AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Since Noah wasn’t saying anything, I got up to go to the bathroom. As I peed, I thought about everything that had happened up until this point. It was nice to be closer to Noah, but were we closer? Physically, yes, because we were having sex, but there was still this massive wall between us. At that moment, having some connection was enough, but I wasn’t sure if I could make do with pieces forever. It would hurt to know that he would never open up to me. I couldn’t think of what to do to make his feelings towards me change. Time seemed to be the only answer. I’d have to continue to show that I cared. His heart had to soften. Right?
I left the bathroom, and Noah was already on his side turned away. This would have been fully disheartening if he hadn’t opened up the covers on the other side of the bed. A small gesture, but it was an invitation to spend the night. He was probably just being courteous, feeling weird about kicking me out after fucking me. I’d take it though.
I got into the bed and fell asleep staring at Noah’s back, using all the restraint I had to keep myself from reaching out to touch him.Chapter Ten - NoahScarlett was asleep when I woke up again. Sometime in the night, I had turned around. I woke up looking at her face. She was a beautiful girl, that was undeniable, but she was doing things to my heart I’d rather not have done.
I sat up in the bed and stared down at her sleeping figure for way too long. Hopefully, she’d be pregnant soon, and we could end this whole thing. I liked Scarlett, but having her in my life was causing me a lot of confusion, and it was uncomfortable.
I stepped out of bed and quietly got ready. I had decided to take Olivia out for a little fun in town. I’d leave Scarlett a note.
I went to Olivia’s room, and she was still asleep. I stood by the door and watched her. My daughter was what kept me going. If it had only been me, there’s a high chance I would have entirely closed myself off from the world.
That’s another reason why I couldn’t understand why Scarlett wanted to be around me. I knew I wasn’t pleasant. I was a lot more fun before Kylie died, and that wasn’t just me bragging. I would hang out with friends, make people laugh, I was pretty happy myself. I’ve felt like a completely different person these past two years.
“Daddy?” Olivia was rubbing her eyes, sitting up in bed.
“Do you want to go to town with me today?”
“Yes!” She pumped her little arms into the air. I walked into her room, so I could help her get ready.
Olivia and I started the morning by going to the 24-hour diner in town. It felt like a big stack of waffles morning, so that’s what we had. With such a great start to the day, we continued to have fun, walking around, and driving around. I let Olivia pick out the things she wanted to do.
At one point, we were sitting at one of the outdoor tables at the local ice cream shop. Olivia had told me she could handle the cone without making a mess, but two scoops proved to be a little trickier than expected, so I got her a bowl to help out. She was eating her mint chocolate chip with a spoon while I lazily got through my strawberry. She put her soon down and looked at me like she wanted to ask a question.
“Is everything okay, sweetie?”
“Is Scarlett at home?”
“Uh, yeah. She was asleep, and I didn’t want to wake her up.”
“Okay,” she took another scoop of her ice cream, considering what I had just said. “Can she be my new mommy?”
It felt like that came out of absolutely nowhere. I was so stunned. I needed a few seconds to think about what I would say.
“Can we talk about this later?”
“Okay.”
She brushed it off and went back to eating, but I was fuming. Did Scarlett put this idea in Livvy’s head? Was this her way of getting to me, by making my daughter think she could be her “new mother”? I couldn’t show Olivia how upset I was, so I buried it all down and decided to bring it up later.***
I tucked Olivia into bed, making sure she was nice and comfortable before going to Scarlett’s room. I gave the door a quick, loud knock.
“Come in!” I opened it to find Scarlett sitting on her bed, a book resting to her side. “Hey! Did you and Livvy have fun today?”
She looked so innocent sitting over there like she hadn’t been planning some way to wiggle herself back into our lives. From the moment she arrived, everything had felt off. She made me feel off-kilter, and I didn’t like it.
