are all seated there, and the way they’re looking at Selene, damn near eye-fucking her in her work outfit, doesn’t sit well with me.
“Is Papa sick?” Luna suddenly asks, dragging my attention away from her mother and the guys at the table.
My brows pull together in a frown. “What makes you ask that?”
My happy little girl grows serious. “At the party, that lady you were talking to said something to her friend. She said the only reason me and Mommy are here is because Papa is sick. Then she said he’s going to die.”
Fury burns in my chest. The flames lick at my organs, incinerating me from the inside out. I press my lips in a hard line and my nostrils flare, working to tamp down my anger. What the hell am I supposed to say to that? The only reason I spoke to Holly was because I didn’t want to be a dick, especially not in front of my daughter. We are still getting to know each other, and I didn’t want to tell Holly to “fuck off” in front of Luna. Some other part of me wanted to forget about the awkwardness between us. We were once friends before anything else.
I haven’t thought about her in years. She was a close friend, but sometime during high school, that changed. I’ve never been in love, and I think that’s what bothers Holly the most about our previous relationship. The fact that I was never able to let myself go and fall for her. I came to the conclusion long ago that she just wasn’t the right girl for me. I didn’t feel a spark when I was with her. All I felt was comfortability. It was easy being with her. I didn’t have to think twice about anything.
But with Selene? I’ve feel that spark, that tug of magnetism when we’re in the same room. It’s as if my body knows her frequency the second she steps into a room. I think that spark has always been there; she just doesn’t know it. I felt it that first night I got into town. When I locked gazes with a beautifully soft girl who was standing amongst a sea of sugar, it was a jolt to the system, the fact that I wanted to know more about her. She doesn’t know this, but over the years, when we’d run into each other, I could recall every moment spent with her. Hell, the only instance I don’t clearly remember with her is the night at the creek.
This is what they call fate, I think. This electricity, this magnetism. This strange feeling in my gut.
She was always so quiet and soft-spoken. So goddamn beautiful. She had this purity about her, this light that made you want to leave her untouched and merely watch and admire her from a distance. That’s exactly what I did all those years. She may believe she was invisible to everyone all those years ago, but she’s wrong. It was painfully obvious Selene was the most beautiful girl in town. That hasn’t changed.
The fact that Holly would let that slip in front of my daughter says a lot about her. She hasn’t changed one bit since high school. This is exactly her MO. She’s immature, doesn’t care about anyone but herself, and obviously doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. The whole town knows Gavin is sick, but that doesn’t mean they’re gossiping about it in front of him and his family.
I grip at the back of my neck, trying to find the correct way to tackle this. I may be her father, but Gavin is Selene’s father. I don’t know if they plan on talking to Luna if things begin to deteriorate, or if they’ll keep her in the dark until he’s ready. Hell, I don’t even know what I want to do. I don’t want to lie to her, but I don’t want to break my daughter’s heart either. I’ve seen how much she loves her Papa Gavin, and losing him will be devastating for her.
“Why haven’t you asked your mom?”
Luna shrugs. “I think it might make Mommy sad. I told Papa last night that I wanted a little brother or sister to play with, and he looked like he was gonna cry.”
It takes me a second to process her words. “You want a little brother or a sister?”
She nods. “I want a real family.”
Her innocent words are a puncture to the heart. Pain seeps into