Page 35 of North
“You can have some for the toast,” I said using my fatherly voice.
“Yeah, it’s just a toast. One glass of wine won’t kill her,” Elijah reasoned with a shrug.
“Hello, I just told you guys I’m now a practicing attorney and you want a minor to drink in my presence.”
“Are you a cop or a lawyer?” Elijah teased.
“I’m just playing around, North. Have a little wine for the toast. I don’t want you to feel left out.”
So I poured her a half-full glass and we all toasted to Melanie’s new job at Schwartz and Bellinger.
While Melanie and Elijah were in their own world, I handed North my glass of wine when she finished the little bit she had. I loved that wild look in her eyes. I was ready to take her home and pin her to the bed while I ate her pussy. I’d been saving it for a time like tonight when I was teetering on the edge of fucking her before the time was right.
“Kane, you’ve got to stop looking at me like that,” she whispered.
“Like what?” I stretched my legs out in front of me and North’s eyes ate up every inch of me until she looked like she was ready to strip out of her clothes in Melanie’s living room.
“Like we’re not around company.” She cleared her throat and pretended to look down at her phone.
“Well, maybe weshouldn’tbe around company. Maybe we should head home.” I slid my arm across the back of the couch and she leaned into me. I don’t even think she knew she was doing it. There was a pull between us that we couldn’t help. She had fire in her veins and I was a helpless moth.
I knew eventually, she’d be my downfall but she was worth every second I spent spiraling.
“Hey guys, we’re gonna head home. North has to get up early for work in the morning and she has a few tests to finish for school.”
“Aww, aren’t you a good daddy?” Melanie smiled.
“Averygood daddy,” North said under her breath. I let out a hearty laugh to cover her words as I stood up.
“Yo, can I talk to you for a minute before you leave?” Elijah stood and grabbed the girls’ glasses then started toward the kitchen. I guess he was cutting Melanie off for the night.
“Sure,” I walked with him until we were alone in the kitchen. He set the glasses in the sink then faced me. “What’s up, man?”
“Yeah, I’m wondering the same thing, Kane. What the fuck is up with you and North?”
My throat tightened at his question. I straightened my spine and looked him square in the eye. “Elijah, ask what you really want to know.”
“Are you going to give me a real answer?”
“Yeah, I will.” I didn’t know how true that was but it depended fully on his question. I leaned against the fridge and crossed my arms over my chest. Elijah and I were about the same height so he didn’t have to look up at me and he didn’t shy away from my furled brows and set jaw.
“Are you fucking her?”
“No,” I gritted out. The vein at my temple throbbed as blood pumped through me. We were quiet for a while as conflict hovered thick in the air like gun smoke. “Is that all?” I quizzed. My tone was sharp enough to slice him to ribbons.
“No, that’s not all.” His brown eyes softened and his squared shoulders dropped some. “I can tell something is going on between y’all even if it hasn’t gone all the way yet. I’m your best fucking friend and you haven’t mentioned a goddamn word to me.”
He knew exactly how to aim his guilt between my plates of armor. I rubbed my forehead and sighed, relaxing my posture and resting my elbows on the counter. I was grateful for the short veil my hair provided when it fell in my eyes.
“How the fuck was I supposed to tell you something like that?” My voice was hushed and quiet.
“Words, Kane. Use your fucking words. What’s going on with you? North is your daughter.”
“She’s more than that. She gets me and I get her. Once you surpass a certain level of pain and heartache in your life, only a handful of people can relate to you. North is one of those people. Hell, she’s the only person.Myperson.” I swallowed thinking about how much she endured already and my chest felt heavy under the gravity.
“You love her.” He said it to himself more so than to me but I heard it and absorbed it as a reality I couldn’t escape.
I loved North.
