I’ve been here with Arianna and hung out at the Sweet Shoppe enough to know quite a few of her local friends and acquaintances, and obviously they remember me.
“Hanging out with the old folks, huh?” another one of them, this time dark-haired girl I think is named Lily, pipes up. “He’s your stand in Daddy for the week?”
“Hey, we’re going to get ice cream. Come with us.” The blonde waves me down. “Got to be getting bored hanging out with…” She jerks her head toward Jack who is only a few feet away, leaning in conspiratorially to one of the other girls I don’t know so well, and finishing in a mock whisper, “Grumpy Gus.” She giggles happily, the whole thing in play, but I hear her loud and clear. “I know Dad bod’s are supposed to be the thing right now, but uhhhh…” She grimaces, looking over her shoulder at Jack. “That’s a few too many Dad bod pounds for me. No thanks.”
“Jack!” The dark-haired girl shouts. “We’re going to take Layla for ice cream, okay?”
I want to say no. In fact, I sort of want to punch Willow for what she just said.
But Jack nods and adds, “Make sure she gets at least two scoops. With sprinkles.” He gives me a wink as he turns and continues on his way.
I sigh as they chatter and giggle and I slip on my flip-flops, jumping onto the dock, heading toward the ice cream stand.
Chapter 10
Jack
I stomp through the door of my office, already irrationally angry that Layla is going for ice cream with the girls from town.
That’s what she should be doing. Hanging out with girls her age, eating ice cream and going out to clubs. There’s a twinge of doubt as I think about what Willow said to Lily as I was walking away.
I am old. I’m no hard body either. She said something like Dad bod with a few extra pounds and…that’s about right. How can an overgrown Neanderthal with enough years on him to be her father be the right man for a young, perfect goddess like Layla?
But I know deep down, I can’t let her go. Her life is with me and I have to figure out how not to lose my best friend and my daughter in the process.
My phone goes off again and I pull it from my pocket, looking down to see it’s Carter.
Closing the door to my office, I kick the trash can, sending papers and food wrappers flying across the floor. Then I take a deep breath, force myself to calm the fuck down, and put the phone on speaker as I answer. No time like the present to jump into the abyss.
“Hey,” I manage, my chest tight, my fingers curling into tight fists. “How’s the fire jumping?”
“Well…” he starts and I rub my eye socket with my fingers. “Jack…so, here’s the thing…”
He’s not even asking about Layla? Fuck, something has to be wrong.
“You okay? Did you get hurt?”
“No,” he answers. “It’s not that. I’m fine. But, I have to talk to you about something.”
Relief covers me that he’s not hurt, but my mind is stuck on Layla. Fucking thing is, she could already be pregnant. In fact, if my sixth sense is right, she already is, and telling Carter about us is no longer an option. It’s necessary.
“Jack? Are you there?”
“Yeah, okay, what is it? Thing is, I gotta talk to you about something too, bro.”
The next sixty seconds is a blur as I listen to my best friend, trying not to think of how many painful ways I’m going to kill him.
“Arianna and I…”
“It’s real, Jack…”
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to lose you…but, I’m not going to lose her. I love her.”
“That’s my fucking daughter, you fuck!” I yell, picking up my coffee mug from the desk and shattering it against the wall.
“I know. I’m sorry, man, but this is more than I can explain…”
Rage turns everything red. The irony is lost on me, because right now, all I can think about is my best friend fucking my daughter.
I’m wrecked. So fucking wrecked. But it’s karma. Turnabout in the worst possible way.
I drop down into my chair, my hands in my hair as I slam my elbows onto the desk.
“Dad? Jack?” It’s Arianna’s voice now and the conflict battles inside me. “Please, try to understand, we didn’t mean it to happen. It’s just, well, last time I went to the camp interview… You remember I stayed with Carter and Layla…”
“Don’t fucking say anything else,” I bark, all of it hitting too close to home and the battle inside of me turns into World War III.
“Please…” She’s begging, I can hear the pain in her voice. “Life is too short. I don’t want to hide what I have with—” She’s cut off by a gasp. “Jack?”