Eros
"Did anyone try the charcuterie board I made?" Josie proudly asked, smiling a sweet smile at Dad, Mom, and Ares.
Ares nodded, wiping the corner of his mouth. "So good. Frat guys don't know how to make food, so this was a change of pace."
She smiled, looking over at me as she shifted to get comfortable in my arms. "And you?"
"Not yet, baby," I said, gently rubbing my fingers through her hair.
Dad's eyes were locked on me, his tongue in his bottom lip.
He was making my guilt worse — as if it wasn't already eating me alive.
"It was really good, sweetie," Dad said, smiling at her.
"Ya think?" She asked, smiling a proud smile.
"You know, people make money from that stuff," Mom said, "you could totally do that."
"Ah, yes, I could do that while I'm Eros's housewife," she giggled out, looking up at me.
I smiled down at her, pressing a kiss to her nose. "You know you'll get bored sitting at home all day."
"I can make it work," she deadpanned.
I looked away from her, feeling terrible that I forgot how entrancing her face was. My smile quickly faded as I rested my head in my hand, my eyes meeting Dad's.
He looked down at his phone for a few seconds, then back up at me. My phone chimed, making me grab it.
[From: Dad]
You need to tell her. She loves you so much.
I clicked my phone off before Josie could see, making me smile down at her.
"I came up with a new kid name," she said, grabbing both of my hands.
"Oh yeah?" I asked.
"Mm hmm. Georgiana."
"That's really pretty," I said, "what made you think of that?"
She shrugged, smiling. "A road sign."
I smiled, but wanted to break down in this very moment — anyone could see that Josie was the definition of a dream girl. The cutest, most beautiful, and sexiest person to ever exist, all at the same time.
And I cheated on her. I cheated on everyone's dream girl.
I let out a sigh and rubbed my eyes, clenching my jaw.
"Also, this is random," she said, leaning up, "but how does everyone think I'd look with, like, full brown? And some extensions?"
"I could see it," Ares said, nodding.
"No," I firmly said, because when I thought of long, brown hair, I thought of the only thing I remembered about the girl I'd hooked up with in Seattle. And that was it.
She scoffed, looking back at me. "You think I wouldn't look good?"
"It's not that," I said, laughing as I grabbed one of her hands.
"Then what is it?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Yeah, what is it?" Dad asked, tilting his head over.
I bit down on my lip. "Your blonde highlights are, like, sunlight in your hair. I don't know how else to describe it. And you're like the sun."
She smiled, falling back on my lap. "That's good enough."
Dad chuckled and stood up, shaking his head. He walked out of the living room, making me follow him with my eyes. I patted Jo's arm and she leaned up, making me follow Dad into the kitchen.
