My Best Friend's Dad

by Bella Winters

  We’d have to act normal again. Boyce and I were never particularly affectionate when I moved in, mostly in part because I withdrew. It became natural after that and it wasn’t hard to just keep it up. My parents were very loving, and I didn’t want to replace their hugs.

  What we were doing now was so much more than just a hug. I told him that I’d also help at the office and learn some more, which was another place that we had to act normal. I sighed as I stopped at the signal to cross, telling myself that I’d at least be in the house. We’d have nights together, unless someone stayed over.

  I forgot how full the house could get during the holidays. I saw the light change to green and walked across, trying to figure out how this was going to work. I heard my name and turned my head, blinking as I came back to reality. Billy walked towards me and I stopped once I reached the sidewalk, not wanting him to know where I lived. “Going home for the holiday?” His voice was low and curious, and I nodded with a smile. “We’re having a party at the house tonight for the students leaving tomorrow if you’d like to stop by. Miranda will be there with Tommy and we could hang out again.” There was a suggestive tone to his low voice and I shivered as I tried to think of an excuse.

  “I can’t. I’m going home tonight to help out with everything,” I replied, faking sorrow as he searched my face carefully.

  “Helping out or running to the man you were with?” Billy was direct, and I felt my face heat up as I tried to appear calm.

  “I help get ready for the holiday. It’s a big family,” I spoke slowly, feeling my heart pound in my chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You lost interest in me pretty quickly after our night together. I assumed that you found someone else, but he’s a lot older than I thought he’d be. Does he fuck you good, Vivian?” Billy’s eyes gleamed as I felt my knees buckle. “Is he paying for you to go here?”

  “No,” I shot back, knowing that Boyce did help me. “I have to go.”

  “Have fun,” Billy called out as I rushed down the street to my apartment, no longer thinking about him seeing where I lived. I needed to get away from him. I needed to get out of this place for a while. I glanced back as I approached the gate to my complex, not seeing Billy any more as I unlocked the gate and pushed it open. I took deep breaths as I walked to my door, telling myself that Billy was just being an asshole. We weren’t that obvious when we were out in public.

  Were we?

  I packed last night, so I walked in and dropped my keys on the counter. The apartment was already cleaned, and I just needed to get my luggage and go. I was still shaking, and I got some water and went to sit on the couch, picturing the way Boyce fucked me here just a few weeks ago. He would always be a memory for me here as well as home.

  I worried about Billy sharing his thoughts with all his friends. I thought about what Miranda would say even though I knew she suspected something already. She’d mentioned Boyce a few times to me, but I always assured her that he was just a family friend. I wasn’t open about my parents and how life changed when I was younger, not if I wasn’t close to the person. I didn’t get close to a lot of people apart from Bella and her reaction would be even worse than everyone else. I sat and stared at the floor until my phone rang and I answered it automatically. “Hey, Viv. Are you still at the apartment?” Bella asked as I forced myself back into reality.

  “Yeah, I just got in from class.” I told her as I pushed my hair back. I remembered the night with Billy and how dirty I felt once we were done. It wasn’t special in any way and Billy was there only to please himself. Was this how all college guys were?

  “When are you going to the house?” She asked as I calmed myself with a slow breath.

  “I was thinking today. I don’t have any reason to stick around here and Anne will need help planning. You won’t be there until Wednesday evening?” I asked, trying to sound sad.

  “Yes. I have rehearsals until the last possible moment. John is a slave driver of a boss.” I heard the joy in her voice as she spoke and giggled. “I am catching the last flight that is still leaving on Wednesday.”

  “I’ll miss you,” I told Bella, knowing that she’d be flying back home Friday night. It was a short flight, but she needed to make good time. “I was looking forward to spending some time with you. We never got to visit each other.”

  “I know. It’s not like it was in high school, is it?” She sounded sad as well and I thought back to all the time we spent together as kids. She was like a sister to me and the guilt for sleeping with her father hit me hard. “We’ll spend time together for those two days. We can cook and drink wine and talk about college boys…or guys on the acting circuit.”

  “I can’t wait,” I told her as we chatted a little longer. I hung up, knowing that Boyce called during the chat since I should be on the road by now.

  CHAPTER 23

  Boyce

  I sat on the couch as the phone rang, wondering where the hell Vivian was. She should have called me by now to let me know that she was leaving. I got her voice mail again and ended the call, dropping the phone on the couch as I stared at the random game on TV. My phone rang, and I grabbed it, looking at the screen to see that it was Bella. “Hi, sweetie. How are you?” I forced cheer into my voice as I answered, waiting for her response.

  “I just spoke to Viv. I wish I could be there with you both for longer than two days,” she told me regretfully as I realized that I was looking forward to my time with Vivian. Did that make me a bad father? I wondered of Nora was judging me from above as I focused on the moment.

  “I know. I do, too. We’ll make up for that Thursday and Friday. Maybe do something together like the old days?” I asked as she agreed. I was sad that I wasn’t going to see my daughter for as long as I should but there was a certain relief to that as well. It was going to be hard enough to act normal around everyone as it was. We talked for a little longer and ended the call just as my phone rang again. “Vivian. Where are you?” I asked as I saw her name on the screen.

  “Hello to you, too.” Her voice was sarcastic, and I regretted my tone.

  “I’m sorry. I was worried,” I apologized as she sighed on the other end. “Are you still at the apartment?”

  “Bella just asked me the same thing,” Vivian told me as I realized that my daughter was calling everyone today. She did miss home after all. “I got caught up on the phone with her and she made me feel guilty. She doesn’t know a thing and Bella made me feel guilty. What’s going to happen when we tell her?”

  “We’re not dealing with that yet. We get a lot of time to be alone.” I assured her as worry filled me that she wasn’t going to come home. “It will be okay.”

  “I know. I just need to relax. I’ll get my bag and leave soon, Boyce. Can we drink some wine and just relax tonight?” Vivian asked as I heard the strain in her voice.

  “Did something happen?” I asked her as she sat silent on the other end.

  “One of the people that we saw at dinner that night asked about you. Apparently, we’re not being that subtle.”

  “Was it the girl? She looks like she’d make gossip out of anything to me,” I said, and I remembered her face. There were always those girls that needed to know everything when that actually deserved to know nothing.

  “No, it wasn’t her, but she’s been asking as well. I just feel like it’s so obvious what’s going on and what are we going to do about your family and friends?” Vivian asked me as I tried to think of something to fix this.

  “We’re close. You grew up here for a lot of years. We’re not going to act any differently than we would before out of my room. It will be fine. I need you to come here, Vivian. I need to have you here beside me while we try to figure out how to break this to people,” I pleaded with her as I felt my head throbbing.

  “I need to see you as well. I just want to calm down before I hit the road. Soon, okay?” Vivian asked as I reluctantly agreed. I told her to call me when she was on the road
and she agreed before ending the call.

  I was torn deciding what to do. I wasn’t going to tell anyone about us this holiday. There was only a week to spend together and I wanted to enjoy that, but people were sensing that we were at the very least sleeping together. I didn’t know what her friends said to her, but it sounded like they weren’t tactful about it. I didn’t want the people that knew us the best to think that we were anything less than in love. I didn’t want them to think that I was taking advantage of Vivian.

  I went to get a beer and sat back down as I waited for her call. There was a big part of me that thought I couldn’t wait to let the world know about us. They could deal with it the way they wanted to.

  Then again, it might be better to wait. We could enjoy the holidays and go away on our trip, seeing what it was like as the people we were now. We could ease into this and break the news later down the line once we had settled into this a little more. I wanted to prove to Vivian that I could give her more than sex. I needed her to see that we could have a future together past sneaking in time at this house or her apartment. I didn’t know how the hell I was going to do this, but I needed Vivian to know that I loved her, and I didn’t want to share that just yet.

  Was I selfish? Perhaps. My phone rang, and I answered to hear Vivian tell me that she was leaving now. I told her that I would see her soon and sat back down on the couch to wait for her. I wanted to hold her tonight and reassure her that everything was going to be fine and show her that I loved her this weekend. Once it was Monday, preparation would start for Thanksgiving, but I didn’t want to think about that yet.

  I just wanted to hold her.

  We spent a great few days together before it got busy. Anne arrived Monday and I left to go to the office as they sat down with coffee to talk. I knew that Vivian was going to help at the office tomorrow, so she would be mine, though not in the way that I wanted her to. We had an amazing weekend together, making love in every part of the house that we could. She slept in my room, knowing that she’d have to go back to hers soon to avoid raising suspicion. I left to the sound of their laughter, smiling as I thought about tonight.

  The day passed quickly with staff working extra hard to make up for the three days that we had off this week, I was generous with holidays and gave them the family time that they deserved, with three days off this week and an entire week at Christmas. I appreciated it when I was the father of a young daughter.

  I headed home at a normal time that evening along with everyone else. It was a long drive with traffic and I had to fight the urge to call Vivian. I was not known to call her often and starting now would just be foolish. I listened to a podcast instead, trying to learn something new as images of Vivian rushed through my mind. When I pulled into the driveway, I hurried out of the car and through the garage door into the kitchen.

  The house smelled of cinnamon and apples as Vivian stirred something in a pot. I glanced around, seeing that she was probably alone as I walked in and dropped my keys to the counter. “Hey,” I said warily as she turned her head and smiled at me.

  “Hi,” Vivian replied setting the spoon on a plate and walking towards me. She slipped her arms around my neck and I leaned down to kiss her, tasting something sweet on her lips. “Anne went home for the night since we got a lot done. I talked to most of the guests for Thursday and they won’t be arriving until Wednesday evening.” She pulled away slightly to talk to me but then kissed me again.

  “We’re alone?” I whispered as she nodded, and I kissed her harder. I kissed her until she was breathless and then moved down to her jaw line.

  “Everything is locked up for the night. We made a veggie soup for dinner,” Vivian muttered as I sucked on the skin below her ear like she loved me to do. “Oh, God. I missed you today.” I reached down to lift her body against mine, placing her on the counter as Vivian squealed.

  I kissed her again, our tongues moving together in the quiet house. I slowly undressed her before I made her come with my fingers, her legs wide for me. We hurried to my room half-dressed and horny as she ran ahead of me. I watched her tight ass move as she turned into my door and threw herself on the bed with a laugh. I pounced, telling her to stay on her stomach as I crawled forward and ran my tongue over her sweet folds. Vivian moaned, and I spread her open for me, circling her clit as she shuddered. Once she came again for me, I kicked off my pants and held myself in my hand, craving her tight heat. I slid inside of her as she cried out, feeling how well she wrapped around me as I slid deeper. Vivian was perfect for me and I closed my eyes as we moved together, both of us edging closer to a joint release.

  We dropped on the bed when we were satisfied. Vivian rested her head on my chest, still covered with the shirt that I wore to the office. This was everything that I wanted, and I told her as much as she smiled and looked at me. We made our way down to eat, dressing in the clothes as we walked. I knew that we were both a little nervous about being caught, but my house and yard were extremely private. We sat down with bowls of soup and crusty sourdough bread at the small table, splitting a bottle of wine as we caught up on our days. We watched a movie once we cleaned up and she came upstairs to make love one more time.

  It hurt to watch her go and sleep in her own room, but it was the best idea. We couldn’t be in here together this time and I turned on a late-night show to give the big room some noise.

  We left for the office together and she pressed her hands down her black slacks. Anne was already at the house prepping the big dinner for us and I knew that the house was well cared for. “You look beautiful,” I told her as Vivian glanced at me. She did with her hair in silky curls and eyes still sleepy.

  “Thanks,” she replied as she reached for the travel cup of coffee that we were sharing on the drive. “We should go out to dinner after work since we’re in the city already.”

  “That would be great,” Vivian agreed as I smiled and merged into another lane. We were first at the office and I took advantage of it by taking her to my private bathroom and kissing her senseless before I made her come through her pants. I splashed some water on my face and smiled as I gave her a moment to recover, hearing voices as I started the process of getting ready for the day.

  Vivian emerged as a few of the managers dropped in to go over projects and she made a good show of sitting with the laptop and looking busy. They left, and she gave me a wide-eyed gaze as I smiled at her. Vivian had a look after she’d come that made it obvious, but I thought it was sexy. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked softer somehow, making her more beautiful than she already was.

  We worked together throughout the day before going to dinner. I took Vivian to my apartment and opened the door as she walked inside and looked around. “I always wondered where your den of sin was.”

  “My what?” I asked as she gave me a rueful smile.

  “I knew that you brought women here before. You always said it was work, but I suspected the truth all along.” Vivian said as she looked around the basic design.

  “I haven’t had someone else here for months, Vivian. You’re it for me.” I assured her as I walked towards her, reaching around to unbutton her pants, letting them slide to the floor. She tore open my shirt and pants, ridding me of them as fast as she could before I carried her to my bed. We fucked there late into the night before going home since I had the following day off. We walked inside, and she looked around to see if the house was empty before she kissed me again.

  We parted for the night and I walked slowly up the stairs with a sigh. We’d be doing this regularly for the next few days and I needed to accept that.

  The next day came and so did family and friends. They brought trays of cookies and bread for the following day, sipping wine as we caught up. Vivian was dressed in black pants and a burnt orange sweater as she caught everyone up with school. I couldn’t help looking at her throughout the day and she looked back with the same desire that I was feeling inside.

  Bella arrived late that night, throwing her
self into my arms before she moved over to Vivian. I was happy to see my daughter, but I knew that any private time with Vivian was gone now. Bella had a quick dinner and then dragged Vivian to her room to talk. I grabbed a beer and walked up to my room alone, feeling resentful of Bella for a moment before I pushed that thought away. I missed her and tossed and turned fitfully as I wondered what the girls were talking about. I woke early the following day, dressing for a run and going around the neighborhood as I tried to work out my emotions on a ten-mile trip.

  The girls were up with Anne when I got back, and they were busy in the kitchen. I said hello and walked into my office to check some emails and kill time. I knew that we’d be eating in the late afternoon and that the kitchen would be chaos until then, since Anne was going home early to eat with her own family. Everyone started arriving and the women went into the kitchen to help while the men gathered in the living room to watch. It was normally a wonderful tradition but this year I just craved Vivian as I watched her across the room. We sat a few chairs away as I cut into the huge bird and said my thanks for the year, knowing the one that I was holding back.

  I managed to sneak a kiss from Vivian after the house was quiet and Bella was on the phone for a few minutes. It wasn’t enough. I let her go to sleep in Bella’s room and felt the urge to tell my daughter that I was in love with her best friend. We didn’t have plans the next day and I considered that possibility as I stared up at the ceiling.

  We went out to lunch the following day once everyone was awake and planned a leftovers dinner later in the night. I watched as the girls sat beside each other and giggled like the old days but there was a look of sadness in her eyes that only I seemed to notice. The night went by like a blur before we were driving Bella to the airport and dropping her off. I promised that I’d be in the city to see her play as I hugged her and watched Vivian do the same.