Page 24 of Hot Dad Summer

He sat up. “You can’t possibly understand, Daisy.”

“You’re right. I’ve never lost someone so important to me.” I took a deep breath and held it for ten seconds before blowing it out. I was angry but it didn’t feel right to dump that anger on the lap of the broken man sitting before me. “We can pretend it never happened. Just come home for dinner with Hazel. She misses you.”

I took several steps back and dipped my head in some strange kind of bow. I didn’t have a clue why I’d done it but I just had to get out of there before I lashed out.

Wes stood up suddenly and took a step towards me. “That’s all you have to say?”

My hands balled into fists at my sides. “What more do you want?”

“Do you regret it?”

I let out a quiet laugh and turned away from him. “Does it matter? I’m going to bed, Wes. Get some rest. You look like crap.”

I managed to keep my chin up until my bedroom door clicked shut. Then I threw myself into my bed and groaned into a pillow. That had gone way worse than I expected. I wasn’t sure that I shouldn’t get a ride to the airport and flee. I wasn’t sure I could face Wes knowing that he saw me as a giant mistake. Imagining it was way better than the reality of seeing the truth on his face and knowing it was because I was the first women he’d touched since his wife.

I squeezed my eyes shut and fought hard to remember I’d just been dumped by my long-term boyfriend and that it wasn’t right for me to feel even an inkling of something for his brothers, much less jealousy over the wife one of them was still mourning. Everything would be fine. We were all going to be responsible and respectful. Starting right then.

19

***Daisy***

“What’s wrong?” Flynn sat in the Adirondack chair next to me and didn’t even bother pretending to look at the stunning sunset in front of us. He stretched his long legs out in front of him while watching me with an intensity that made me want to squirm. “You look…murderous.”

I felt it. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes while offering him my phone. “Brooke took her new boyfriend to meet our parents.”

Flynn’s energy changed when he saw the picture that had been shared by the Oopsie Daisy Bakery account. Brooke and Tyler were visiting our parents in Belize. Our parents, who knew Tyler and I had been a thing for four years and had listened to me talk about starting a family with him one day, were hugging Tyler tight with massive grins on their faces. It was a warm and cozy photo that made their sordid affair feel like a romcom instead of horror.

“Didn’t you introduce Tyler to your parents-”

“As my boyfriend and future husband? Yeah, I did.” I gripped the chair arms hard enough to make the wood creak. “They know who he is and what he had to have done to me to be there with Brooke instead of me. They just don’t care.”

“That’s a whole new level of fucked up.” He hesitated for a moment and then took a deep breath. “Are you going to do something about it?”

I opened my eyes and met his probing gaze. “What do you mean?”

His smile was boyish as he shrugged one big shoulder. “I mean… Are you going to do something about it? She’s posting about the boyfriend she stole from you on your business page after you told her to stop. She’s with your parents, acting like one big happy family while knowing she hurt you. You’ve been sad and you’ve been angry, but you haven’t been vengeful.”

A dark feeling welled up inside of me. He was right. I hadn’t even considered punishing the traitors for what they’d done. I was so used to my toxic need to earn everyone’s love that I’d never considered doing exactly the opposite. My whole life had been a giant effort to do everything right and to be the kindest and most gracious person ever because people didn’t walk away from people who gave them everything they wanted. But they did. They did walk out after taking everything you had to give and they did it while smiling about it. Hell, my parents had taught me to be useful and I’d become useful as a personality trait and they’d walked away as soon as they could. Then they welcomed the man who’d cheated on me into their screwed up little family with open arms.

“I don’t know what’s happening in your head but I think I like it.” Flynn seemed to reach his limit with how far apart we were because he stood up and picked me up just to sit down in my chair and pull me back down, on his lap. “That’s better.”

I froze and shot him a reproachful look. “This isn’t what we talked about, Flynn.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his chest as he leaned back in the chair. “You talked. I didn’t. I never signed anything agreeing with your idea of space and boundaries and whatever else you said.”

I stiffened and twisted around so I could see his face. He kept his arms around me and had the audacity to look smug about it. “Flynn. You know this is too messy. We can’t. I’m-”

“Do me a favor, sweetheart.” He waited until I gave him my full attention to continue. “Let me hold you as you plan their destruction.”

No matter how hard I searched his face for the punchline, I found nothing but open sincerity. There was hunger but the fire was banked as he offered nothing more than comfort. It didn’t fit the idea of him that I’d built over three years of seeing his shameless flirting with anyone and everyone. The playboy persona was nowhere to be seen and that scared me just as much as everything else about the three Calloway brothers I was living with. He was serious. Flynn Calloway wanted to hold me and he was serious about it.

“B-but…” My voice trailed off. After a cursory look around to make sure no one was watching us, I blew out a rough breath and then sank back into his chest. “Okay. But just for now.”

“Afraid I’m going to get attached to you?” He was clearly set on breaking me because his voice was rough enough against my ear that I gave an involuntary shiver. “I hate to tell you, Daisy, but everyone and everything that comes into contact with you gets attached. I’m just another one of your victims. The only reason it didn’t happen three years ago is because Tyler got in my way.”

I swallowed hard. “Shut up, Flynn. You’re just talking to hear yourself talk now.”

He let out a low laugh and rested his hands on my soft stomach, holding me in a way that Tyler never had. Flynn wasn’t tolerating my soft parts to get access to the rest of me; Flynn was appreciating the soft parts on his way to the rest. He wasn’t afraid to touch my stomach. The way he flexed his thick fingers on it made me tremble from the appreciation I could feel pouring out of him. I was simply existing in my body and his touch was revered, like he was touching something priceless.