Page 142 of Mountain Daddy
She… what?
I don’t understand.
“Why would you want that?” I ask just as quietly.
“So you are?” She squeals, then hunches forward, going back to being quiet. “You’re really dating?”
I puff out my cheeks, then give her the smallest nod.
When she starts to bounce in her seat, I’m the one to lean closer. “It’s new. And my dad doesn’t know.”
She gasps. “This is so scandalous.” I can’t stop my smile at her reactions. Then she mimes zipping her lips. “He won’t hear it from me.”
I appreciate her immediate answer, but I feel bad about adding yet another person to our growing mountain of lies. “It really doesn’t bother you?”
“The twenty-year age gap? No.”
“Twenty-four,” I correct her.
She snorts. “Even better. Now when I tell Dad I have a boyfriend who’s ten years older than me, he can’t say shit.”
When I was twenty-six, I thought I knew everything, but now that age suddenly seems so young.
“Is it serious?” I ask her, feeling instantly protective.
Ashley beams. “Yeah. He’s great. Is it serious with you two?”
I don’t have a good answer for her.
It feels serious. But we haven’t really talked about it. Haven’t talked about a future between us at all.
I lift a shoulder, confirming without saying.
She leans in more, until our noses are inches apart. “Do you love him?”
The question slides over me like molasses.
Do I love him?
The man who brings me food.
The man who cares for and provides for his family.
The man who can make me laugh and swoon and melt all in one night.
Do I love the man who makes me feel desired?
The man who makes me feel loved, even if I don’t dare ask him for the words.
Do I love Luther?
I lift my shoulder again.
“Oh my god.” She squeals as she reaches for my arms. “I can’t believe it!”
“Can’t believe what?” Luther’s deep voice startles us both.
Ashley shrieks.
