piece of me wasn’t sure I actually wanted to invite him. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him there, but I
wasn’t sure what I’d do if I he came and the close friendship we had online couldn’t survive the leap
into real life.
Maverick0808: You don’t have to. I was just messing with you.
But I didn’t think he was. I jumped when I heard the garage door opening and shut the lid of my
laptop. Theron wouldn’t be angry with me for talking to a friend, but I’d told him I was coming home
to work, not to screw around.
I opened the door and stepped down into the garage. “Hi, Daddy.”
“What’s wrong, baby?” He grabbed his messenger bag off the front seat and hurried to my side. I
let out of sigh when he wrapped his arms around my chest and cradled my head against his shoulder.
“Rough day?”
“Not really.” He’d probably point out I was overreacting if I told him I was frustrated because I
felt like one of my friends had given me the best gift ever, but I was afraid to accept it. Plus, I hadn’t
told him anything about Maverick, and now that it was at the front of my mind, I worried he’d think
there was something else going on between us because I’d tried to keep him my little secret. It wasn’t
about that; it was because a lot of people had told me that online friends weren’t real friends.
Plus, I needed to talk to Daddy about my parents, too. They’d be here in a few days, and he didn’t
know.
My chest felt heavy and I struggled to draw a breath. The more I thought about it, the more I felt
like I was lying to him. I’d sworn I would never do that again.
“Hey, come sit with me.” His voice was soft and kind. He guided me into the living room and
pulled me onto his lap. He had to stretch to reach my sippy cup, but he managed to grab it before it
fell off the end table. “You’re a big ball of stress. I don’t like seeing you upset.”
“I’m not upset,” I assured him. “Not really. I just have a lot on my mind.”
“Do you want to get changed before we talk?”
Yes.
I hadn’t realized until he said it, but I needed him to take over for me. I didn’t want to have to
think about big people stuff tonight. I wanted to unload my worries and let him tell me how we were
going to take care of everything. That way, I didn’t have to think about whether or not I was going to
mess up.
