Page 17

16

Liam

The acoustics in my open apartment were great for one thing. My dad’s humming carried through the space as he chopped vegetables, and the sound was so familiar, so comforting, that it wrapped around me like a hug.

I should’ve been over there helping, but I was busy being sick. I was currently lying curled up on the couch, facing the back and with a blanket over my head so it was nice and dark. I’d kind of assumed that once Jared and I had cleared the air of all our mistakes, my sour stomach would be a thing of the past, but if anything, it had gotten worse.

Maybe it was food poisoning. I’d been trying out a few new recipes earlier, and I thought one of the cookies was a bit undercooked…

My dad was in town for a work meeting, so he was going to crash in my newly made spare bedroom tonight, but when he knocked on my door, I’d greeted him with a smile—and then promptly took off to the bathroom to puke. Instead of going out for dinner as planned, he’d instructed me to lie down, and then he got straight to work. I had no clue what he was making, but it smelled good .

I heard Dad’s footsteps shuffling closer, then the sound of a mug being set down on the coffee table behind me. “I made you some peppermint tea,” he said quietly, then he lowered himself onto the edge of the couch and rubbed a hand over my back. “Are you feeling better?”

Pulling the blanket down inch by inch using the smallest amount of movement possible, I peeked over my shoulder at him. “Maybe?”

“Do you want to try to sit up?”

I did a full-body scan to see how I felt, and all the ick seemed to have settled to a low simmer, so I took his hand, and together, we got me turned around, feet on the floor. We both froze, assessing. Dad looked poised to carry me to the bathroom. “It’s okay, I’m okay,” I assured him.

He passed me the tea before heading back to the kitchen, and I sipped at it, grateful for a break in whatever was taking a cheese grater to my stomach lining. It was so strange, here one minute and gone the next. “Dinner smells good, Dad. Can I help?”

“Nope. It’s not every day I get to take care of my baby,” he called across the apartment.

“I’m not a baby anymore, Dad.”

“Don’t remind me.” He threw a wink my way. A few minutes later, I watched him ladle soup into a bowl for me. When I went to get up to sit at the table, though, he shook his head. “I know I was always a stickler for eating at the table when you were growing up, but being sick is the exception to the rule. You stay right there. I’ll even come join you. We can watch some of that show you like so much.”

He pretended to hate reality TV, but I had a suspicion it was all a front. He was a closet Lonely Alpha junkie.

“Sure. I’m a big fan of their alpha this year,” I said, stifling a small smirk as I waited for his reaction .

Dad made a choking sound and nearly dropped the bowl of soup he was carrying over. “Bite your tongue! That Leo Schuster is an ass.”

I let out an exaggerated gasp. “Dad! Did you just swear?”

He just laughed and grabbed the remote.

As soon as the soup was cool enough, I brought the bowl to my lap and breathed in the steam. Mmm, there was nothing quite like my dad’s home-made soup. My pops had obviously taught his son everything he’d known in the kitchen before I’d come along. When I brought the first spoonful to my lips, though, I paused. The spoon wobbled, spilling back into the bowl. My gaze grew unfocused as I swallowed, my mouth watering—and not in a good way.

My dad, parental radar pinging in alarm, snatched the bowl from my hands. “Go!”

I was up off that couch in no time and bolted for the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I dropped to my knees and threw up the peppermint tea. My insides turned themselves out until tears were squeezed from my eyes. I was totally wrung out, but even when there was nothing left, my body seemed determined to prove me wrong.

Once I had been reduced to a shaking, gasping lump on the floor, there was a soft knock on the bathroom door. “You okay?” Dad asked, sticking his head through the gap.

“Sure,” I muttered, rubbing a hand over my clammy cheeks.

“I’m just going to run to the store for some saltines and ginger ale. Anything else you want?”

I sighed, taking stock of my medicine cabinet. “Maybe some Gravol and a Gatorade?”

“Lime flavor?” he asked. He knew me so well.

I was still in the bathroom when he came back 15 minutes later. I hadn’t thrown up again, and my stomach had settled, but I was scared to move. I’d managed to grab myself a cloth from under the sink and soaked it in cold water from the tub faucet, and it was draped over the back of my neck, slowly soaking into my shirt.

The door eased open, and Dad set a line of products up along the counter. A box of crackers, a can of ginger ale, a neon-green sports drink, and… a pregnancy test. I stared at it for a long moment, letting the idea wash over me. Then I nodded, said, “Okay,” and reached for the box.

“Do you want to be alone?” Dad asked. “I can go home.” I couldn’t glean a single thing about his calm expression. Was he disappointed in me?

“No. Please stay?” I would never not need my daddy.

He nodded, then closed the door to give me some privacy.

He was waiting for me outside the bathroom when I came out, after peeing on the stick. “And now we wait.”

I slid down the wall to sit on the floor with my knees raised. With a little less grace, my dad lowered himself to sit beside me. I leaned my head on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything, didn’t ask about the alpha or say a single word to scold me. I appreciated the quiet comfort.

I thought of how scared my dad must’ve been when he took a test, pregnant with me. He’d been so young, and his boyfriend hadn’t been the type to support him. We were probably better off without him in the end, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t missed having an alpha dad around.

“How come you never got married?” I asked. I knew he’d dated a few guys over the years because Pops used to babysit me on date nights, but I couldn’t remember meeting a single one of them.

He took a long, slow breath, thinking about his answer. “I guess the easy answer would be that I never found someone worth my time. It wasn’t just me I had to think about, and even if they were okay boyfriends, I couldn’t imagine any of them as your father. I wasn’t about to settle for some random guy.”

“How do I know if he’s worth my time?” I whispered. And then, as tears threatened to spill, I forced out the root of all my fears. “Or if I’m worth his?”

“Oh, sweetheart. You’re worth the world, and he’s a fool if he doesn’t see that.” Dad pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “You won’t know the answers to these questions until you talk to him.”

I brushed the tears away with the back of my hand, sniffling. “I know.” Really, though, I was pretty sure I already knew the answers. Jared wasn’t the type of guy to run from responsibility. Not after what it’d been like for him growing up with just his mom. Even if he and I didn’t work out, he’d be here for me.

But that didn’t mean I didn’t want him for myself in all other ways…

My moment of introspection was interrupted by the timer, and I forced myself to stand on wobbly legs. “Moment of truth.”

I walked slowly into the bathroom, eyes focused on the tiles beneath my feet, then dragged my gaze to the white plastic stick. “Oh!” My breath left me in a rush, leaving me stunned… and so unbelievably happy.

CAN WE CHANGE THE CHANNEL?

RimJobbins: Who changed the chat name? The answer is no.

CreamyJoe: I did. I need to hijack the chat for a minute.

Dripdrip69: No dealio. All LA, all the tim e

MuffinTop: Be nice, guys. What’s up, Joe? Everything okay? You can call me, you know.

CreamyJoe: I’m good, just a total coward, and I feel like I might need the support if this goes sideways.

CreamyJoe: I really like you, Muffin. You mean a lot to me. Like… a lot, a lot. More than you should. And I know we were going to move slow and everything, but what would you say if we accidentally skipped like a dozen steps?

MuffinTop: That depends. Do we get to revisit those steps at a later date? I don’t want to miss a single thing with you.

RainbowRob: OMG you two are stupid cute.

BottomsUp: Tell me about it. You guys need a third?

RainbowRob: Shh! They’re having a moment.

CreamyJoe: Yes to revisiting steps if you still want to after you realize how far ahead we just jumped.

MuffinTop: Wait. What step are we at? Are we going steady? Are we getting married?? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?????

MuffinTop: Are we happy? Please tell me I’m allowed to be happy!!!

MuffinTop: I’M CALLING YOU RIGHT NOW!!

BananaSunday: Hey, would you two say the show brought you together? It would make for great publicity for the network.

BJz4days: Banana, your suit’s showing. No show staff allowed in the chat!