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Fruit Loops to be exact. The box was the only cereal in the house and close to being the only food. I’d need to go grocery shopping today, even though it was one of the chores I hated the most. However, a girl had to eat, especially after the luxuriously naughty evening I’d had.
“You got home late.”
I jumped when I heard my father’s voice. He was usually never up this early. Then I remembered it was actually close to noon, not my normal time for dragging my sorry ass into the kitchen. I almost dropped the bowl in my hand, finally laughing as I managed to ease it to the counter, searching for a clean spoon.
I’d come home, checked on Aiden, and flopped into bed with my clothes still on. And still smelling of the three men who’d… fucked me.
Oh, God. I had to try to forget about it. “Yep,” I said, popping the p for some crazy reason. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“Nah. I wasn’t sleeping. You know how the nights can be. It just surprised me a little given the day it was.”
“Yeah, well, I kinda got roped into it.”
“I’m glad you went out, honey. You’re a young woman and deserve a better life than this.”
He missed my mom as much as I missed my husband. We were just sad sacks of human flesh. “Don’t say that, Daddy. I live a mighty fine life. How are you feeling?”
“Better than usual. You need to eat something other than Fruit Loops.”
“What’s wrong with Fruit Loops? The breakfast of champions, you know.”
“That’s Wheaties, honey.”
The truth was we couldn’t really afford much else, even though I was taking what was left of my meager savings and filling the house with food. Damn it. “I’ll go to the store today. Okay? There, you wore me down, but I will be getting another box of my favorite cereal, thank you very much.” Besides, it was the only cereal and often the only food Aiden would consume. He was as finicky as they came.
I wondered where he’d gotten that from.
“Did you have fun on your date?”
“It wasn’t a date, Daddy. Just drinks with Fallon.” No, it was just a fuck fest.
He grinned, which was so rare I thought the sun had suddenly peeked through the dull and dreary day. Why did every day need to be so melancholy? Oh, yeah. To match my usual moods. At least that’s what my sister had told me once when I’d complained.
I was taken back to the sunny day when Finn had lost his life, almost dropping the bowl for a second time.
“Well, whatever you call it, honey, I’m glad to see you caring about yourself. You need to do that more often.”
I grabbed the milk, sniffing it as soon as I twisted the top. Everything had a strange odor to me and had since that day. Except for the night before.
I’d taken a long, hot shower, another indulgence but I could swear the musky scents of the three men still existed, covering every inch of my skin.
After pouring milk on the cereal and shoving what was left of the carton back into the refrigerator, I padded toward the kitchen table my parents had used since I was a little kid. Granted, Pops had been on the ocean for at least six months of the year and my mother had always threatened he’d come home to a fully redecorated house. Sadly, she hadn’t gotten around to it before she’d died.
I sat down and so did my dad, which surprised me.
“What’s up, Daddy?” I asked when he did nothing but stare at me. That also wasn’t like him in the least. He was a gruff man, the true classic epitome of a rigger. All huff and puff. But I liked that he spoke his mind, unlike some men I knew.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Okay. Go for it.”
He took his time, even raking his hand through his gray and thinning hair. He was only sixty, but he looked much older because of the hard life he’d led, the recent heart attack he’d suffered, and the illness that had taken hold before that. My father had once been a strapping man of over two hundred pounds. Now, I wasn’t certain if he weighed more than one forty, tops. The doctors said it was only a matter of time before his body gave out. Life wasn’t fair. It certainly hadn’t been to my little family.
“Things have been tough on you, sunshine girl.” It was the nickname he’d given me as a young girl. I’d been a happy kid, always singing even as a toddler.
Not so much any longer.
“They’ve been tougher for you.” I chomped on a bite of my breakfast, hating the fact it tasted like cardboard. Everything did.
