He reaches for his coffee and takes a sip. “This Lola seems nice, though.”
I smile to myself. If only he knew how nice Will thinks she is.
Right on cue, Will walks into the kitchen, and Julian quickly drops my hand. Shit.
“Hey.” He smiles at his daughter. “You’re looking better.”
“Can Lola sleepover?”
“Sure.”
I frown. “Where will she sleep?”
“In my room, on my trundle bed.”
What?
“That’s fine, sweetheart.” Julian puts his arm around her. “Have fun, hey?”
What the fuck? She’s sixteen and vulnerable. She’s not in any state to be having her first sexual experience with an older woman right under her father’s nose.
Jesus Christ. Can this day get any harder?
Willow smiles. “Thanks.” She bounces back upstairs.
My pulse seems to blare in my ears. I need to tell him my suspicions. But they are just suspicions. Julian stands and puts his arms around me. “Let’s go to bed early and have makeup sex.”
“Uh, yeah,” I say, distracted.
Maybe they are just friends… I know they’re not. She’s only sixteen.
What if something happens and Willow goes completely off the rails. She’s too fragile to be doing this right now. I have to stop it, so I stand.
“I’m going to go and make sure they have enough blankets.”
“Okay, babe. I’ll lock up.”
I walk up to Willow’s room and stand outside the closed door. Sammy is already asleep after staying up so late last night looking for Maverick.
My heart is hammering in my chest. How the hell do I approach this?
I knock on the door as quietly as I can.
“Just a minute,” Willow calls, already sounding guilty.
Shit, does she have a lock on this door?
She opens it in a rush, and I glance in. Lola is lying on her bed and Willow already looks dishevelled. Jesus, were they making out?
“Can I speak to you for a minute, Will?”
Willow frowns. “Sure.”
I take her down the hall until there’s nowhere else to go. I quickly pull her into Julian’s room. “Take a seat.”
“What’s wrong?” She asks.
I take both her hands in mine as we sit on the bed. “You know I love you, right?” I whisper.
Will frowns.
“I don’t think that it’s appropriate that Lola stays over just yet.”
“Why not?”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “Well, you only just met.”
She watches me, and I can tell she’s trying to figure out if I know. “So? We want to get to know each other better.”
My eyes search hers. “Will…” I whisper.
She frowns. “How do you know?”
I smile softly. “I could tell as soon as I saw the way you looked at each other.”
Tears fill her eyes. “Are you going to tell Dad?” she whispers in a panic.
I shake my head. “No, baby. You have to do that when you’re ready.” I brush my hand over her hair. “But you’re only sixteen, I can’t, with a clear conscience, let Lola stay over.”
She drops her head and tears fill her eyes. “Do you hate me now?”
“What? No.” I take her in my arms. “Why would I hate you? There is nothing wrong with this. You are perfect exactly as you are.” I kiss the top of her head.
“Please don’t tell Dad. I’m just trying to figure this out,” she begs.
“I know.” I hug her tight. “And you will, I know you will.”
“I love you, Brell,” she whispers against my shoulder. “You’re the first person who has ever been on my side.”
“I love you too, baby.” I kiss the top of her head and she holds me tight.
“What are you two doing up here blubbering?” Julian asks as he casually walks into his room.
We pull back from each other and wipe our eyes. “We’ve just had a shitty week, haven’t we, pumpkin?” I smile.
“Yes.” Willow stands, still wiping away her tears. “Dad, Lola can’t stay now. She has to work in the morning.”
“Okay.” He shrugs. “Whatever.”
Will walks out and disappears down the hall.
“What was that about?” Julian frowns.
My heart drops. I have to lie to him, even though I know it’s wrong.
It’s not my secret to tell.
“Nothing, just emotion overload,” I say sadly.
Julian’s hand cups my jaw and he brings my face up to his. “You okay?” he whispers as he studies my face.
I smile and nod. The lump in my throat hurts as I try to hold back more tears. Willow has such a hard road ahead of her. It’s overwhelming and my chest hurts.
I’m not okay.
An hour of crying and a shower later, I finally crawl into bed. I’m exhausted from not sleeping last night and I’m hoping everything will seem better in the morning. Julian had to wait for Lola to leave before he could come down. He’s probably fallen asleep by now. He’s tired, too, after searching for our mischievous kitten all night. I get a vision of him walking around outside in the dark with a flashlight and it makes me smile.
He makes out he’s so tough, but I know the truth.
The door creaks open slowly, and then I hear the lock click. Knowing he’s here makes me smile into my pillow.
He comes around to my side of the bed. “Hey,” he whispers.
“Hi.” I smile up at him. Last night was the first night we slept apart since we became a thing. I missed him.
He slowly undresses and crawls under the blankets beside me, taking me into his arm. The second I cling to him my emotions rise again and I tear up.
“What’s wrong, baby?” he whispers.
The lump in my throat aches so bad. “I’m just tired, and I’m scared for Will.”
“It’s okay. She’ll be okay, I promise you.” He leans up to rest on his elbow, offering me a kiss of reassurance
“Promise me that whatever happens, you will always be on her side,” I beg him softly.
He frowns down at me. “You know I will. I love her. Of course, I’ll always be on her side.”
I imagine how he is going to react when he finds out she might be gay and it makes more tears run down my face. He won’t cope with it. I know he won’t. I can’t imagine how scared she must be.
He leans closer. “Hey,” he whispers, pushing the hair back from my face. “What’s causing all these tears?”
I shrug and force a smile.
“Roll over,” he tells me.
I roll over so that my back is to him, and he wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheek. “Go to sleep, baby. You’re delirious.”
I feel so safe in his arms and I close my eyes as he trails kisses over my shoulder. “I love you,” he murmurs into my hair.
Guilt hits me in the chest. “I love you, too.”
It’s been two weeks since Will has been to school. The two girls who did it were expelled, but it doesn’t really matter to us anymore. Joseph and Frances thankfully talked Julian into letting Willow leave that school, and now she is working at Masters Group as a trainee, and a tutor is coming in and doing lessons with her every afternoon. She’s happy and smiling for the first time in a long time. Today is her first soccer game. She’s not playing any of the nasty girls, and we all agreed that her sporting activities are something she should never give up.
I sit in my fold up chair next to Julian so we can watch the game.
“Julian?” Jessica calls as she power walks over to us. “Have you been hiding from me, darling?” She rests her hand on his shoulder. “What are you doing tonight?”
My eyes flicker over to him and I give him the look. I’m sick of this bitch cracking onto my man in front of me.
Julian seems to get the hint. “Can you take your hand off me, please?” He sighs.
“What?” Her face falls in surprise.
“I don’t like the way you touch me every time you talk to me,” he mutters dryly.
I keep my eyes on the field and bite the inside of my mouth to stop myself from smiling. Awkward.
“Oh.” She frowns, as if flustered. She straightens her shirt to try and regain her composure. “Well, what are you doing tonight?”
“I’m going out with my girlfriend.”
I keep my eyes on the field, pretending not to listen.
“You have a girlfriend?” she asks, even more horrified than before.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Her mouth falls open. She’s never heard him be so blunt, and I just want to punch the air to celebrate.
“Oh.” She frowns harder. “Well, it’s not serious, is it?”
“Very. I’m completely off the market.”
I can’t help it, my smile does break through this time, and I stand in a rush. “I’m going to get coffee,” I blurt out.
“I’ll come, too.” Julian stands.
“Oh.” Jessica’s face pales completely. “Catch you later then, I suppose.”