Page 125 of The Daddy’s Girl

Yes.

“No.”

She glares at me with a look that says she’s calling my bullshit.

Eventually, I roll my eyes. “Okay…maybe.”

“Look at me,” she says, gesturing to her apartment. “I sit alone here most days without a life or a date, feeling like the outsider to everyone in the group. When I saw you and Matis together, I wasn’t judging you. I was hoping you came here to tell me all the juicy details.”

My brows furrow as I lean forward. “Really?”

“Yes!” Then she leans forward a little more until her elbows are resting on her leg. “Is he as good in bed as everyone says?”

Suddenly, all the tension in my shoulders melts away and my face relaxes into a bashful smile. Covering my mouth with my hand, I lean back into the couch. After taking a long drink of the cold beer, I look at her mischievously.

Then I nod.

“I knew it! Tell me everything.”

So I start from the beginning. I tell her about the dating app and the voyeur room and the double date that ended with the best kiss of my life in Trocadero. An hour later, we’re three beers in with a bowl of popcorn between us.

She’s replaced the wrestling match with some K-pop playlist on low. And honestly…it’s the most fun I’ve had in a while—at least without Matis.

Matis texts me in the middle of it, so when Phoenix hops up from the couch to use the bathroom, I text him back.

Matis: What did she say? Is everything okay?

With a smile, I type out my response.

Amelia: Everything is fine. She won’t tell anyone.

Matis: Can you come over?

I bite my bottom lip because as much as I would love to come over, I hate the thought of leaving her. I think she needed this.

Amelia: I’m gonna stick around and hang with her for a while. She needed a girls’ night, I think.

Matis: I love you for that. Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe.

Amelia: I will.

My fingers hover over the keys. I want to tell him that I love him too. Before I get the chance, another notification pops up, this time from Instagram.

But when I click on it and see a picture of a bubbly blond in the profile, I pause.

Looking hot, Amelia!

Phoenix comes back into the room. “Want another beer?” she asks with a slight slur in her voice.

“Uh…yeah,” I mumble in reply.

When she returns a second later with two bottles and a bag of French candy, she pauses with her eyes on my phone screen.

“Oh no, what does she want?”

My eyes dance up to Phoenix as she drops onto the couch. I’ve never really known Phoenix and her twin sister, Austin, to not get along, but judging by the tone of her voice, there’s definitely some animosity there.

“She was just responding to my story photo. She doesn’t do that often.”