Page 11 of My Best Friend’s Silver Fox Daddy (Yes, Daddy #52)

MARCUS

K elsey hasn’t come out of her room for almost two days.

My every knock goes unanswered, as does every text I’ve sent her.

If I hadn’t heard her sobbing, I might have thought she slipped out of the window like she used to do when she was in high school.

She thought I didn’t know, but I always did.

I had a long talk with her then-boyfriend about it, and he assured me there was nothing untoward happening, that they were just hanging out.

I told him to make sure it stayed that way. He did.

It’s been almost two days, and she hasn’t been out while I’ve been home.

I know she’s hurt. I know she feels betrayed.

And I feel terrible for that. But having had the last couple of days to reflect on it all, and of course, after a long conversation with Mo, I’ve come to realize she’s behaving like a child rather than the twenty-two-year-old adult she is.

Even worse, Mo has made me see that I’m coddling her like she’s still a child.

He helped me realize that by catering and capitulating to her feelings, I haven’t helped her grow and mature.

It’s time that changes. It’s time I begin treating my daughter like an adult and have difficult conversations with her.

Not that it’s going to be easy. She’s been my world for a very long time, and my life has been tailored around her.

Switching that up isn’t going to be easy.

But it is, I see now, very necessary. To that end, on my way home from practice, I picked up some In-N-Out—her favorite.

Call it a bribe to grease the wheels of communication.

Her car is in the driveway when I get home, and the house is silent when I walk in.

A sure sign she’s still upstairs in her room—or maybe that she scurried back to her room when she heard me pulling in.

Walking into the kitchen, I flip on the lights and see an empty glass in the sink, and know it’s the latter.

She’s only coming out of her room when I’m gone. Very mature.

Although I’m still very sympathetic to Kelsey’s feelings, the more I think about it, the angrier I get.

But that anger is mostly directed at myself since I know her behavior and immaturity are mostly my fault.

It’s not just that I’ve made her the center of my entire world, but that I’ve given her tacit permission to run my life.

In anything I’ve done, my first thought has always been, how will Kelsey feel about that?

How will that impact my daughter? In that way, I’ve given her a lot of influence over my life and how I choose to live it. That is my fault.

Putting all the food on a tray, I carry it upstairs and knock on the door.

I hear her shuffle inside, but she doesn’t say anything, fully expecting me to go away again.

Instead, this time, I open the door, give it a push, and let it swing inward.

Kelsey looks up from her phone and immediately scowls at me.

I swallow down the ball of emotion sitting heavy in my chest.

“I didn’t say you could come in,” she hisses.

“My house. I can walk into any room I want,” I tell her. “It’s time we had a talk.”

I step into the room and set the tray down on her desk.

I put her Double Double and fries onto a plate, walk over, and set it down in front of her.

She stares at it for a moment and turns her nose up.

I give her a shrug, walk back to the desk, and drop into her chair.

I unwrap my own burger and take a big bite, watching my daughter, who remains on her bed, legs crossed, arms folded over her chest, a dark, angry glare on her face.

As I sit back in the chair and pop a couple of fries into my mouth, Kelsey’s eyes drift to the burger on the plate in front of her.

I can practically hear her stomach growling from here.

She unwraps her burger daintily and takes a bite, refusing to meet my eyes.

We just sit there eating in silence, not looking at one another for a couple of minutes. It’s ridiculous.

Finished with my burger, I ball up the wrapper and drop it into the bag. I pop a couple of fries into my mouth and wash them down with soda.

“So, are we really just going to sit here not talking to each other?” I ask.

“What is there to say?”

“Well, you can start by telling me why you’re so upset that?—”

“That you’re fucking my best friend?”

“It’s a little more than that, Kelsey.”

“Oh, what, are you in love with her?”

I wash down the words on the tip of my tongue with another drink. She’s not quite ready to discuss the complex emotions involved with all this. I want us to clear the first hurdle before we get into that conversation.

“What I’m saying is that we’re … dating. I mean, we’ve seen a lot of each other the last couple of weeks, and?—”

“Yeah, I can tell by what I walked in on.”

I roll my eyes and do my best to temper my frustration with her. “Kelsey, I like Morgan. She’s a great girl and?—”

“And she’s half your age. Literally.”

“She’s an adult. As you are,” I tell her. “It’s time you start acting like it.”

She recoils like I slapped her. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you’re not a little girl anymore,” I tell her. “Locking yourself in your room and pouting like a child is a little immature, don’t you think? If you have a problem with me seeing Morgan, talk to me like an adult. It’s time you grow up.”

“Fine,” she says. “I have a problem with you seeing Morgan.”

“All right, why?”

“Because she’s my best friend,” she hisses. “Or, at least, she was.”

“Kelsey, I’ve been alone a long time. Mostly because my focus has always been on you.

And I don’t regret that. I’ve wanted to give you all the love and affection of two parents since you’ve only had me,” I tell her.

“But you’re grown up now and you don’t need me as much.

And I’m still alone. With you doing your own thing now, I think it’s all right for me to start living my life and look for happiness.

To look for something more. I think I deserve it. ”

“But why Morgan?”

I sigh. “I … I don’t know. We just connected. It’s not something I was planning or seeking, but she and I started to talk, and we just found a connection between us.”

Tears spill from her eyes, and she turns away for a moment. She wipes her hand over her face and sniffs loudly. Slowly, she turns back to me.

“I think I deserve to be happy, Kelsey. And to have some companionship,” I tell her softly. “I’m sorry you’re upset it’s Morgan, but she makes me happy. She fills a piece of my heart I never thought would be filled again.”

Kesley lowers her gaze for a moment, seeming to be considering my words.

A strange expression crosses her features as if she’s thinking about what I said for the very first time.

It’s then that some of the anger fades from her eyes, and an expression of sadness crosses her face.

She slowly raises her head. “I didn’t realize you were lonely, Dad. ”

I shrug. “I wasn’t. Not really. I mean, I’ve got my team, and more importantly, I’ve got you. But I know it won’t be long before I don’t have you anymore.”

“You’ll always have me,” she says softly. “But I do think you deserve to be happy. I want you to be in love and know that joy again.”

“I’m sorry it’s with your friend.”

“You love her, don’t you?”

“I do.”

The words make her flinch, but then a slow smile touches her lips. “I’m not going to lie, it’s weird.”

“Do you think this is easy for me?” I respond with a chuckle.

“Maybe it’s because you’ve known her for so long that it made it easy for you to fall in love,” she says. “You’ve seen her at her best and at her worst.”

“I have. And maybe there’s something to that. Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m sorry, I never thought about things from your perspective. I’ve been selfish,” she says. “I’ve never thought about everything you sacrificed for me?—”

“And I would do it again,” I tell her. “Happily. You’re my world, Kelsey.”

She slips off her bed and walks over, slipping her arms around me. I lean into her as she squeezes me tightly.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” she whispers, her voice quavering. “I want you to be happy. I want you to be in love. And if it’s with Morgan, honestly, I can’t think of a better woman.”

“Thank you, honey,” I say. “That means more to me than you know.”

She stands up and offers me a shaky smile. “It’s going to take some getting used to, but I’m happy for you guys. I know you’ll treat her the way she deserves.”

“I will,” I promise.

“Good,” she replies. “Now, if you’ll get out, I need to clean myself up.”

“Where are you going?”

She offers me a crooked smile. “To do a little more growing up.”