Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Lucy clears her throat and seems to regain a ton of composure, sitting up straight with both her hands and showing me her knuckles. She reminds me of those school photos they used to get every year, but she’s all grown up now and no slouch at detective work once she has more time to study me and my surroundings.
Her eyes move to the couch and then to me. My shirt. My beltless jeans. My no shoes or socks. She knows. Of course, she knows! Even I can still smell the sex in the air. We were practically drowning in the stuff!
“You still jet-lagged, huh?” Lucy asks, drawing her own conclusions. “You look terrible,” she adds for effect.
“Thanks, I think,” I reply dryly, relieved when the conversation steers away from me, having just fucked her best friend and hiding the evidence in my office bathroom.
Before she draws a breath to tell me, I already know. Call it whatever you want—dad-tuition. You just know sometimes when it comes to your kids, no matter how old they are. I force my calm face, the one I know I should’ve practiced more when Lucy was growing up into a teenage girl. Being the father of an only daughter isn’t easy, and neither is the prospect of the conversation I think I know she’s about to want to have—a fine realization to have so soon after claiming the only daughter of my best friend.
“I-I’ve been dating a boy,” she says, chewing her lip and wringing her hands together, fidgeting on the spot like she needs to use the bathroom.
The thought gives me instant panic, and only because I didn’t break the little prick’s neck when I had the chance earlier.
“Lucy, if he’s…” I hear myself growling, my hands balling into fists and me forgetting all about calm. I almost forget about Beth in the bathroom just long enough for Lucy to shake her head rapidly, even waving her hands before I stop myself from fully erupting into a rage.
“No, no, Daddy! It’s not what you think! I mean, I thought I was, but I’m not. I’m not pregnant, Daddy, and Josh is a fucking asshole!”
It’s the best kind of slap in the face a father can hear, but it only compounds my edginess about Beth’s dad and my oldest friend, Brad.
“Daddy? Did you hear what I said?” Lucy asks again, almost boasting this time when she says it louder. “Not pregnant!”
My mouth quivers somewhere between a smile and the grimace I might make before screaming. However, my composure is trademark when it’s not flying off the handle, so in a second, I’ve recovered myself, asking Lucy in a firmer tone why that should be good news.
“If you’re not, then you thought you were,” I tell her in a somber but not altogether disappointed tone.
“What really bugs me is you couldn’t tell me earlier,” I confess to her, honesty being my new base character trait, right, Bowdie?
Shut up.
Lucy hurls herself at me, needing her father and a big guy who might just wanna wring Josh’s neck. I feel her shivering and notice how stick-thin she is compared to Beth. I notice how cold she feels. I ask if she wants a blanket or something. The shock of her news can be quite literal. The doctor in me sets her down again, lifting a blanket from the back of a chair and draping it over her shoulders like she’s at the scene of an accident, which I guess she will be. We both will be if Beth doesn’t stay put.
I can see the headlines now: “Train Wreck in Downtown Doctor’s Office. Two Dead. Authorities Baffled.”
But Beth does stay put, and I know she must be hearing every word, despite the heavy wooden doors and thick walls. Lucy has a certain way with her announcements, especially when the news is super good or super bad, but it isn’t long before the inevitable.
Lucy wants to freshen up, making for the office bathroom without a word. My reflex is to leap right in front of her, startling her to a gasp. I guess it’s either I lie to her once and add to it or tell the truth and fall where I stand.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Beth
Lucy showing up is just typical. It’s so like her to turn up unannounced, even if she has been trying to call Bowdie and me separately for a couple of hours.
A couple of hours! Bowdie sure has plenty of miles to the gallon, but right now, it should be me in his arms, afterglow, and the rest of the day doing more of the same. I thought that was the plan, anyway, but following Bowdie’s orders to the letter, I lock myself in the bathroom that’s as big as our whole house.
I dress swiftly and quietly, apart from the odd wince and soft moan as I pull my pants back up, gently setting my freshly popped cherry down on the closed seat of the toilet while listening. I shamelessly eavesdrop so I don’t miss a single detail. Lucy not pregnant is the biggest news, and what a relief that is. I’m assuming she didn’t want to be pregnant, so the other big news I catch with a craned neck and big ears is that she finally agrees.