[BOOK2]
Friendship built their world. Love will break it open. ❤️
*****
I want her.
I want her more than I've ever wanted anything.
But I can't have her. Because the moment I admit that out loud, the moment I risk everything we've built, I could lo...
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No, no, no.
I turned around slowly—because maybe if I moved slow enough, reality would have the decency to pause and wait for me. But no. There he was.
Tall. Commanding. Dark navy suit crisp enough to cut glass. Arms crossed. Brow lifted.
Looking every inch like the man who once terrified every boy who so much as looked at me for longer than 0.2 seconds.
And here I was. Standing in front of him. With Theo.
I hadn't even told Mum about Theo yet. Well... I hadn't told her officially. She probably knew—her sixth sense for sniffing out my love life was borderline witchcraft. But Dad?
That was a whole different game. That was four days of silence, a sacrifice to the moon, and maybe a blood offering to make sure he didn't combust on the spot. The price of being Daddy's little girl.
Because this? This would not be brushed off.
Dad loved hard. Protected harder. And Theo... he'd survive. Eventually. After persuasion. And maybe some medical leave.
But Jake? Jake was the reason I learned how to keep secrets.
I never told Dad about Jake. I didn't need to. I knew exactly how that would end. Jake wouldn't have just been disapproved of—he would've been ended. As in: gone. Finished. Buried under the patio.
And honestly? I wouldn't have blamed him.
"Dad?" My voice cracked as I blinked at him, brain buffering like bad Wi-Fi. "What—what are you doing here?"
He arched one eyebrow, that trademark move that made grown men want to dig their own graves. "I could ask you the same question. Or better yet..." His gaze flicked to Theo, slow and deliberate. "...who you're doing it with."
Theo cleared his throat and actually stepped back, like retreating half a foot would make him less noticeable. Goosebumps climbed his neck. Poor guy. Fair enough.
I launched myself at my dad before things could combust, wrapping my arms around his middle and burying my face in his shoulder. He smelled like home—like leather and fresh air and way too much of the spicy aftershave Mum always told him to use less of.
"You didn't tell me you were coming home early!" I mumbled against his jacket.
He held me like he'd been gone years instead of months, one big hand splayed across my back, protective as always.
"Wanted to surprise you," he said, gruff but warm. "Flight landed an hour ago."
My heart thudded unevenly. "Did Mum know?"
His mouth curved, not quite a smile. "Of course. Though..." His eyes cut to Theo. "...she didn't mention this."
I twisted toward Theo, narrowing my eyes. He looked suspiciously guilty.
