Chapter 27

LILY

“You seem happy,” my dad says as I hum, making us both coffee.

“I am happy,” I reply, pausing to look at him. He appears happier now than he did when Mom was around.

“I like you being happy,” he says, prompting a laugh from me.

“Why are you being so cringe?” I hand him his coffee and sit next to him.

“Can’t I just be happy you’re happy?” He laughs.

“You can. But don’t be weird about it,” I say, giving him a side-eye that makes him laugh again.

“Are you excited about going back to school?” He begins to fidget in his seat a bit, which makes me suspicious.

“What is it?” I ask, not wanting to pretend to have a normal conversation before he drops whatever it is on me.

“How do you always know I have something to tell you?” he asks, his shoulders dropping.

“You’ve been my dad for nearly nineteen years. I can read you like an open book,” I state matter-of-factly, causing his mouth to twitch slightly toward a smile before he quickly hides it.

“It’s your mom…”

This causes me to slam my mug down. “What about her?” I snap, not mad at him, but the mere mention of Mom pisses me off.

“She has officially filed for divorce,” he says.

I sit up straight at Dad’s words. “Oh, that’s great! You’ll finally be free of her.”

“That is the good news,” he says, smiling for a brief second.

“Is she trying to take everything? Because she doesn’t deserve anything. I’ll back you.”

I can’t believe she deserves anything, but I could see her trying to get the house and whatever money she can get her greedy hands on. I’ll help Dad fight for everything.

“She has asked to talk to you,” he says.

I’m shaking my head before he can even finish his sentence. “I’m not talking to that bitch again,” I spit out.

There’s no way in hell I’m talking to her. I’m still pissed she ambushed me. I’ve talked about her a lot in therapy, and I’ve decided that I need to protect myself and my feelings. Talking to her would not help me in any shape or form.

“She said she could tell you about your biological dad,” my dad tells me, which also pisses me off.

“I don’t care about him! I have a dad!” I don’t realize I’ve gotten to my feet and am yelling until Dad puts his hands on my shoulders.

“Lily. Calm down.” His voice is calm.

“I don’t want to see her,” I repeat, fighting back my tears. “Please don’t make me see her.”

“I won’t,” Dad confirms.

Before I know it, I’m sobbing into his chest as he strokes my hair, trying to calm me down.

“Everything is okay,” he says, rocking his body side to side. “I won’t make you see her. You don’t have to see her.”

He continues reassuring me as my tears slowly start to stop.

“I’m sorry I ruined your good mood,” Dad says once I pull back and wipe my eyes and nose on my sleeve.

“You can make it up to me by taking me out for a hot coffee,” I half-joke, gesturing at our now cold coffees on the bench.

“I can do that,” he says with a smile, but his eyes are sad.

“Dad,” I say, clearing my throat. “Even though you sucked at being a dad for a couple of years, I’m still glad you’re my dad.” I mean it.

“I’m glad you’re my daughter too,” he says with a smile, but it still doesn’t reach his eyes.

I don’t say anything else while I grab my shoes and coat. Confronting Mason worked, so maybe confronting Dad will snap him out of this sad funk he’s in because I know that he’s hiding something else, and I’m going to get it out of him today.

Dad drives us to the coffee shop he used to take me to when I was a little girl. I smile, remembering how we used to come here after my swimming lessons for hot chocolate and a slice of cake.

Then I remember he would bring me here when Mom would yell at me for crashing my bike into the letterbox, for being too loud, for crying when I fell over.

Wow. How had I not realized how badly Mom treated me, even when I was just a little girl? Then Dad would swoop in and make me feel like the most special girl in the world.

“Why would you bring me here?” I question him as we walk inside. The smell of coffee and chocolate chip cookies fills my nostrils.

“My mom would take me here when I was a kid,” he says, winking.

“You never talk about your parents.”

“My dad died when I was sixteen, and Mom died when I was a freshman in college,” he says, shrugging, not seeming overly sad about it.

“Hmm,” I hum, wondering what they were like. If they were amazing, loving parents and he’s too sad to talk about them, or if they were assholes, and that’s why he doesn’t want to talk about them. But that’s not important right now—that’s another day’s problem.

We order coffee, and I get a brownie because they look absolutely delicious, then sit down near the window. I really want to blurt all my questions right now, but I wait until our coffees are dropped off. Then I start my questions.

“What are you hiding from me?”

“What?” Dad is so surprised by my question that he chokes on his first sip of coffee.

“What are you hiding from me?” I repeat, looking him dead in the eye.

“I’m not hiding anything,” he says, looking down at his coffee and flicking his eyes all around the room, pretty much anywhere but at me.

“Tell me the truth.” I raise one of my eyebrows at him.

“It’s…” He sighs. “It’s just everything with your mom and work. Your mom, sh—”

“Don’t call her that,” I cut him off.

“Heather,” he corrects before continuing. “She’s been on my ass about you since I kicked her out of the hospital, telling me you’re not even mine and that your real dad—”

“You are my real dad,” I interrupt.

“That your biological dad—”

I interrupt him again, saying, “Sperm donor.”

He chuckles at that one.

“Whatever you call him, he wants to meet you, apparently.”

Now it is my turn to choke on my coffee. “Why now?” I ask, wiping my mouth with my napkin.

“Heather let it slip that he is a football fanatic and found out you’re dating Mason.”

“Wait, wait. She still talks to him?” I question, making Dad sigh sadly.

“I don’t think she ever stopped. He works at the same company as me and started traveling not long before she joined me,” he explains.

God, she’s a disgusting whore.

“What does Mason have to do with him wanting to meet me?” I ask, biting into my brownie.

“Mason’s the best freshman QB in fifty years,” Dad states as if that explains everything. It takes a second, but then it clicks in my head. If Mason goes pro, he’ll have all the benefits that go with it.

“Well, next time she talks to you, tell her that she and her stupid man whore can go fuck themselves,” I state, making Dad’s eyes go wide.

“Lily Jane Bennett, your language is terrible,” he says, laughing and looking more relaxed now as he leans back in his seat and begins sipping his coffee.

“What’s wrong with work?” I ask, leaning back as well.

“You are very nosy today,” Dad comments casually.

“I’m always nosy.”

This makes him laugh again and nod in agreement. “It’s just boring.” He sighs.

I burst out laughing. I never thought my dad would say something was boring.

“Don’t laugh at me,” he fake grumbles.

I laugh again. “Why don’t you do some traveling again?” I ask casually. I thought he would’ve started traveling again when I started college.

“Will you be okay?” he asks, worried about how I am emotionally. After Mason broke my heart, I went straight home and cried and cried to Dad.

I think about it for a moment. Mason promised we would never have to go through that again. I have full faith that Mason will keep his promise. I feel like we’re stronger than we were before and that nothing can come between us.

“I’ll be okay,” I confirm with a smile. “But you’ll come back if I need you, right?”

“Of course.” He nods.

“Are you sure you’d be okay with that though?” Dad double-checks.

I roll my eyes. “Yes! In fact, first thing Monday, you need to tell whatever your boss’s name is that you want to.”

***

Two days after Dad and I have our emotional conversation, I find myself cuddled up on the sofa, waiting for Mason to come around with food. We plan to have lunch together before driving back to school.

When I hear the front door open, I don’t move, knowing that he will come straight in and join me right here. But when I hear unfamiliar footsteps, I frown and sit up just as they walk into the living room.

“What are you doing here?” I exclaim, jumping to my feet and letting the blanket fall to the ground. I instantly feel my whole body tense up, hoping like hell Mason will walk in the door any second. I can’t be alone with her. I need someone stronger than me to get her out of here.

~Hurry up, Mason!~

“God, Lily, don’t you have any self-respect left?” my birth giver snaps as she takes in my sweatpants, fluffy socks, and Mason’s sweater.

“Get out,” I order, pointing to where she just came from. My jaw clenches harder than it ever has before.

“I shouldn’t be surprised that you and Murray can’t keep a house clean.” She tsks, adjusting one of the stupid throw pillows on the armchair.

“I don’t want you here,” I say as my heart begins to pound hard in my chest. I don’t want this woman anywhere near me.

“I need to talk to you, Lily,” she says, standing directly in front of the TV and smoothing out her skirt. Who wears a pencil skirt when it’s fucking snowing?

“I don’t want to talk to you,” I repeat, feeling my legs begin to shake with anxiety.

“I am your mother.” Her voice used to give me comfort, but now I want to stick my fingers in my ears, curl up into a ball, and hide from her under my blanket. Instead, I dig my fingernails into my palms as hard as I possibly can.

“Your dad wants to meet you,” she says, making me clench my teeth.

“I have a dad,” I snap at her, kicking the blanket out of my way, wishing it was her. She doesn’t even try to hide her eye roll.

She wants to pick it up, I know, so I purposely kick it farther into the middle of the room just to annoy her more.

“You need to leave,” I demand, releasing my fists only for a moment.

“Your dad wants to meet you,” she repeats.

“I told you I have a dad,” I snap back, yelling now. “And I don’t want to meet this other dude, and I don’t want you in my life!” God, I hope this gets through her thick skull, and she will walk out the door and never come back.

“Stop it, Lily,” she hisses at me.

“No! I don’t want to talk to you. Get out!” I scream.

“Just listen to me, you little bitch,” my birth giver says, raising her voice as she grabs the top of my arm, making me freeze. My body doesn’t just feel tense now; it feels like it is made of stone and it is impossible to move, just like when she showed up in my dorm.

I can’t let that happen again. I deserve better. I need to stand up for myself.

“Murray is not your dad. He never wanted you. I wish I had listened to him because I have regretted having you every single day. Now you need to pay me back for everything I’ve done for you and give me and your real dad the life we deserve.”

“You’re a crazy bitch,” I spit out. I become unfrozen and try to pull my arm out of her grip, but she digs her nails into me.

“No one has ever wanted or cared about you,” she sneers venomously.

Before I know what I am doing, my hand has risen, and I slap her straight across her cheek.

“You’re wrong. I have so many people who love me: Mason, Brittany, Liam. Dad! And guess what? He didn’t have to stay and raise me, to love me like his own child, but he did. Unlike you. Now, get the fuck out of my house.”

“You slapped me!” she exclaims, clutching her cheek.

“Get out of my house,” I seethe.

Her eyes scanned my face, almost as if to see if I am serious. When she realizes I am, she gives me one final look of disgust before she stomps out of my house and, hopefully, out of my life forever.

As she walks away, I feel my body completely relax. The tension in my muscles dissipates, and my palms are grateful that I’ve stopped digging my nails into them.

I drop my shoulders and take a deep breath.

My name is Lily Bennett, and I’m a boss-ass bitch.