AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tears fall from my lashes and my heart cracks. “You have to go after her,” I tell Liam, swiping the drops from my face.
He looks at me with a raised brow and shakes his head. “No.”
“Fine, then I will.”
I don’t even take a step before he stops me. “You’re not going after her either.”
My eyes grow with shock I feel all the way to my bones. I wanted to be his first choice, but not over Casey. “Liam, go after her. She’s your daughter.”
“And she’ll be my daughter tomorrow, but, Lily, whether she’s nine or ninety, I would never allow her to dictate how I live my life. Not when I’ve always done everything to make sure she knows she’s loved. I’ve sacrificed a lot to take care of her. Put up with shit to make sure she always knew I was there for her. And I will always be there for her. But this,” he gestures between us, “she doesn’t get a say in, so any fucking sacrificial martyr shit you’ve got going on in that pretty head, lose it.”
I sniffle, close the space between us, and drop my head to his chest. “I’ve never been the martyr type, and you know it.”
“Yeah, for Casey, you would be. Don’t think I didn’t notice you love her more.”
I laugh against him as he wraps his arms around me. “If that were true, I wouldn’t be here. But you can’t pick me over her. She has to come first.”
And I think my pushing has triggered him. His entire body tightens. I can feel his heart slamming against his ribcage. A low rumbles rattles in his throat as he sucks in a breath. “You still got one foot out, baby?”
That hurts. That he even feels like he needs to ask. I’ll spend forever proving to him I’m all in. “No. Not even close. But she’s your everything.”
He pulls back and lifts my chin. His eyes dart between mine, searching for doubt. I watch as the tension melts away. “So are you.”
“This sucks.”
He grins, but it’s soft and reassuring if a little teasing. “What did you expect? Her to throw a party?”
“I…” My mouth twists. “Maybe not a party, but…”
“But you thought she’d be excited.” He’s trying hard not to laugh. I see it in the crinkles at the corner of his eyes.
“How are you not more upset?”
Call me naïve, but I didn’t expect Casey to be this upset. Not upset enough to call me a slut. Or to try to slap me. She was okay with Ashleigh and Henry. Henry isn’t her dad, but he’s like one. She wasn’t even angry that Ashleigh kept Kaykay’s paternity a secret for five years.
But she thinks I used her. I hate she believes I would do that. That she doesn’t understand how much she means to me. I’ve had plenty of friends in my life, but Casey is the first I truly love. From the moment we met, I loved all her nerdy quirks and social awkwardness. She is so different from the girls I grew up with. I was endeared to her from the start.
She is a piece of Liam, so I loved her before I met her. Despite him, she became one of my best friends. And I hurt her.
“I’m calm because I know the girl I raised.” His thumb brushes over my cheek. “And I know she loves you.” His lips pull to the side as he shakes his head. “I have a confession.” My face scrunches. What in the world could he have to confess right now? “You and Casey, as roommates and friends, made me nuts at first.” My mouth falls to the floor. I think I need heavy equipment to lift it. “I didn’t want to share. And it was a little weird. In that respect, I get where Casey is coming from. Not her anger or even her reaction, but I get it will take some getting used to. But then…” He shakes his head, smiling wider. “People fall in love with their significant other’s kids all the time. It’s easy to love a child. It’s also expected to have to split time with a child. But she was grown. You didn’t have to love her, but you did. Of everything you complained about, and some of it was deserved, she was never one of them.”
My cheeks heat. It’s weird feeling embarrassed over praise, but this isn’t something that deserves it. I shrug it off. “She’s easy to love. Besides, she’s my girl.”
“That’s my point. But if I weren’t already in love with you, I would’ve fallen then. And then, when we broke up, you didn’t abandon her.”
“Don’t give me too much credit. I was a shitty friend because talking to her hurt.”
“But you did. Even from a distance, you didn’t forget about her. You don’t see it yet. Neither does she. But, baby, that was everything.” He drops a kiss to my mouth that quickly heats up, and I start to climb his big body. Then he ends it, untangling my limbs from his waist, and spins me. His hand stings my ass as he pushes me toward the bedroom. “Go get dressed. Dress warm.”
I stumble forward. “Where are we going?” I call over my shoulder.
“That’s for me to know. You have half an hour.”
****
Thank God he kept my stuff. All of it. Even things I just tossed in the trash, like year-old mascara—nobody wants pink eye. But I’m most grateful for the hairdryer because there was no fucking way I was leaving this apartment in forty-degree weather with wet hair.
I leave the bathroom after my hair is dry. It’s grown a lot since I cut off almost thirty inches six months ago. When I left the salon, my hair no longer hung past my hips. It was super blunt at my ears. Now, it sits on my shoulders. I miss my long hair sometimes, but I don’t think I’ll ever let it get as long as it was again.
