“Yeah,” Lily says, disappointed. “Thanks.”
I chuckle and carry a plate of toast to the table, reaching over to ruffle her hair once I’ve put the plate down. Lily grins up at me.
“Maybe she’ll still be here when I get home,” she says.
“Maybe,” I reply with a shrug. “But she might have work.”
“Yeah, she might need to hand in that project she did yesterday.” Lily nods. “Did you help her with it last night?”
“Er…no, she didn’t need my help with that,” I say, determinedly not thinking of what else I did for Georgia last night.
“You have a weird look on your face, Dad,” Lily tells me.
I can’t help but laugh at that.
“Sorry,” I say to her. “Now, hurry up, we need to head to school soon.”
I smile as Lily wolfs down her breakfast and darts off to brush her teeth. Lily is the one thing I will never regret in my life.
My smile drops.
Now I just have to figure out whether or not I regret what happened last night.
I drop Lily off and drive a few blocks away before parking on a quiet street. My home is still another few minutes way, but I’m not ready to go back yet. Georgia might be up by now, and I’m not sure what I’m going to say to her when I face her.
Last night really was amazing. I chose to keep going, addicted to the feel of Georgia underneath my hands and lips, and wanting to hear more of her moans and gasps. I tugged all these feelings out of her, and she did the same for me in turn.
But now it’s morning, throwing everything from last night in a different light. Georgia is addictive. And I wanted her.
“You want me, and I want you. So what’s holding you back?”
Everything Georgia said was true. I tried to pretend that I had no feelings for her, and it worked for a long time. If I kept her at arm’s length, then I could protect us both. But, from the moment her hands and her lips touched me, I was gone.
I have no self control.
“What are you going to do now, Ethan?”
What? I don’t know what to do next. I knew last night, when the only things that needed to make sense were the feel of her body, the way she touched me and the impending orgasm. Everything made far more sense in the darkness.
Now it’s day, and, like with Polly, I don’t know what to do. I told myself that I needed to find some way to deal with both Polly and Georgia, to fix everything that went wrong. Yet I tried to fix things with Georgia, so things could go back to normal, and completely failed.
So, now what?
“I’ve been in love with you for thirteen years…”
Yes, I heard that. I try to remember if there was some sort of hint about her feelings. Surely I wasn’t that foolishly oblivious. Thirteen years ago was when Georgia was fifteen, and it was also about the same time that Polly and I had met.
Had it been obvious then? Or did she just keep it to herself?
“I’ve wanted you all that time, but it was never the right moment.”
I just can’t believe that Georgia has waited until this moment, until the words left my mouth first. I knew she was patient, but this is ridiculous. We’re talking thirteen years, here. And she was in love with me all that time, waiting for me to look at her? Even worse, she had stationed herself at my side, and I had never looked at her once because I was so scared.
How the hell did she bear it?
“I’ve waited for you all this time, Ethan.”
On the other hand, why didn’t she just say something to me? Was she scared of rejection? I know it hadn’t been a good time around the time that Polly left, but it’s been over ten years since then. If she had told me how she felt even last year, it would have been okay.