REALLY ✓

36: The Father Figure

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    JUDAH's POV:

Spending time with Blondie has got to be the highlight of my year. Or life even.

No more drugs and alcohol, I was kicking all my bad habits to the side. All I needed was her and everything else faltered away. Sure, I had to deal with the occasional headaches and withdrawals, but I was feeling stronger than ever before.

Just being with her, listening to her saying comforting words to my ears, having her kissed the side of my face—it was enough to send me to paradise and ward off the pain.

I would be a complete hypocrite if I say that the sex didn't help. The sex helped, a lot. But it wasn't just about that. It was that feeling that we had for each other, the connection that existed that only the two of us could understand.

That was it. That was heaven right there.

Don't get me wrong, though. I wasn't born yesterday. I knew that this heaven-like time ain't gonna last. I knew that Blake wouldn't stay quiet about all this. I was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. But so far, there were nothing yet. In fact, I heard that he was even out of town. Went away to the East Coast to visit colleges or whatever.

Speaking of colleges, today Blondie and I were sitting at our usual spot at the diner, snacking on fries while we do our homework together. She was still trying to finish her college essay, and I couldn't help but steal glances and kick her feet playfully under the table every so often just to get her attention. I mean, the girl was too damn cute, what else was I supposed to do?

"Stop it, I'm trying to focus," she hissed.

"You're cute when you're trying to focus," I said as I popped a fry to my mouth. "We've done nothing but study the entire day. I'm hungry,"

"You have this," she motioned for the plate of fries.

"No, I'm hungry for something else," I smirked and her cheeks flared red.

Shaking her head a little, she grabbed her composure and switched the topic instead.

"Hey, so, I was talking to my dad yesterday... and the topic of you came up... and my dad wants to invite you to come fishing with him and Kai this Saturday,"

"You want me to go fishing... with your dad?" I almost choked that fry out.

"Yeah. This Saturday. You're good, right?"

"I thought we were gonna study together? And maybe get a little cake afterwards," I bit my bottom lip and gave her a naughty grin.

"Change of plans. Daddy says he wants to see you before he's gotta leave for another deployment on Monday," she paused for a beat before saying, "But we can always get some cake after your fishing trip,"

Ah, I was starting to wonder if she was the better tease in between us two.

"Your father wants to see me? Why, did I do something wrong?"

"No, it's not that. Daddy and I are super close. I talk to him about everything. When I told him that Blake and I weren't dating anymore and that we're dating now, he asked a lot of questions, naturally. He was worried that maybe we were moving too fast. But I think that's just because he didn't know you and our story together,"

Right, we did move pretty fast. But that's what you gotta do when you know it's right.

"So, I think it'll be great if you all see each other. My dad will know what an awesome guy you are and he'll be at peace with us dating," she said again, grabbing a hold of my hand this time and rubbing it gently.