Page 60 of My Best Friend's CEO Dad

My days of lying to Kayla are long behind me. “Yeah,” I tell her. “I see it.”

“How couldn’t you?” she whispers. “How couldn’t anyone? They’re in love. I’ve always wanted to see them happy—both of them and look. If this isn’t happiness, I don’t know what is.”

There’s no way for me to possibly disagree with her. I’ve been around enough misery to be able to identify the opposite.

“But it’s still wrong,” she says, turning back to them. “You still went behind my back. You still lied. You still betrayed me.”

“I know,” Lukas says, sighing. “Oh, Kayla… there’s nothing I can say. There’s no excuse.”

“You have to say something.” She coughs back a sob.

“Just that… if you could ever find your way to giving us your blessing, I promise you’ll never have to worry about choosing between us. You’ll never have to worry about us breaking up. This is real.”

“It is,” Maci says. “It’s the most real thing I’ve ever felt. I didn’t even think I could feel something like this—that I deserved something like this. I just hate that he happens to be your dad. I wish I could explain where this feeling comes from.”

Kayla glances at me. Her hand is so tight around mine now that it’s starting to hurt, but I don’t care. I’d let her shatter every bone in my hand if it comforted her.

Slowly, a smile twitches at the edge of her mouth. She’s got the most infectious, beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. I remember back when we were messaging on the dating app, trying to convince myself she was ugly, trying to convince myself I disliked her. It would be easier to manipulate her that way, but I never could. It’s impossible.

“What if you change?” she asks. “You can’t promise you’ll always feel this way.”

CHAPTER 31

LUKAS

“Yes, we can,” I say fiercely when Kayla says we can’t promise we’ll always feel this way. I’ve been struggling not to reach over and take Maci’s hand all this time. I can hear the agony in her voice every time she speaks.

Kayla must be able to tell because she gestures and says, “It’s okay, Dad. You can hold her hand.”

A small flurry of warmth courses through me at this. I take Maci’s hand, squeezing tightly—probably as tightly as Finn is holding Kayla’s. Nobody could argue this is a normal setup, but it works for us.

“How can you know?” Kayla says.

“I just knew the second I saw her,” I say seriously. “My life would always be split into two: before Maci and after Maci. I’m not the same man I was then. Too much has changed. Maci has changed me. The guilt has changed me. Sebastian’s betrayal has changed me. But one thing will never change: my determination to be with my woman and my dedication to her. That will always be with me.”

“With us,” Maci whispers.

Kayla lets go of Finn’s hand and stands up, pacing up and down in front of us. “I believe you,” she says, a note of awe in her voice. It makes me think of when she was a kid at the science fair, and she saw a papier mâché volcano. It’s a volcano, Daddy, with the same astonishment in her voice. “I do believe you.”

I look at Maci. Her eyes are glistening with tears and hope. She swallows, and we both turn to Kayla.

“If I decide not to wage World War III over this,” she says, standing at the head of the coffee table like a politician making a pronouncement, “I need to make something clear… to all three of you.” She pauses. “No more lies. No more sneaking around. From now on, the truth, always. No matter what. I prefer the nasty truth over a pretty lie, okay? Please? Just do that for me.”

“I swear,” I tell her, getting choked up. “No more lies, Kayla.”

“No more lies,” Finn says. “I promise.”

“No more lies.” Maci’s voice cracks. “I’m so sorry.”

Kayla rushes around the table, sitting next to Maci. They hug each other tightly. I’m struggling to believe this is really happening. I’m sure I will wake up at any moment. We’ll be standing outside Kayla’s door. This is just too perfect. Do I really have the chance to be with my woman and keep my daughter in my life?

Finn meets my eye with a smile. I return the smile. Maci and Kayla sink into a deeper hug.

After drinking our coffees and brewing some more—it’s that sort of day—Kayla suggests we play Scrabble. It feels so surreal I let out a laugh. Kayla looks at me sharply, and I wonder if it’s too soon to laugh, but then she starts laughing, too. That gets Maci going, and then Finn joins in. All four of us are laughing like mad people.

Kayla wipes a tear from her eye, looking at me with a big cheesy grin on her face.

“I’ll get the board,” she says.

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