Daddy’s Best Friend Secret by Lauren Wood
Clara
Brendan opened the door, and we walked in. The house still smelled like the barbecue that my dad, Shae, and Klaus had for dinner. I almost wished that I would have been home to grab a bite, but I’d been enjoying myself elsewhere.
Brendan was only going to be here for a couple days, so we wanted to make the most out of our time together. When he suggested bowling, I knew we were going to have a fun and romantic night.
And it was fun, just not so much romantic. We’d laughed and enjoyed each other’s presence, but it almost felt like we were two friends rather than two people who were dating. And I didn’t like that, but I kept it to myself in case Brendan would think that I was overreacting, once again, like he always did.
“Good night, Clara,” Brendan told me, as he closed and locked the door, as per my father’s reminder. He bent down and gently pressed his lips against mine before pulling away. “I had a good night.”
“I did, too,” I told him. “But it doesn’t have to end right now.”
I saw his eyebrows already furrowing and knew he was about to say something, but I stopped him. “We can share a room together, Brendan, I keep trying to tell you. It’s not like it would be the worst thing in the world. Besides, my dad likes you, and he wouldn’t mind, really.” I wasn’t saying the words just to convince Brendan, but because they were true.
Unlike Shae, my father really liked Brendan and thought that he was exactly the kind of boyfriend that I needed. My dad described Brendan as intelligent, good looking, and someone that would provide for me. And that was really all I needed in a relationship, anyways, right?
And shouldn’t he want to share a bed with me? Wasn’t that something that guys, and boyfriends, liked to do? So, why did it seem like he was so opposed? Brendan had a stern look on his face, as he frowned at me, almost giving me this look like he was disappointed which made me angry rather than sad.
“The answer is no, Clara,” he stated. “We’re not sharing a bed, and that’s the end of the story.”
I couldn’t stop myself from pouting. “Why not?”
“Don’t act like a child, Clara, it doesn’t suit you. You’re far too old to be pouting.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “And you know how I feel about this. It isn’t proper for the two of us to sleep together, in the same bed, before we’re married. You know I have plans of marrying you, so you just have to be patient and understand that I’m not going to change my mind.”
He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me. “I’m tired. It’s been a long day, so I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Yeah,” I told him, solemnly. He nodded and went upstairs without looking back.
It was nearly midnight, and I figured it was as good of a time as any to just call it a night and go to bed. This wasn’t how I wanted my night to end, far from it, but there wasn’t really a point in trying to make Brendan change his mind. I could say, from experience, that it wasn’t going to happen. He had to be the most stubborn person that I knew, and that said a lot, considering that I knew my father.
But I wasn’t quite ready to go to bed. I still had a good bit of energy, probably from all of those coffees I’d decided to drink even though Brendan had told me not to. Chances were that Shae was still awake, so I’d spend a bit of time with her instead.
I opened the door and just like I thought, Shae was sitting on the bed, putting polish on her toenails. Her hair was pinned up, and she had on a face mask. I laughed when I saw her, and she turned around to look at me. “Have you come to join me in the festivities?” she asked, mockingly, knowing I wasn’t.
“Not this time.”
“How was your date?” she asked me.
“It was good.”
“Good?” Shae repeated. “Not great?”
“Just good.”
“Pity.” Then she turned around to face me. “You won’t believe what happened at dinner.”
I sat down on the bed. “Let me guess, Klaus didn’t show up?”
“Will you get over that?” Shae rolled her eyes. “No, your dad asked if you could live with Klaus while you transfer colleges until you find somewhere else to stay. I was sitting there, and I couldn’t believe it. And the crazy thing was that Klaus seemed happy to agree!”
“You’re lying,” I said, deadpanned.
“No, and I’m actually jealous. Living with him, all on your own, man, what I wouldn’t give to trade places with you.”
“I have a boyfriend.”
“Trade out Brendan, and get the latest model.” She licked her lips. “Klaus.”
“What was my dad thinking?!” I exclaimed and stood up from the bed. “Is he trying to get back at me for being rude to Klaus? Because I would much rather apologize to that cocksucker than to live with him!”
“Cocksucker,” Shae repeated. “That’s a new one in your vocabulary.”
“Shae!” I shouted. “Be serious for one moment, please!”
My father and I had been having a few issues trying to find somewhere for me to live. All of the places that were available weren’t in the greatest locations, and my father was going to be damned if his daughter would live in a dangerous place.
But I’d rather take my chances at getting mugged than living with Klaus.
And what was Brendan going to say? He’s a reasonable guy. He’ll understand. I was trying to reason with myself, but I knew that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I hoped to make him understand.
I just couldn’t believe my father had decided this without talking to me about it. Didn’t I have a say? My hand balled into a fist, and I let out an annoyed snort. I had the sudden urge to punch something, but I didn’t because I didn’t want to hurt my hand.
“Look, Clara, what’s done is done, okay?” Shae reasoned. “There’s nothing that you can do about it now, you know?”
“Yes, there is,” I tried to argue. “I’ll tell my dad that I won’t stay, that I’ll…”
“And you know what he’s going to do,” she started. “He’ll stop funding college, and he won’t give you the money for the apartment, and then what are you going to do?”
I hadn’t thought of all of that. “I don’t know.”
“Exactly,” Shae commented. “So, there’s no point in thinking about it now. But do you know what you can think about?”
I shrugged. “What?”
“Skinny dipping.”
“What?!” I exclaimed. It was just like Shae to offer me up a solution that had nothing to do with the problem. Where, exactly, was she going with this, and how was it supposed to make me feel better? “Shae,” I said her name slowly. “I’m not going skinny dipping.” Was she out of her mind?
“Well, why not?” She asked. “You’re stressing out about this whole college roommate thing. Don’t you think a nice relaxing swim in the pool would make you feel so much better? I know the water always makes me relax.” Shae offered me a genuine smile, and I realized that she wasn’t joking about this idea.
“Even if I did feel like taking a swim, in the pool, which I don’t.” I pointed my finger at her. “Why would we have to do it naked?”
“Because, think about how fun it would be! Besides, you’ve never done it before, and vacation is all about taking risks.”
“No, vacations are about relaxing.”
“Same thing.” She waved her hands. “Come on, you know you want to try it.”
I really don’t.”
“Well, you’re going anyway because I always know what’s best for you.”
I scoffed. “No offense, Shae, but you do reckless things all of the time.”
“Exactly!”
“I’m sorry, what point are you trying to make here?”
“It doesn’t matter. Clara, you have to try it, okay? How would you know if you’ll like it without trying it first? You don’t know, and besides, it could be your favorite pastime. Give it a chance.”
I knew that she wasn’t going to stop pushing her case until I relented. I wished that I would have just gone to bed rather than coming to Shae’s room. “Even if I said yes, how do we know that nobody will see us?” I raised an eyebrow at her.
“Even if they do, who cares? That’s the fun part.”
“Shae!”
“I’m kidding!” She laughed. “Nobody’s going to be there. It’s past midnight. Now, stop being such a chicken!”
I let out a sigh. “Fine.”
“Yay! Let me pick your swimsuit.”
I didn’t have a choice, in the matter. All I could do was sit on the bed, as Shae, frantically, brought out a multitude of swimsuits. I hadn’t even known that she’d brought so many. An array of different colors, types, and brands. I had my own swimsuits, but hers were a lot more sexy. Then again, everything that Shae wore was more revealing.
“So, why are we wearing swimsuits if we’re skinny dipping?” I asked her, confused. Didn’t that defeat the whole point?
“Don’t be stupid,” she told me. “We can’t run around the house naked. We’ll take our swimsuits off when we get there.”
“So, why does it matter which one I wear?”
“Shut up and let me have my moment.”
I laughed, as she finally found the one that she wanted me to wear. It was a white one piece that made my breasts look absolutely amazing.
We didn’t have to really sneak out of the house. I knew that my father wasn’t going to mind. The only person that I wanted to avoid was Brendan because I could already hear the nagging that he was going to do. He would scold me about all of the reasons I’d made a bad decision. And I didn’t want to hear it.
Shae and I made our way onto the beach and she immediately began to shed the swimsuit that she’d worn. I watched her run and jump into the water. My hand was holding my arm as I tried to figure out if I could do this. I had thought that I could, but I had never been naked in front of someone before. And how could we know that nobody was going to have the same ideas as us and come out here? Those weren’t risks that I was willing to take.
“Oh come on Clara, don’t be a pussy!” Her vulgar language echoed around the beach. But she was right. I shouldn’t wimp out. Unlike her, I never took risks because I was always so afraid. Well, it was time for me to stop being scared and to take life by the horns. I was, actually, going to do this.
I looked around one more time before slipping out of my bathing suit and leaving it on the ground. Then, I let out a deep breath and ran as fast as my legs would take me to the ocean before jumping inside just like I’d seen Shae do.
When I emerged from the water, I was panting. “It’s fucking freezing!”
“Well, yeah,” Shae said and rolled her eyes. “That’s a given!”
We laughed, as we swam around, just enjoying our time together and talking. This was what vacation was supposed to be all about. I was so happy that I had brought Shae along with me otherwise I didn’t know what I would have done.
After about half an hour, Shae got tired. “I’m going to get out, so I can take a shower and go to bed. Are you coming?”
I thought about her question before shaking my head. “No. I’m actually really enjoying it.”
“I told you that you would,” she commented, matter-of-factly. “And who’s always right?”
“You’re not talking about you, are you?”
She rolled her eyes at me, as she got out of the water and put her swimsuit back on. “Be careful and don’t stay out here too long, by yourself, okay?”
“Okay.”
Shae turned around and walked away from me. My skin was beginning to get wrinkly, but I didn’t mind. I didn’t know what it was about skinny dipping, but it was really empowering me. I didn’t want to get out of the water, quite yet. I wanted to hold on to that feeling for as long as I possibly could.
I waded around for a little bit until the sound of someone catching their breath caught my attention. My heart stopped because for a moment I’d thought that it was Brendan, here to scold me because he’d caught me doing something that I had no business doing.
Slowly, I turned around and let out a breath. It wasn’t Brendan. It was Klaus.
“It’s a nice night for a swim, isn’t it?” He asked, incredibly close to the water but not in it. “I would have suspected that Shae would do something like this, but it’s a surprise to see you here, Clara.”
I shivered. Could the way that he said my name be any more sexy? “Go away, Klaus!” I snapped at him. Why was he even here? Unless, he’d had the same idea as Shae and I. Was he going to undress and get into the water, too? Why was a part of me excited about that prospect? I needed to get him far out of my head.
“Why?” He asked. “You look lonely in there by yourself. Besides, don’t you know how dangerous it is to be out on your lonesome. You could get kidnapped.”
“And that would still be better than spending time with you.”
“Ow,” he commented. “That one almost hurt.”
“Damn it, I guess I’m not trying enough.”
This man couldn’t take a hint to save his life. Didn’t he understand that I was serious when I was rejecting him? I knew a lot of women played hard to get, but I wasn’t one of them. I wanted him to stay away from me.
“Where’s your boyfriend?”
I frowned. “Why do you want to know?”
Klaus laughed. “Obviously, he’s not here with you. If I’m not mistaken, I’m sure he’d be a bit too uptight to let you do this, so he probably has no idea where you are.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“Just simple curiosity.”
Klaus began to take off his clothes, letting them rest on the beach, and I gasped before turning my back to him. I’d never seen a naked man before, and I hadn’t exactly planned on him being my first.
