Daddy Dearest Read online

  Just for one day, I wanted to know what it felt like to be her favorite. I wanted to know what it was like to have her attention, her affection. She only gave those things to Amanda though, and I’d just have to swallow that bitter pill down. I couldn’t be jealous of my own sister.

  I carried my sandals in my hand, my toes digging into the sand warmed from the afternoon sun, and cool water lapping at my feet. It felt so nice, as if the waves were carrying away all of my worries, washing them away along with the grains of sand between my toes.

  We walked in companionable silence until we reached the cove.

  I remembered us finding it all that time ago, when we were so much younger, so much more carefree.

  We stumbled upon it during low tide, because it was unreachable otherwise. It was a beautiful sandy cove where the only sound was the waves echoing in the cove, and my mind always felt so clear there. Ryan and I used to call it our thinking cove, and I still remember us talking about anything and everything in its peaceful chamber.

  We always used to go there in the late afternoons, because that was when the tide was low, and we loved being by ourselves in our very own thinking space. Amanda and Ryan had never been particularly close – I think they’d always been a little jealous of each other – so this was a time and place I only shared with him.

  “It looks exactly the same,” I exclaimed once we finally reached it, wading through knee-deep water to get on the sand inside.

  I was grateful I’d worn a sundress even though it was getting a little chilly for it now, because Ryan’s jeans were soaked through on the bottom.

  “It hasn’t been that long, you know,” he told me, laying his jacket down on the wet sand.

  We sat down on it and dipped our toes into the water. It felt so nice being there, reminding me of less complicated times, of easier things. The water washed away my worries once again, and Ryan left me alone with my thoughts. I assumed he needed a moment to gather his own, too.

  I thought about it all.

  About my mom being so distant, about growing apart with Amanda. Being twins, I always thought she was my best friend. She was the one I confided in, the one I trusted implicitly. She was my sister, after all. But lately it didn’t feel like that at all. It felt like Amanda was building a life of her own, and I wasn’t welcome in it.

  It had been months since we’d done anything together, weeks since she’d asked me how things were going. She stopped hanging out with me at school, and at home, she spent all her time with Mom. Neither of them seemed to care about me at all.

  And then there was Levi.

  Sometimes it felt like he was the only one in the house who actually gave a shit about me. And I couldn’t lie to myself, it felt good getting that kind of attention, knowing I’d always been his favorite. I couldn’t get enough of it.

  What happened between us hadn’t been right. But the fact that it wasn’t felt so deliciously, wickedly good, I just couldn’t help wanting more.

  I’d never seen Levi in that light. Never saw him as a man I could fall for, always just as a father figure… But that night, walking into my room with such an authoritative air, I would have done anything for him. And I had.

  I felt a lone tear slide down my cheek as I thought about my future in the family home.

  Mom and Levi were bound to get a divorce sooner rather than later, and then what?

  I wouldn’t have a single ally in the house, and I’d feel lonelier than ever.

  I felt something touching me, and I looked down to find Ryan’s hand on top of mine. I looked up into his eyes, and he was watching me with this mesmerized, hopeful expression that made my heart sink all the way down into my stomach.

  “Ryan, I…” I stammered, but he put a finger on his lips and leaned closer to me, trying to kiss me.

  I turned my cheek towards him and his lips landed on it, feeling wet and so very wrong, nothing like Levi’s.

  “Ryan,” I said softly, not daring to look up at him. “I’m sorry, I just… I don’t feel that way about you.”

  He didn’t say a word back.

  I felt his hand retreat and we sat there awkwardly for another couple of minutes until I heard a strange sound.

  I looked over to Ryan to find him chuckling to himself, and I couldn’t hold back the giggle that escaped my own lips.

  “What?” I asked curiously.

  “Just… this,” he finally said. “This whole situation. I’ve been trying so hard to get your attention, to just make you see I liked you.”

  “I’m sorry,” I confessed guiltily. “I just don’t feel that way.”

  “Don’t be sorry.” Ryan reached for my hand again, but this time around, he just squeezed it gently. “I totally get it. We were friends before, it’s weird.”

  I looked away feeling guiltier than ever. It wasn’t really about that, was it?

  I hadn’t liked Ryan when we were kids. He was a lanky, scaredy-cat wuss, but since then he had sure as hell grown up. I could see myself falling for him… we had so much in common, and he was so handsome.

  But there was someone else, and I could no longer deny the feelings I had for him. For Levi.

  “Yeah,” I lied smoothly. “It would just be weird.”

  Ryan nodded and got up briskly, offering me a hand to help me get up. I accepted it gratefully, feeling happy we were able to move past the little mess we’d almost gotten ourselves into. The last thing I wanted to do was fight with him.

  “What do you say we head back home?” he asked. “I’ll drop you back at your place. And we don’t have to speak about this again.”

  “Okay,” I said, and he pulled back, going towards the car. “Ryan, wait.”

  He gave me a quizzical look over his shoulder and I ran up to him, timidly wrapping my arms around him. He seemed surprised, but after a second or two, he returned my friendly hug.

  “I just wanted to thank you,” I said shyly. “Today meant a lot to me, and I’m sorry we dropped out of touch. You’re a good friend.”

  “I know,” he teased. “You’re the bad one.”

  I punched his shoulder and ran after him. I chased him all the way to the parking lot, and if it wasn’t for the constant, needy ache for Levi between my legs, I could almost convince myself I was a little kid again.

  10

  Levi

  It was past eight p.m. when I heard a car pull up on our driveway.

  I was furious. Fucking fuming, worried sick and angry as a bull. Whoever had her was going to get a piece of my mind, and then a taste of my fist.

  I rushed out of the house with Amanda steady behind my feet. Their mother was still not home, off on some project or other, but more likely than not out fucking someone who was most definitely not her husband.

  The car stopped and the driver’s door opened. A guy walked outside, a guy because he wasn’t a man yet. He looked about Amanda and Kendall’s age, and he was grinning from ear to ear as he opened the passenger door.

  Kendall’s long legs swung out first, with a light tan and her pretty white eyelet dress riding up. She was barefoot, her dainty little toenails painted a bright fuchsia shade. She carried her sandals in her hand, and she had sunglasses pushed up on her brow. Her nose and cheeks were peppered with fresh freckles from the sun, which hadn’t been there earlier in the day.

  “Kendall!” I shouted, and she stopped mid-laugh, looking at me with her mouth set in a thin line.

  Her friend walked up to me and I felt like a mother hen standing there with my arms crossed and Amanda peering at the scene in front of us from behind my back. It felt like the roles had been reversed with the two of them that day.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” I barked, and the guy rushed to shake my hand.

  “Hello, Mr. Reed,” he said kindly. “Not sure you remember me, I’m a friend of Kendall’s…”

  “I don’t give a shit,” I snapped, smacking his hand away.

  He gave me a surprised glare, but I focused my attention
on Kendall instead. I’d never been angrier. Both Mandy and I had been worried sick, waiting for her after school. She never showed up, though, and I got more and more worried as the hours passed. It was completely unlike Kendall to come home this late after school, and her phone went straight to voicemail. Her mother had no idea where she was either, not that she seemed bothered by it. She didn’t even offer to come back home and help us look for Kendall. Fucking bitch.

  “You didn’t answer your phone,” I spat at Kendall, and she glared at me. “You fucking have that expensive phone for a reason.”

  “Yeah, to call my mom,” she hissed. “And my mom isn’t here. You don’t get to set the rules, Levi.”

  I heard Amanda’s sharp intake of breath from behind me. She’d crossed a line for fucking sure, and I wasn’t about to let her get away with it. I’d never been angrier at Kendall, never this fucking tempted to slap her across her beautiful face. I’d been worried fucking sick, and here she was, strolling on the lawn as if nothing had happened.

  “You don’t get to talk to me like that,” I told her, grabbing her forearm.

  She struggled, trying to tear herself out of my arms but I wouldn’t let her. No way was she getting away now.

  “Levi, you’re hurting me,” she cried out.

  “Hey man, let her go,” her friend cut in, making a grab for me.

  I couldn’t help myself. I knocked the kid flat out with a single punch.

  “LEVI!” Kendall shouted, tearing herself out of my grip and kneeling next to him on the ground.

  “Uncool,” Amanda told me before coming from behind my back and joining the two kids on the lawn.

  My fist fucking stung and I was still pissed as hell. My girls helped the kid pick himself up, and I noticed the blood flowing from his nose. I was too damn angry to feel remorse, though. I would have punched him again if I didn’t know better.

  “Get the fuck off my lawn,” I snarled at the kid, and he stumbled towards his car. “And don’t you ever dare touch Kendall again.”

  He gave her a look and shook his head, holding his nose as he got in the car. He revved the engine and reversed off our driveway, and Amanda stared at me as I stormed closer to them.

  “Amanda,” I barked. “Get the fuck inside and let me deal with this.”

  She gave Kendall a concerned look, but her sister waved her off. I didn’t move my eyes off Kendall as Amanda got up and walked towards the house as slowly as she possibly could, probably fucking desperate to hear the speech I was going to give. But I was going to deal with this with Kendall in private. And she wasn’t going to get away with it, either.

  “I was worried fucking sick,” I snarled at her. “You were gone for hours. You were supposed to be home at four!”

  “So?” she bit back, getting up from the lawn and glaring at me. “You’re not the boss of me last time I checked.”

  She looked fucking beautiful like that, her eyes blazing and her tiny hands forming little fists I wanted her to tangle in my hair. She was fucking glorious.

  “You should have called, Kendall,” I told her heatedly. “Or at least texted or fucking something, so I wouldn’t be worried out of my fucking mind!”

  “My phone died,” she shouted back, pulling her phone out of her bag and waving it at me. “It’s not my damn fault!”

  “We fucking waited for you,” I said. “Amanda and me, we waited for hours. She was worried sick! Don’t you give a shit about your sister at least, if you don’t care about me?”

  “Of course I care,” she hissed. “You’re the one who doesn’t care!”

  She started sobbing uncontrollably, and I felt all too aware of being in the front yard where any of the neighbors could see us. I had no idea what else to do, so I took her by the arm and gently nudged her towards the house. She stumbled in front of me, over the welcome mat and into the house. Then, she tore her arm out of my grip once again and glared at me with so much hatred it was a wonder I didn’t burst into flames on the spot.

  “No wonder Mom doesn’t love you,” she told me. “You’re controlling, obsessive, and at the same time, you don’t give a shit. About any of us. About any of this!”

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I told her pointedly.

  Her words fucking hurt, even though I knew they were spoken in anger.

  “Tell me who that guy was, Kendall,” I told her. “Tell me who you’ve been fucking gallivanting around with so I can punish you properly.”

  “Oh what, you’re going to ground me?” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t give a shit, Levi! You’re not my real dad!”

  “Bet your fucking tight little ass I’m not,” I snarled, making a move on her again.

  She dodged me, and we played the game of cat and mouse as she tried to slip through my fingers. It was only a matter of time before I got my hands on her, and once I did, it wasn’t going to be pretty for her. She’d broken every single rule, and I was going to punish her for it, hard.

  “You’re going to pay,” I told her roughly. “You don’t get to act like a fucking little bitch around here without repercussions.”

  “Oh yeah?” she cried out. “You going to hurt me?”

  “No,” I answered. “I’m going to fucking deny you.”

  She almost got away again, but this time, instead of worrying about her wellbeing, I wrapped my fingers into her dark mane of hair and pulled her towards me. She cried out as I did it, and it only made me pull harder. I didn’t stop until her arms were trapped behind her back and she was slack against my chest, and then I forced her up the stairs, with her whining and sobbing the whole time. My heart was beating so fucking fast I thought it would go straight through my chest.

  Amanda stood at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide as she stared at me dragging Kendall along.

  “Are you really going to do this?” Kendall cried out. “You’re really fucking going to do this, right in front of Mandy?”

  I pulled her up against me, her lips inches away from mine. She trembled under my touch, but her bratty little mouth still opened up needily the second she saw me looking at it.

  “Why wouldn’t I?” I asked her roughly. “You already told her all about us, anyway, didn’t you, baby girl?”

  And then I kissed her, with her sister staring at us.

  She gasped into my mouth, desperate and greedy the moment my lips touched hers. She kissed me back after a second, eagerly so, devouring my mouth as if it had belonged to her all along. She moaned into my mouth and I deepened our kiss, toying with her tongue, owning her mouth like a real daddy should.

  Finally, I pulled back, and looked at Amanda who was standing in the doorway of her room open-mouthed.

  “Bet you she liked what she saw,” I told Kendall, my eyes steady on her sister. “Bet you she’s fucking jealous as fuck that you’re the one who gets to fucking kiss me.”

  “Levi,” Kendall breathed, her fingernails digging into my skin. “Levi, please.”

  Amanda glared at me as I picked my baby girl up and pulled her towards her sister. I made her stand right in front of Mandy, my hands on her shoulders as I whispered in her ear.

  “Tell her you’ve been bad,” I ordered her. “Tell her you have to be punished.”

  “NO!” Kendall struggled, but I wouldn’t let go.

  I stepped closer to her, my hard dick digging into her ass and making her cry out.

  “I’ve been bad,” she muttered, Amanda’s eyes growing wider and wider. “Levi’s going to punish me now.”

  “Tell her you’ll tell her all about it later,” I said, and she trembled as she repeated the words.

  Amanda glared at me with so much venom in her eyes I could only chuckle. I grabbed Kendall and forced her towards her own room, and she stumbled towards it. I turned back to face Amanda and leaned down to really get in her face. Just like her sister’s, her own lips parted too, and she stared at me as I spoke to her.

  “Don’t you ever fucking dare to blackmail me again,”
I told her pointedly. “You’ve seen what I do to bad little girls, haven’t you, Amanda?”

  She kept staring at me numbly.

  “And don’t fucking forget,” I added. “You have your own secrets you want to stay hidden, too.”

  I left her there with her eyes nervous, walked into Kendall’s room, and shut the door tightly behind us.

  I didn’t bother locking it.

  Let Mandy fucking walk in on it if she wanted to.

  11

  Kendall

  Levi slammed the door shut after us.

  He advanced on me with his shoulders tense and his mouth open in a snarl. I was terrified, but there was no denying the wet spot between my legs where arousal had made me leak all over my panties.

  “Levi,” I whispered. “Please, don’t do this… Mandy’s right in the next room.”

  “Do I look like a give a shit?” he asked me roughly. “You told her everything there was to hide anyway, you stupid little girl.”

  He lunged at me and I slipped just out of his reach, moving away and making him laugh out loud.

  “Think you can get away?” he asked me. “Think you can escape me again, Kendall? You’re not going to get away from me now, and you’re not going to be seeing your little boyfriend anytime soon either, you little whore.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” I cried out. “Nothing ever happened between us!”

  “So you didn’t let him,” he said, and I could sense a tone of pride in his voice. “What a good little girl you are for Daddy. You didn’t let him touch what’s mine, did you, slut?”

  “No,” I said. “I didn’t, I swear.”

  I couldn’t even fight it. Couldn’t deny this insane attraction between the two of us, the need to be touched by him, to have him use me like he had that night when he snuck into my room. I wanted him to do it again. I wanted him to fuck me.

  And Levi fucking knew it.

  “Come closer, little girl,” he taunted.

  He stopped coming after me then, instead choosing to sit down on my pink bed. I thought he looked ridiculous in my pink room, the bed adorned with stuffed animals and a white silk canopy above the bed. It seemed easier to ignore it the last time, because it was the middle of the night and the room was dimly lit… But now, in the cold light of day, I was terrified.