My Bully’s Daddy Read online

  “So, where am I taking you?” I looked over at Hannah once I made it to the main highway that would require either a left or right turn.

  “That way.” She pointed to the left. “My house isn’t that far from here.”

  “Going home to hide out for a little while before you have to face the—sorority girls, I guess?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah...” She hesitated for a moment and then nodded. “I’m going to try and avoid them until Monday.”

  “I’m surprised you’re even trying to get into a sorority if you’re local.” I shrugged. “I guess it beats living at home though.”

  “It does.” She looked over at me and seemed to be forcing a smile.

  “You’re very pretty.” I narrowed my eyes. “People probably tell you that all of the time.”

  “No…” She looked away and blushed.

  “Oh, well you are.” I nodded. “You’re going to be beating those frat boys off with a stick—or your father will be reloading his shotgun daily.”

  “He’s not around.” Her face got a little redder. “Maybe I should find a stick…”

  “Tell me where to turn.” I motioned to the road ahead.

  “Up here.” She leaned forward and pointed. “Turn right.”

  I followed the directions she gave me, and it was getting kind of dark when we pulled up in front of the small house in the neighborhood she lived in. There were no lights on—and I didn’t see a car in the driveway. I was pretty sure she didn’t have a purse hidden under that blanket—I actually wasn’t sure if there was anything under that blanket except the birthday suit she was wearing when she entered the world. Her shoulders were bare—the sections of legs that she couldn’t cover were bare—and she wasn’t wearing any shoes.

  “Are you sure this is the place?” I peered out the window. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s home.”

  “Yeah, this is it. Mom keeps a key hidden outside. Thank you so much for the ride. I really appreciate it.” She gave me what looked to be the first real smile that had formed on her lips since she got in the car.

  “No problem.” I nodded and waited for her to exit the car.

  I watched as she walked up the driveway and then walked around to the back of the house. I thought about driving away, but I wanted to wait until the lights came on at least—then I would know she was safe. Several minutes passed, and I didn’t see any sign of her, or a single light illuminate a window. I put my car in park and stepped out. The path she walked was well lit, thanks to the light from the neighbor’s house, so I followed it around to the back of the house. I saw her fumbling with a window, desperately trying to keep the blanket on her shoulders, and doing a poor job. Her slender legs were fully exposed, her left breast was peeking out, and damn—she was fucking gorgeous.

  “I guess you couldn’t find the key.” I took a step forward.

  “What!?” She jumped and pulled the blanket tight around her shoulders—but not before I saw both of her perfectly perky tits on full display in the dimly lit backyard. “You scared the hell out of me!”

  Holy shit—she’s hiding a gorgeous set of curves under that blanket.

  “I thought I should check and make sure you got inside safely.” I tilted my head slightly. “Be honest with me—are you about to rob this place?”

  “No.” She shook her head back and forth. “I live here—I swear.”

  “Okay, but you obviously lied about the key.” I raised an eyebrow.

  “Mom must have moved it.” She exhaled sharply. “I was going to try and get one of the windows open.”

  “Why don’t you just call your mom?” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Here.”

  “She’s…” Hannah looked down at the ground and tugged on the blanket again. “She’s out of town interviewing for a new job.”

  “Do you have any other family around?” I took a step closer and offered my phone again.

  “I don’t,” she sighed.

  “Alright, then it looks like you’re going to have to spend the night at the sorority house.” I motioned to her. “That’s gotta be better than breaking into your own home.”

  “No.” She took a step back. “I can’t…”

  “Why not?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “They’ll know I had help.” She looked up at the sky. “I need to hide out here until morning.”

  This vibe feels off, but she doesn’t look like a criminal.

  “Come with me.” I motioned and started walking.

  “Where?” She followed behind me.

  “Right here.” I stopped in my tracks, turned around, and glared at her. “Tell me the address of this house.”

  “1412 South Sycamore Street.” She tilted her head in confusion.

  “Okay, let’s go.” I walked around to the front of the house and looked around until I found the numbers—they matched. “I’m sorry, I just had to be sure.”

  “I get it.” She nodded.

  “I’m not going to help you break in, but if you need a place to crash tonight, you can come to my apartment.” I exhaled sharply.

  I will regret this if she robs me blind, but it’s not like I have much left at this point…

  “I don’t think I’m going to have much luck getting into my house with breaking down the door or busting out a window,” she sighed.

  I walked to the curb and opened the passenger side door. She followed me and climbed into the car. I was still working through everything in my head, but I suspected she wasn’t telling me everything. Hazing made sense, but not being able to return to the sorority house didn’t—and if she was wandering around naked, then there should have been other pledges going through the same ritual. An epidemic of naked sorority girls wouldn’t go unnoticed—people would be talking about it. There was a chance she did something to piss off her sisters and it was more hazing—that seemed more logical. Either way, I couldn’t leave her stranded at her own house if she couldn’t get in, so I decided that taking her back to my place was the best option.

  Or maybe I’m just hoping for one more chance to see those gorgeous curves hiding under that blanket.

  * * *

  “Okay, this is it.” I pushed the key into the front door of my apartment and opened it. “Mi casa is su casa—tonight.”

  I think casa means house—I guess it can work for a townhouse too.

  “Wow, you have a very nice place.” She hugged the blanket close and walked inside—her attention was immediately drawn to the boxes sitting everywhere. “Are you just moving in?”

  “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” I nodded and closed the door. “Let me see if I can find you something to wear.”

  I hadn’t been very motivated to unpack any of my boxes—none of them had even made it to the second floor of my townhouse. The night my ex-wife told me she was filing for divorce and my daughter said she didn’t want me there either; I just drove straight to a hotel—and drank. I didn’t get my own place until my lawyer told me that she had officially filed the papers. Maybe I was holding onto a little bit of denial, even though the divorce was a long time coming. Being disowned by my own daughter hurt a lot more—but I probably should have seen that coming. I hadn’t really been a parent to her in years. Every time I tried, my ex-wife just shut it down, and they both screamed at me until I gave up whatever fight I was trying to win in the first place. Sometimes it seemed like my daughter was just my wife’s younger clone instead of a child that we brought into the world.

  “I think this will work.” I walked down the stairs with a t-shirt and my smallest pair of shorts—but at least they had a drawstring.

  “Thank you.” She took them from me. “Can I change in your bathroom?”

  “Yeah, it’s right there.” I pointed across the room. “There’s a bigger one upstairs if you need it.”

  “Nah, this will be fine.” She walked into the bathroom and pushed the door closed.

  I went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. There wasn’t much to e
at in there, but I had plenty of beer. That was definitely what I needed—actually, I needed something stronger, but I didn’t get a chance to stop at the liquor store before I found Hannah on the side of the road. I twisted the top off my beer and walked back into the living room. The bathroom door opened, and Hannah walked out. Even in a pair of loose fitting shorts and a t-shirt that was way too big for her curves, she was stunning. She had cleaned some of the ruined makeup off her face, but she couldn’t do much with just soap and water. The remnants were there, but her natural beauty was something to behold—she didn’t even need a single layer of makeup to look like she had been painted to perfection.

  “What should I do with this?” She held up the tattered picnic blanket.

  “I’ll toss it in the garbage—unless you want to keep it for the memories.” I chuckled and took it from her.

  “No, I’m good.” She smiled.

  “Is your arm okay?” I leaned down to look at her elbow, which had several scrapes attempting to scab over.

  “Yeah.” She pulled her arm close to her chest.

  “Hold on.” I walked into the kitchen and threw the blanket in the garbage before returning. “I think I have some hydrogen peroxide in one of these boxes…”

  My ex-wife packed most of my stuff while I was gone. I didn’t argue—it wasn’t like she was going to keep anything of mine to remember me by—and I gave her everything in the house when I signed the divorce papers. I hadn’t even started to go through all of my boxes, but I had found the one that appeared to be everything from the bathroom I normally used to get ready in the morning. I only grabbed the essentials when I first opened the box, but it had a few other items in it. I dug through a couple of boxes until I located what I was looking for—hydrogen peroxide, a couple of gauze pads, and a roll of surgical tape.

  “I found it. Let’s go into the kitchen. I don’t think the bathroom can comfortably hold two.” I chuckled and motioned for her to follow me.

  “You really don’t have to do this.” She sighed, but she followed me into the kitchen.

  “I’d prefer if your arm didn’t get infected and fall off before morning.” I grabbed a paper towel and ran some water on it. “Let me clean it up with some water first.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled. “I guess that would be preferable.”

  Hannah turned and held her elbow over the sink. It looked like the kind of injury I used to get when I wrecked my bike as a kid and landed in the road. I still had a few scars from those days on both of my knees and elbows. Her injury didn’t look like it would scar, but it definitely needed to be cleaned, just to be safe. I rubbed the paper towel on it and tried to be gentle—especially when she flinched. Once water did all it could do, I poured the hydrogen peroxide on the wound and covered it in gauze. I couldn’t remember if a wound like that was supposed to breathe or get covered, but I figured it would be fine for one night. While I was doing that, I noticed that she had a few more smaller spots on her forearm and several on the side of her leg.

  “Did you fall in the road before you found that blanket?” I raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

  “Something like that…” she sighed and nodded. “It was just a really bad day.”

  “I’ve had a few those myself.” I turned off the water and reached for my beer.

  In a row—including today.

  “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Hopefully I can get in touch with someone tomorrow, and I’ll be out of your way.” She followed me into the living room.

  “It’s not a problem.” I sat down on the couch and waved off her concern. “I’m hungry. Do you want something to eat? I could order pizza.”

  “That would be—very nice.” She nodded.

  “If you want something to drink, there are glasses in the kitchen. All I have is beer, so it’s either that or water—and I’m going to guess you aren’t quite twenty-one, even if you are in college.” I narrowed my eyes and started an order on the app for my favorite pizza place—that delivered at least.

  “Water will be fine.” She nodded and walked to the kitchen.

  “What kind of pizza do you like? Pepperoni? Sausage? Vegan?” I leaned forward and tapped on the screen.

  “Any of those is fine.” She filled a glass of water and took a drink of it before returning to the living room.

  “Alright, I’ll get a few mediums. We can pick and choose what we want—then we’ll have leftovers for breakfast.” I finalized my order and tossed the phone on the table. “Twenty minutes.”

  “Cool.” She smiled—another one that didn’t look forced.

  “You’re even prettier when your smile is real.” I leaned back against the couch and sipped my beer.

  “Thank you.” She looked down and saw a bit of redness in her cheeks. “You’re sweet—even if you’re just being nice because you know I had a bad day.”

  “I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.” I scoffed. “You act like you didn’t have guys killing each other for your phone number in high school.”

  “I didn’t…” She lifted her glass and took a sip. “My mom doesn’t like to stay in one place very long—I barely got to know anyone before it was time to move again and change schools.”

  “Damn…” I blinked in surprise. “That doesn’t sound like much fun. What kind of work does she do?”

  “She’s a business consultant.” Hannah took another drink of her water. “She helps companies restructure when they’re struggling—but once they start turning things around, they don’t really need her anymore.”

  “Interesting…” I nodded.

  “What do you do for work?” She looked up at me.

  “Well…” I looked down and sighed. “I’m sort of between jobs right now.”

  “Ah.” She grimaced.

  “Oh god, that probably sounds like I’m some kind of unemployed loser.” I shook my head back and forth. “I used to run a real estate company, but we recently got bought out, and the new owner put his son-in-law in my office.”

  Coincidentally, my wife decided she wanted a divorce a few days after I got that nice big severance package.

  “Is that why you moved into a new place?” She looked around the room. “Did you have to sell your house?”

  “No,” I sighed. “I just got divorced.”

  “Oh! I’m sorry!” She snapped her head back and winced.

  “Don’t be.” I waved off her concern. “It was coming for a long time…”

  “I’m sure that doesn’t make it any easier.” She looked down and sighed. “I couldn’t imagine loving someone enough to marry them and then having it fall apart.”

  “Make sure it’s love first, and you’ll be fine.” I took a quick sip of my beer. “I met my ex-wife while I was still in high school—you’re already doing better than us because she was knocked up before graduation.”

  “Ah…” She lifted the glass of water to her lips. “Yeah, I dodged that bullet.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, I love my kid, but I never thought I’d have one in high school before I turned thirty-five.” I shrugged and looked towards the door. “I think the pizza’s here—they deliver fast to this side of town.”

  Just in time—I hate talking about my life right now.

  Four

  Hannah

  I was literally living a lie. It was supposed to be a quick little white lie to avoid having Justin call the cops when he found me on the side of the road, but it had taken on a life of its own. I was in college, I was pledged to a sorority, I was getting hazed—I probably needed to figure out what I was majoring in and come up with some names for fake friends because it seemed like I was getting deeper into the lie every time I opened my mouth. The part about my mother was true—she was interviewing for a new consultant job because she had successfully turned the company she was working at around.

  Justin was a very nice man—I hated that I lied to him in the first place but telling a few lies to him was easier than having the cops call my m
om because I was naked on the side of the road. I don’t know if I would have even gotten the window open without breaking the glass. I was prepared to do that, but I wanted to see if I could break the lock first—crawling over broken glass wasn’t very appealing unless it was absolutely necessary. I could spend one night with Justin—then hopefully get in touch with Candice. He had a laptop on his table—if I could log into my Facebook account, I could message her. She would be driving back from San Diego the next day—I could crash with her for one night and borrow some clothes.

  “Alright, fresh pizza.” Justin put the boxes down on the coffee table. “You probably want a plate…”

  “I can just eat out of the box; I don’t mind.” I leaned forward to open the first one. “Wow, that smells really good.”

  I haven’t eaten anything at all today…

  The pizza was delicious. It was the easily the best I had eaten since I came to Los Angeles—or maybe I was just so hungry that the old dirty blanket I wore into his apartment would have been palatable. Justin asked a few more questions about college while we ate, and I had to come up with a few more lies. I kept trying to shift the conversation back to his life—but he was resistant to it. I could tell that it was a sore subject, especially with a recent divorce that tore his family apart. Continuing to try and shift the conversation was selfish, so I finally gave up and just created a whole life for the imaginary Hannah that attended college at the University of Southern California. Her life was certainly better than mine—she got hazed, but she didn’t get terrorized by the Bradford Elite.

  After talking with Justin for a little bit, I started to feel really guilty about my lies. He was being so kind to me—and there was a lingering interest below the surface. A guy didn’t tell a girl she was pretty unless they had some attraction to them. I was leading him down a path of deceit that was paved with dishonesty—and he didn’t deserve that after watching his marriage go up in flames. He was obviously too old for me, but I wasn’t really thinking about that when he called me pretty. No guy had ever said that to me—the Bradford Elite were the pretty girls at our school. I was just a peasant meant to bend the knee when they walked by.