Twenty-year-old college student Lea falls in love with a celebrity. Maybe he likes her back. Maybe he has a wife, a kid, and eight girlfriends.
Maybe she loves him so much she doesn't care. Until she does, that is.
Adults only, as is everything I wr...
Lea smiled down at her son, leading him out the door.
It was going to be a good day.
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The first time Timothée saw her again, he half-thought she was a ghost.
He'd never been able to be there the day of Cassie's birthday before, so he was thrilled that his schedule finally allowed for it. Since Olivia was forever teasing him about his inability to show up for his daughter's actual birthday, he thought he'd surprise the two of them. Maybe he'd actually get to meet Olivia's roommate.
It was clear that the little girl's birthday party was going on at the one story house, because there was a princess carriage bounce house in the yard. No kids were out front, though, so he knocked on the door, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet and shoving his hands in his pockets, fiddling with the velvet ring box he carried with him out of habit.
There was music and children's laughter coming from inside, and he was just about to knock a second time when someone shouted, "It's open!"
So he went inside, letting the door shut behind him, and turned to the dining room directly to his right where most of the chatter was coming from.
And there she was.
She was wearing a white dress that fell well past her knees, leaning forward and instructing Cassie how to blow out the candles once they were lit. Her hair was longer than it had been before, past her waist now, and her back was to him, but that didn't matter. He'd know her ass anywhere.
It had been so long, but even now, even after over three years of not having her, the second he saw her pale skin, his fingers itched to touch it.
Timothée couldn't breathe, couldn't think, because he'd been yearning for her for so long, it felt like, and there she was, right in front of him. Then, to his astonishment, a small child emerged from the group of similarly aged children and tugged on her dress.
"Mama!" the child said. "Mama!"
Mama? he thought in a daze. She has a kid? Is she married? He considered this for a moment, but quickly decided that it didn't matter if she was married or not, if she was with anyone or not. She was his and that was that.
"Okay, okay," she said with an exasperated-sounding chuckle, leaning down to pick the child up.
Before she'd stood all the way up, however, Cassie took notice of him. "Daddy!" his daughter exclaimed in delight.
Lea didn't turn around, only leaning forward to brush Cassie's hair from her face. "Not yet, Cas," she told her patiently. "Daddy will be here in a few days, remember?"
Cassie shook her head, pointing over where Tim stood, and all the children and adults at the table turned towards where Timothée stood by the door. All except Lea. "Daddy's here!"
