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“Dad…” I said as I let my words trail off.
It became hard to breathe, the air thick, almost suffocating with each breath. Puffed crescent moons laid under his eyes as his wild tresses sat atop his head. A cloud of disappointment and sadness hollowed him out, and it was the most painful thing to watch.
He folded his arms across his chest and leaned his back against the edge of the sink. “Eat.”
“I’ll get food on the way. It’s already after 11 AM. I need to leave now or—“
“Eat,” he said, cutting me off. He took another sip of his coffee as he eyed my movements.
I plopped down into the chair and slid the warm plate over. A small stack of pancakes and slices of thick bacon greeted me. Refusing to break his eye contact with me, I gave in, and Emma did the honors of pouring a stream of golden syrup on top of the pancakes.
“So helpful. Thanks.”
She smiled and snatched a piece of bacon off my plate before pushing it past her lips. I devoured my food, taking big bites so I could finish and get on the road.
“I need the keys, Dad.”
“The keys for?” Dad teases.
My shoulders slumped, and I pierced my fork into a fluffy pancake as I bit the inside of my cheek. Sounds of him rummaging through one of the drawers stole my attention, and he dangled a pair of keys attached to a blue lanyard in front of me. I extended my hands, ready to catch them.
“I’ll call once I’m there. Promise.”
He walked behind me, and I tilted my head to the ceiling so he could place a quick kiss on my forehead. “Better. Drive safe and no texting and driving.”
With my rebuttal on my tongue, the chime of the doorbell stole dad’s attention. He walked out of the kitchen, and Emma held her phone up to my face.
“What?” I asked as I rolled my eyes.
“Check your email.” An evil grin spread across her face, and I slapped her phone out of her hand. No surprise, Emma had signed me up for one of those hookup dating sites. All those guys wanted one thing, and I'd made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t lose my virginity in the bathroom of a bar.
“No. Delete it.”
Emma raised her chin to the ceiling and let out a long, drawn-out moan. “Oh, come on! You’ll get plenty of matches. Finding someone new to fawn over will have you forgetting all about—”
“Shh!” I spat as I shoved her phone out of my line of sight.
My posture stiffened when my dad re-entered the kitchen. I was certain that Josh had skipped town because of my dad. If he saw Josh, he would kill him. Another pair of boots scraped against the wooden floor, and my gaze locked onto Brett’s. If I thought the air couldn’t get any thicker, I was wrong, and a fog so dense had my mouth wide, and my thoughts scrambled.
CHAPTER6
Primal Instincts~Brett
Yesterday wasthe biggest shit show I had ever seen. After making sure Cora got home, I switched out the donut for a real tire and got the hell out of there before Dylan came back to find his life blown up. I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night because my brain had refused to shut down. It had refused to stop thinking about Cora and her soft lips. I wanted so much more of her. I begrudgingly crawled out of the hotel bed this morning in an attempt to get my shit together so I could talk to Dylan.
I had planned to talk to him at the cookout, but obviously, those plans went to shit. I wasn’t mad at the fact that he used me as some sort of pussy hungry bachelor to conduct his fidelity test. I used to live that life, a life with a different woman in my bed every weekend. I enjoyed the rush of having a new set of warm lips wrapped around my cock when I woke in the morning. The old me would have lived up to Dylan's expectations, flirting with Jewell to test her loyalty, but not anymore. Whoever said life couldn’t knock you on your ass and force your hand was wrong because that’s exactly what happened to me.
I texted Dylan a few hours after I woke up and told him I was coming over. He replied with “OK.” The drive from the hotel back to his house had my pulse slamming into my neck. A part of me was dreading dealing with the elephant in the room and another part of me was fixated on the secret kiss I had with Cora. With heavy footsteps and a tight stomach, I'd followed him into the kitchen, and then my mouth watered. The lingering smell of bacon and homemade pancakes in the air had zero to do with my salivating, but the young girl with raven-colored locks and big doe eyes did.Cora.
“Forgetting all about who?” Dylan asked as he caught Cora’s gaze.
Cora picked at her fingernails as she bit down on her juicy bottom lip. “Shirts. Matching shirts,” she blurted out.
I lowered my chin and walked over to the center island, wrangling with my emotions as I tried to bite back a smile. Dylan had always been terrible when it came to spotting a lie, especially one from his daughter.
“Right,” he said as he took a sip from his coffee mug.
“About Josh?” I asked as I shoved my hands into my front pockets. The room went still…as if I'd ripped a band-aide off a fresh wound. Dylan cleared his throat and fidgeted with the faucet.
