I discover her nonetheless on the door and sidle up behind her to see who’s there. We weren’t anticipating anybody, and there’s no approach the meals has arrived this quick.

Once I see who’s on the opposite facet, I freeze.

“Laura?” I ask, jaw dropping open and taking within the truth my daughter’s standing proper there.

Oh, fuck.

Laura’s eyes go vast as saucers, darting between Juliet and me. With Juliet in her pajamas and me in nothing however a towel, it solely takes Laura two seconds to conclude what’s taking place right here.

There’s a protracted, heavy beat of silence the place the disaster administration a part of my mind begins to kick in and go wild, as if I can repair this the best way I repair shit at work.

Laura speaks earlier than I can. “What…what the hell is occurring?”

Juliet’s face drops, her eyes vast and watery, her lips parting however no sound popping out. The confusion and worry on her face make me wish to wrap her in my arms and shield her from the world. However that’s not what’s wanted proper now.

“Okay, let’s all sit down and focus on this,” I counsel, grateful for the years of disaster administration work has given me.

“Are you going to place some garments on earlier than we do or do I’ve to behave prefer it’s regular to see my dad in nothing however a towel sitting on my greatest pal’s sofa?” Laura asks, the phrases each harsh and slightly wobbly.

She’s my daughter, and I hate seeing that look on her face simply as a lot as I hate it on Juliet’s.

“After all,” I say gently, ushering Laura inside absolutely and shutting the door behind her. “Why don’t you guys go get a drink and have a seat, and I’ll dress and be part of you in a second?”

Each of them nonetheless look slightly shell-shocked, guilt shining brightly in Juliet’s hazel eyes as she leads her greatest pal, my daughter, by means of to the lounge.

I make good on my promise to dress, doing so in document time, and rush again out. This shall be okay, I inform myself. I refuse to let my daughter or the love of my life be damage by this.

I ought to have executed one thing earlier, ought to’ve sorted this proper from the beginning. However I didn’t, and now the 2 most vital women in my life would possibly get damage due to me.

I stroll into the lounge to see Juliet pouring three glasses of white wine simply as Laura’s declaring, “I’ll want your complete rattling bottle to even start to course of this.”

Juliet snorts and dutifully slides the remainder of the bottle throughout to Laura. Laura’s frown breaks, and he or she grins at her pal, their bond apparent even within the pressure of the state of affairs.

“I gained’t lecture you about consuming proper now,” I say teasingly to Laura, who shoots me a demise glare in response.

“You possibly can’t lecture me about shit proper now,” she snaps again.

I nod. I deserve that.

We calm down into three separate chairs, and I resist the urge to seize Juliet and yank her onto my lap, although I do press a kiss to her cheek on my well past to take a seat down.

“I’m sorry that is the way you discovered,” I start, taking a sip of my wine earlier than setting it down on the espresso desk between us all.

Laura snorts, taking a gulp straight from the bottle, which makes Juliet giggle quietly. “Had been you going to inform me in any respect? How did this even occur? Are you…Oh, God, are you actually sleeping with my greatest pal?” She scrunches up her face and shudders.

Juliet goes brilliant purple, leaning ahead in direction of Laura. “We had been going to inform you. I simply…I didn’t understand how. It wasn’t deliberate or something. I simply…the evening of the showcase, whenever you went to have dinner with Ryan, I didn’t have anybody else there. I used to be simply gonna go dwelling and order take-out, however Jared provided to purchase me dinner to have a good time, and properly…”

Laura gapes at us whereas Juliet explains how immediately we clicked, how we fell for one another sooner than she thought attainable, how she’s by no means felt like this earlier than. I let her converse, gazing at her as she tries to elucidate our connection. I really like her. It could be unattainable for me to not. I would inform her she’s mine on a regular basis, however fuck if I’m not hers, too.

“We’re not simply sleeping collectively,” I add. “Juliet means extra to me than I understand how to elucidate. I perceive that this have to be a shock to you?—”

“Understatement of the rattling century,” Laura mutters beneath her breath.

“—nevertheless it was by no means my intention to harm you, Laura. I’m sorry for that, however I’m not sorry for falling for Juliet. I really like her, and I hope that in time, you possibly can come to just accept that,” I say as gently as I can, needing Laura to know that nothing will separate me from my woman.

Laura shakes her head. “It’s not the very fact you’re collectively. Effectively, okay, sure, that’s bizarre as fuck. However I’m damage as a result of neither of you informed me. Two individuals I ought to be capable to belief, my greatest pal and my father, have been mendacity to me for weeks. God, Juliet, I requested you want 100 instances who the thriller man you had been seeing was!”

Juliet winces. “What was I purported to say?” she asks in a small voice. “Juliet, who gave you all these hickeys? Oh, simply your dad.”

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