t. I have this need to understand myself and what makes me who I am.

I could feel the stinging in my eyes as I stared at her. Reaching over, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into me while my lips pressed against the top of her head.

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