The Babysitter (BWWM)

xvii

I wedged my heel into my shoe and stood up straight.

"Why do you keep doing that?" I squealed, my right hand flying up to my chest an attempt to steady my pumping heart. Sighing, I turned to Lorenzo. He wiped the sleep out of his eyes with his fist, looking exactly like his daughter. I smiled.

"Keep doing what?" I took strides towards him. He shrugged his shoulders as my arms wrapped loosely around his neck, one of my hands combing through his tousled hair.

"You leave and don't say goodbye. You just sneak out like you don't expect me to notice." My hand cupped his cheek.

"I have classes tomorrow. I seem to be forgetting that I have a life outside of you two. How about you and Cami take a Daddy/Daughter day together? Go get some ice cream, take her somewhere, have fun. Cami comes first always. You need to spend time with her today."

A goofy grin grew on his face. His dimples make my body heat up. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he grabbed my face and kissed me. When he pulls away, I have the same goofy grin on my face.

We both probably look like maniacs.

"What was th-"

"I love you." I smiled wider, if possible.

"I love you too, Lorenzo." I pecked his lips once more and turned to walk toward the door. Opening the door, I backed out, my eyes still on him. "Bye, Daddy."

Before the door shut, I heard a low growl.

I took the bus back to my dorm; technically a few busses. The last time my friends saw me, I was delirious. I unlocked the door and walked in, my body immediately tackled to the ground.

"Gabs!" I pushed at her, but she didn't budge.

"Kelianne! Get the hell off me!" I yelled, but the humor was evident in my voice. She squished my cheeks with her perfectly-manicured hands as she peppered my face with kisses. My laughing halted when she laid a big kiss on my lips. My eyes flew open.

"Kels! I told you to stop doing that!"

"I'm sorry! I just missed you so much." I shook my head as she got off of me. She helped me to my feet.

"There is something wrong with you." She scoffed and waved me off.

"Yeah yeah. I get that a lot." I rolled my eyes.

——

My body laid sprawled across my bed. After a good two hours, my body got too tired to keep itself up. I convinced myself to 'close my eyes for two minutes'.

My bed dipped at the foot near my head.

"Hi." I acknowledged their presence. A sigh filled my ears. That's Nate's'I have something to say, but won't say it unless you drag it out of me' sighs.

"Hey."

"You okay?" He gave me a sigh again as my eyes remained closed.

"I- I miss you, Bambi." A small smile is painted on my face.

"I've missed you too, Nate."

"But you don't understand. You got a new boyfriend, whose like ten years older than you, and now you're changing and I feel like you're leaving me behind." I sighed and opened my eyes to look at him. I've seen Nate upset before, but in this moment he looked somewhat scared.

"I'm not leaving anything behind. Definitely not you. I'm just moving forward. Trying to create new things. I could never just forget about you. You piss me off too much." He chuckled and pushed my head.