Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33869 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
I gasp. If I decide I don’t like him? Is he on drugs? He’s the nicest person I’ve ever met, and he’s a Daddy. I’m in love with him, and I just found this out like two minutes ago.
He cringes a bit. “I’m pressuring you.”
I shake my head. “No, you’re not. I’m just in shock.” It’s not as though he’s holding me hostage and now he’s going to rape me. Except for taking my hand in his to help me out of the closet, he hasn’t touched me. Oh, he did touch my hair. I liked it.
A knock at the door makes me nearly jump out of my skin.
“It’s the pizza, Little one.” He stands and hurries over to the door, opening it just far enough to take the box from the delivery guy and hand him a tip.
As soon as he shuts and locks the door, he heads for my attached kitchen. “Does your pretend Daddy let you eat in the living room?”
I giggle. “No. He’s pretty strict about that,” I joke as I slide off the edge of the sofa and follow Eli into my messy kitchen.
Eli sets the box on the counter. “Where are your plates, sweet girl?”
I point to one of the cabinets and bite my bottom lip while I wait for his reaction. I don’t have many things for adults. Why would I? No adult lives here.
Eli doesn’t say a word as he grabs two plastic plates. He opens the next cabinet to find a sippy cup and regular plastic cups. He pulls down one of each and nods toward the fridge. “Water or do you have something else you want to drink?”
I stare at the refrigerator for a few seconds before turning back to him. I have no reason not to reveal what’s in my fridge. He’s given me no reason not to trust him. Besides, he’s seen nearly all of my secrets. Why should I care if he finds out what I like to drink?
“I have some sodas and juice,” I tell him.
He nods toward the fridge, brows lifted as if to ask if it’s okay if he opens it.
“You can get them.”
He pulls the door open and looks inside. I know what’s in there. Juice boxes that have only marginally seen juice, flavored sodas, and milk. I’m not very adventurous.
“Orange soda. I haven’t had that in a long time.” He pulls one out. “What would you like, sweet girl?”
“A cherry juice box.”
He grabs one, chuckling as he looks at the back of the box. “You realize it’s a misnomer to call these juice boxes, right?”
I shrug.
“So, I guess you eat Lunchables a lot…”
I giggle. “For lunch. Duh.”
He laughs. “What do you eat for dinner?”
I glance at my freezer. “Frozen meals.”
“Ah.” He doesn’t look. “I guess cooking isn’t something you enjoy.”
“Not really.”
“And your pretend Daddy lets you have soda?” he teases.
I hold my finger up to my lips. “Shhh. He doesn’t know,” I whisper. This banter is fun.
Eli laughs harder. “I’m super jealous of him. He gets to spend a lot of time with you. Meanwhile I’ve been snubbed for all these months. You’ve only spoken to me three times, and you never make eye contact.” He sets a hand over his heart as if he’s wounded.
“He’s not real, silly,” I tell him, grinning. I don’t know when I’ve ever felt this light. A half an hour ago, I was so heavy I wanted the Earth to swallow me whole. Now I’m nearly skipping.
“Oh.” Eli looks stunned. “So then I don’t have to fight him off? He’s not going to show up here in a while and punch my lights out for honing in on his girl?”
I cover my mouth as I giggle. “He wouldn’t be able to fight you anyway. You’re much larger than him.”
Eli pulls a chair out for me at the table and helps me sit before stacking my coloring books on the other end, getting them out of the way. Meanwhile, he keeps talking. “Are you saying I’m fat?”
I giggle again. “No. You’re taller and have more muscles. He’s just ordinary.”
“What’s his name?”
“Daddy. Duh.”
Eli’s entire body shakes as he chuckles. “Of course. Silly me.” He heads for the counter and returns with the box of pizza before making another trip with our drinks and plates.
My stomach growls when he opens the box. It looks delicious. I never order pizza because I can’t eat more than a few slices, and then I’d have too much left over. Plus I’d have to face the delivery guy.
Eli puts a slice on the pink plate and sets it in front of me. “Do you want me to cut it up?”
“No, Sir.” But I kind of like the idea. I like watching him move around my apartment.
“Okay, but wait a minute to pick it up. It’s hot. Blow on it first.”