Claimed by My Best Friend's Daddy

ia's

and new fine prints too, the kind of place

ked open on my lap. The cover was worn soft from too many hands, but I can't blame no one, because it had a lovable MMC-dark-haired

end meant another s

ars, and I still c

of him, the way his fingers had known exactly where to press, the low growl of "good girl" against my throa

n measured against that

e. The ache was familiar now-low, persistent, like a bruise that never quite heal

zzed agains

? Lecture ended 20 min ago. I

ld pull me out of my head when I started spiraling into fictional men. She didn't know about the stranger from

y way. Save me a s

, freckles across my nose and cheeks, lips still pouty from biting them while reading. Twenty-five now, and sophomore year st

time, if he'd even recognize

nd it was proba

udents laughing too loud, leaves crunching under boots, someone blasting music from a dorm window. I c

o the wall, whispered filthy promises, an

, and heat crawle

needed

hair spilling over her shoulders, skin the same warm tone as the photos of her mothe

ike I might miss he

er cup toward me. "Latte, extra cinnamon.

nd wrapped my hands around

ed forward, elbows on the table, her grin wicked. "

is? No. And I'm

ut he had the rich-dad energy

I took a sip, let the cinnamon settle on my tongue

for anything serious. You're looking for a fict

rab

sta glanced over. "What? I'm right. Yo

r than reality

rist. "You deserve real, babe. Someone who looks at y

smile. "May

k's coming up soon, and my Dad's insisting I come home for the full two weeks. He said he mis

e sounds like

most wistful. "He's been... quieter lately. I don't know. Work stuff,

opped into still water. Mirabel had never known her, only stories and photos and the quiet grief that still l

e with me," she

. "To you

ll make you drool, and he always over-caters. You'd be doing me a favor-ke

"I don't want

like having someone else around. He gets weird when it's just us-starts t

mpting. A break from campus, from Chris, from scho

aid. "If yo

'll text him now. He'll be thrilled. Or at least he'll pr

looked up with a grin. "Done. Welc

hing strange in my chest-half excit

oliday." I rep