For a second, all eyes were on him because of the giant belly laugh he’d just let out.
“Are you kidding me? You could never be boring, Lilith Shea. You have so many things that you’re into, so many things you love. Not to mention that even if all your interests can make you seem kind of prickly”—he tapped on one of the spikes sticking out of the choker necklace she’d chosen for today—“you’re a very caring person who loves really hard and wants everyone and everything to have a chance to be happy, whatever that looks like. You can find the beauty in anything and that’s very special. There’s not even room in here for an ounce of boring.”
His joke and the kiss he’d planted on her temple earned him a small smile.
“Really?”
“Really. Which reminds me, you still need to show me your crystals. I think we should do a show and tell after your bath and before you go to bed tonight. What do you say?”
“Perfect, Daddy,” she said as she gave him a hug around his waist.
He started to steer them over to join Gunnar and Twyla who were still in line. Busy day at the ice cream shack, but of course it was. What said summer more than getting a cone at the shore?
As they passed a table he heard a father tell his two tween daughters, “I would never let you leave the house like that,” followed by an older woman kvetching to her husband, “Isn’t that a shame? She’d be so pretty if she didn’t look so bizarre.”
Part of him wanted to stop and defend Lilith—she was beautiful just the way she was and what the hell did these people know? Lil had more style in her pinky than they did in their whole bodies. For real though, her sharp nails were on point with black glitter tips and the skull ring she was wearing on that tiny finger could put out an eye.
Another part wanted to disappear. Shame and embarrassment had dogged him for a lot of his life and he’d done everything he could to avoid it. Built a life for himself that was basically faultless—drove the right car, had a house in the right neighborhood, wore clothes that were just fashionable enough to blend in with the right crowd without being too flashy so he wouldn’t be accused of trying too hard. It was a fucking tightrope act and as much as he adored Lil, sometimes it made him ill-at-ease that she felt fine about taking a swan dive off the high wire he spent so much time and resources balancing on.
Kink was the one exception to the rule but it was something he couldn’t live without—he’d tried. And he figured if he didn’t attempt to get into politics the chances of that particular skeleton getting pulled out of his closet and put on parade were pretty small. It was a risk he had to take. Others? No.
Vance did the best he could to ignore the crawling sensation of being talked about as they joined their friends and scanned the dozens of flavors posted on big boards above the order windows. But it was still there—although only a smidge—when Lil bounced on her toes beside him and tugged his hand, giving him a big smile.
“What is it?”
“They have a flavor called Vampire Bite, Daddy!”
Ah, yep, there it was. Mexican chocolate ice cream with a blood orange syrup swirl and dark cherry pieces. Definitely not vanilla.
“I see. You want a scoop of that, lil bit?”
“Mmm, three,” she said, eyes glinting like obsidian.
“Greedy little thing,” he tutted mildly. “I think two so someone doesn’t end up with a tummy ache.”
“Okay, Daddy. Two. But in a waffle cone, please?”
“Sure.”
She gave him a brilliant smile that warmed his heart and Vance tried to hang onto that feeling instead of pricking up his ears to catch any more of the catty things people were saying about his little girl.