AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m definitely not going to be her Daddy. She wouldn’t want me to be. And I don’t want that either. At least I keep telling myself that. I said it once, and I’ll keep saying it as many times as it takes to sink in. She deserves better than a mechanic. She deserves more than what Pine Hollow has to offer her. She got away from this town and her father when she was eighteen, and she’s never looked back. We’re different people with different paths. There’s no need to muddy the water. I just want to give her somewhere to go to get the release she needs while still being close to her mom.
Greer laughs, and I kind of want to reach through the phone and throttle her. Who knew sisters would still be annoying as adults?
“Whatever you say, Dane. You can pretend all you want, but I know you’ve always had feelings for Summer.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. “Greer, stop being a pain in the ass.”
“I can’t. It’s part of my sisterly contract.”
“Greer,” I groan.
“Okay. Okay. Fine. She likes baby dolls. And blocks. And coloring, but she likes the coloring books that have big pictures, so they’re easy to color in the lines.”
As she talks, I jot down everything she says. “What about food? What does she like to eat when she’s Little?”
She sighs. “Are you really this clueless? You’ve been a Daddy forever. Maybe this is why you don’t have a Little.”
I’m a patient man. I am. Compared to Nash or my friend Jaxon, I’m practically a saint. But this brat is pushing my buttons.
“Okay, calm down. Sheesh. I can hear you huffing and puffing through the phone. Get her some fruit snacks and apples with peanut butter. And chicky nuggies. And ranch. Don’t forget the ranch to dip the nuggies in. And grape juice. Oh, if she comes over to play, can I come too?”
I smile as my sister seems to be falling into her own Little headspace. I haven’t seen her in Little Space very often, but I have to admit, she’s pretty damn adorable when she’s like this.
“We’ll see about you coming over. I don’t know if I can deal with you. I can spank her. I can’t spank you.”
She snickers. “I knew you wanted to be her Daddy. You wouldn’t want to spank her if you didn’t.”
“I can get Austin to spank you, though,” I add with a grin.
“Uh, rude!”
“Hush. What else should I know? Does she use sippy cups or bottles? Diapers? Pacifiers?”
“Those are things you should probably ask her. I don’t want to betray her by sharing anything too personal.”
I sigh. Greer is right. Those are personal details, and even if Summer does use any of those things, she might not feel comfortable using them around me. Hell, she might not feel comfortable being Little around me at all. Part of me hopes she tells me to go to hell when I explain my idea, but another part of me wants this more than I’m willing to admit. I can’t be Summer’s forever Daddy, but maybe I can be something casual and temporary for her while she figures things out with her mom. Then, once she goes back to Seattle, we can both move on with our lives, and I can get over my infatuation with her. I need to get over it eventually. Even if it kills me. Because it just might.
5
SUMMER
“Janet, where’s my coat?”
I squeeze my eyes shut for a brief second before I glance up at my mom. She’s wearing her coat. Along with her pajamas. And she still has her curlers in her hair.
“Mom, why do you need your coat?”
She stops looking around the room for said coat and scrunches her face at me. “Why did you call me ‘Mom’?”
With a sigh, I stand and move to her, offering the most reassuring smile I can muster. “Why do you need your coat?”
“I need to go to the pharmacy. I need a refill on my blood pressure medicine.”
“I just got it filled three days ago.”
Her lip shakes as she stares at me, and I hate the blank look on her face. I hate that she’s going through this. I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to be so confused all the time. Some days, she’s so with it and knows exactly who I am, but those days seem to be getting few and far between.
“I accidentally dropped them in the toilet.”
