Love Unexpected

by Q. B. Tyler

  “You’re going to stay the fuck away from my daughter.”

  “Excuse me, your who?” I laugh. “Trust me she doesn’t want that title from you.”

  “Oh…but she wants it from you, right?” His lips turn into a snarl and he shakes his head. “Because this is really fatherly, right?” He opens the folder and shows me pictures of me and Stassi. Everywhere. Very very intimate pictures. Especially that night we went out with Seth and fucked in the car. Someone had been so close; you can see every depraved detail. You can practically see the sweat dripping off of us. Then there are pictures taken through our window, of us kissing. Me kissing her neck. There’s even a faint one where it’s pretty easy to assume she’s giving me a blow job. There are more than a few pictures with my face buried between her legs. Every single photo is more incriminating than the last. Especially the last one. That last fucking one that shows she was in my fifth-grade math class when I was a teacher.

  “Class act, Principal Callahan. So, now tell me, how long have you been fucking a student?”

  My mouth goes dry and all I can think of is getting to Stassi before she can get home. The last thing I want is for her to walk into this shitstorm. “I never touched her while she was in high school.”

  “Bullshit, you were so fucking territorial at that graduation. I knew something felt off. You were acting like a jealous fucking boyfriend.”

  “I didn’t touch her until she turned eighteen. You don’t have to believe it, but it’s the truth.”

  “Whether or not it’s the truth is irrelevant, all that’s important is what people will believe. And these pictures will ruin you. If not for the mere fact that you were banging a student, but the fact that she’s your dead wife’s daughter? Your reputation is finished. No school will hire you. You’ll be lucky if you stay off a sex offender registry.”

  “Stassi would never lie and you can’t prove that any of these pictures happened before she was eighteen.” My palms are starting to sweat and my heart is racing, but I’m trying to remain cool and unbothered by this asshole who seems to be gearing up to blackmail me.

  “These pictures will ruin your life, Callahan. Hers too. Is that what you want for her?”

  “Is that what you want? You’re that angry that she turned you down to buy her an apartment you’re willing to humiliate her? These pictures will destroy her too, Micah.”

  “Collateral damage.” He shrugs. “She’ll move on from these. Her reputation might be a little tarnished, but people will move on. You, however, are finished here.”

  “Collateral damage? Do you hear yourself? That’s your daughter.”

  “No, as you both have made it so clear. That’s your daughter. One you’ve chosen to fuck as some sort of sick twisted game I’m sure.”

  “It’s not at all like that.”

  “Wow, spoken like a true pervert.” He shoves the pictures against my chest. “These are yours. Trust me, I have copies.”

  “What do you want?” I ask him, knowing there is no sum of money too big to get him the fuck out of Stassi’s life.

  “I already told you. End it with Stassia. It’s going to ruin her life. Whatever this fucked up affair is? It’s done. Effective now.”

  “You do not have a say in that whatsoever.”

  “Fine. Don’t do it.” He shrugs. “I’ll just release these pictures to the entire school board. Maybe send them to some shady nerd who codes who can sneak them onto Stassia’s high school website so the whole world can see she’s been riding the Principal’s dick for good grades.” He claps his hand and points at me. “And if that’s not a big deal to you, I’ll send them to Angela’s parents and yours as well. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled that you’re fucking their granddaughter.”

  “Micah…”

  “For you to defile her in a car like this, Dominic.” He tsks at me. “She deserves better than that.”

  “How long were you following us?”

  “Long enough. That night I called Stassi and she said she was out; my Private Investigator had followed you guys there and said you two looked…close. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but then he spelled it out for me when he spotted you two at the bar, a second away from kissing. He followed you to your car and called me the second she climbed into your lap. I told him to hang up and take as many pictures as he could. This went on until well…” He points at the most recent picture. It is one taken just yesterday morning. We were on the back deck having woken up early to watch the sun rise and she’d climbed into my lap just before she’d pressed her lips to mine. We’d kissed until our lips were raw, whispering how much we loved each other between kisses and how nothing would change even after Stassia left.

  She’d rubbed against me until we both came in our clothes, and this picture was a very aggressive shot of our dry humping.

  Fuck.

  “Micah…I can’t say goodbye to her. I know you don’t support it, but I love her.”

  “You loved her as a daughter, you sick fuck! My daughter.”

  “Don’t start that shit, Micah, because you and I both know it’s a tired argument.”

  “So, you decided you raised her enough. She was eighteen, now you could fuck her? What kind of logic? You’re right, I’m kind of shit at it. But I don’t think that’s how parenting works, Dominic. You don’t love her. You love her body. You love that she’s Angela part two. You love that she gets on her knees and does whatever you want blindly because she’s young and desperate for love and attention from a man due to Daddy issues.” He puts a hand up. “And before you say it, yes, I know that stems from me. But you’re helping her have a whole different wealth of them. You’re what forty something? She’s eighteen and you’re talking to me about love? Fuck off. You’re a sick fucking pervert, and I should have you arrested. I’m friends with the Chief of Police, so I just might if you don’t toe the mother fucking line, Callahan, so help me.”

  “I can’t just break up with her. It will crush her.”

  “She will move on. With someone appropriate. Hell, literally anyone in the world would be a better choice than you. Tell her she has to go. She has to move out now.”

  “Now?”

  “I don’t want her in the same house as you.”

  “No, I’m not going to make her leave her house. This is her home.”

  “That she built with her mom and her stepfather. Yes, truly a family house. Have I thanked you yet for taking such good care of the only woman I ever loved and my daughter? You really deserve both father and husband of the year.”

  His words are hateful but some of them ring true. I am just as shitty as Micah says I am. And what’s worse is I’ve been faulting Micah for his shortcomings. Pointing a finger at him for mistakes he’s made when I’m doing things perhaps far worse and more damaging to Stassi. I’m the father she never had and then what seemed like overnight, I became the only man she wanted.

  “You need to give Stassi a shot at a normal life. Being with her stepfather is just going to make her a joke. A stigma. The taboo story that her friends will share like urban legends. I don’t care if you love her. But if you do, you won’t let her continue down this road. She deserves better.”

  “Don’t talk to me about what Stassia deserves, Micah. I’d give her the fucking world and she knows that.”

  “It means something different when you’re talking about the woman who sucks your dick, Dominic.” He takes a few steps back. “Move the fuck out if you don’t want to ask her to leave, but the days of you under the same roof are fucking over. If you’re not out by tonight, I’m releasing these photos.”

  “Tonight? Are you insane? How the hell am I going to talk to her.”

  “I wouldn’t suggest telling her about our little talk, because I’ll only deny it and by that point, she’ll think you’re just ending it because you want out. Because she’s a silly little girl and you’re a fucking man. How could she make you happy?”

  This man is pure fucking evil and if Stassi and I ever ge
t out of this mess, I am taking us as far the fuck away from him as possible. “She would never believe that. She’d never believe you over me. I’ve never lied to her.”

  “Fine. Risk it then. Do what you need to do, Callahan. Just know the clock is ticking. You don’t get to be Stassi’s father and her lover, Dominic.” He reaches for the door. I want to literally throw him out of here, but I don’t think I want to add any more things he can use against me with his so-called police buddies.

  But fuck him if he thinks I won’t stick up for my girl. Even if she may not be for much longer. “I don’t want to be her father at this point, but it sure as fuck can’t be you either. You’ve lost any chance of that by doing this to her.”

  “If she sees this as me doing her a disservice then she’s as naive as I thought. This is me protecting her, Dominic. If you weren’t thinking with your dick, you’d see that.” He storms out, slamming my door behind him and the whole house rattles under the force.

  His words swirl around me and as much as I want to hate him, and my God I really do, he is right in some ways.

  No, Stassia was right in that you two just need to fall off the face of the Earth and resurface somewhere no one knows your story. No one will know.

  Stassia even pushed to transfer schools so that we could start somewhere new, but I didn’t want her to change all of her plans for me. I wanted her to thrive in the environment she wanted and if I had to cheer her on differently in public than I did in private, I was okay with that.

  She won’t thrive here if those pictures get out though, and now look at the mess you’re in.

  * * *

  I’m practically skipping into the house after having gotten Dominic’s text message to get home as soon as I could. I know I’m in for several orgasms, since I spent the night at Kate’s last night and not with Dominic’s cock inside of me. “Baby!” I call out as I run into the house. But I stop in my tracks when I notice the suitcases by the foyer.

  Oh! We’re going somewhere?

  I run up the stairs. “Dominic, where are we—” I start when I see him sitting in my bedroom on my bed staring at the floor. “Going?” I stop and cock my head to the side. “Hey, what’s going on? Why the long face?” I go to sit in his lap, which has become my usual seat if he and I are in the same room but he doesn’t let me.

  “I can’t, if you’re sitting on my lap, Stassi.” He tells me as he holds his arms up to prevent me from coming any closer.

  “Can’t…what?”

  He swallows and pats the seat next to him. I take the seat and look up at the man I’ve come to love in such a short period of time, but in the same breath have loved in some capacity for most of my life. “Baby, you’re scaring me, what’s wrong?” I rub the back of his neck and lean against him. “We can fix it, whatever it is.”

  “No, Stassia. We can’t. Not this. And I’m so sorry, I fucked this up so bad. I…I ruined everything.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know how I thought this could work.”

  Fear grips my heart. He can’t mean…there’s no way. “Can you clarify what you mean?”

  “You and me, Stassi. How the hell did I think this could work?” He stands up and looks at me. “I’m your fucking stepfather!”

  My mouth drops open. “Yes, but we’re fine. No one knows.” I’ve learned to read him so well and I can see he’s scared more than he’s angry, but what I’m not sure of is why.

  Stay calm, Stassi.

  “That we know of!”

  “Okay…I’m not sure what to say to that. So, we’re worried about potential people finding out about us?”

  “How are we going to tell your grandparents, huh? HOW?”

  “We said when the time was right. Maybe in a year or two years or whenever. Dominic, you’re freaking out.”

  “You think, Stassi? I was your principal! Your mother’s husband! Your stepfather!”

  “Stop yelling at me, Dominic. Have you lost your mind? Who are you right now?” He’s never taken this tone with me since the dynamic of our relationship has changed, and suddenly I feel like I’m fifteen years old and we’re locked into one of our arguments.

  “I’m a man that has definitely lost it if he thought he could be with his stepdaughter forever. What kind of fantasy world have I been living in? Did grief just manifest in a different way this time around?” He shakes his head. “Fuck me.” Tears have now started to fall down my cheeks as I know where this is headed and I feel like my heart could pound out of my chest with how hard it’s beating.

  “Dominic, we’re in this together. I’m scared too, but it’s not the end of the world. People will just need time. We aren’t telling anyone anything now.”

  “No one will accept it.” He snaps as he starts towards the door and I think this is the first time he’s ever walked out while I’ve been speaking.

  I follow behind him and down the stairs. “Then they don’t need to be a part of our lives, Dominic.”

  “It’s not that simple, Stassi.” His back is to me but I can tell he’s shaking and when I move to stand in front of him, I can see the tears in his eyes.

  “Look at yourself, you don’t mean what you’re saying. You’re just scared.”

  “No,” he says as firmly as he can, though his voice still shakes with emotion.

  “Yes. You’re being a coward.” I point at him. My voice is getting harder as I feel myself shutting down. Dominic and I are supposed to be in this forever, and I certainly can’t be the one who keeps it together when he tries to jump ship. I am not going to convince him to be with me every time he feels guilty for our unconventional relationship.

  “Maybe I am, but I can’t stand by and watch as either of us ruin your life.” His voice is getting more even and now he’s almost cold. Aloof. His normally piercing blue eyes are dull and lifeless, like he’s a shell of the man I’ve come to love.

  “Who are you?”

  “Not a good man, Stassia. No good for you.” He grabs the two suitcases and walks towards the door.

  “Wait, you’re like…leaving? Is this a joke?”

  “Just until you go to school. I know Kate is gone, but maybe you can have a friend come stay with you, or I can call Pamela.” My grandmother? And what are you going to tell her?

  “Are you fucking kidding me? Is there someone else? Just be straight up with me. If you want to go bang some boring forty-year-old soccer mom, be my guest, but come up with a better fucking story than this.”

  He shakes his head, lowering it slightly. “There could never be anyone else.” He tells me. “I deserve to be alone, Stassia. I can’t keep hurting everyone I love. I can’t keep losing people. I just need to be by myself, so I don’t have to lose anyone.”

  “Where are you even going?” At this point, I’m worried. He’s saying things I’ve never heard him say and he’s mentioned having self-destructive behaviors when Tessa died. “Can you please just let me know you’re safe?”

  He nods. “Take care of yourself, Stassi, okay? Promise me.”

  “Dominic,” I plead, “please don’t do this. You promised me you’d never leave me. You’d always be here.” I run towards where he’s in the doorway. “You said forever,” I whisper as I look up into his eyes and see the same pain I feel burrowing in my heart. “You’re doing this, but I don’t understand why.”

  “Please don’t try to understand, Stassia. Just…let me go.”

  “No. Never.” I bite my bottom lip. “You’re my…everything,” I tell him, as I bare my heart to him. “You’re the most important man in my life. You have been for so long and yes the roles have changed over the years but I think that makes us more special, not sick.”

  “It’s not special, Stassia. It is sick. We can’t be together.”

  “But…I love you.”

  “I love you for healing me, but I can’t love you. Not the same way I loved your mother or Tessa.” His words destroy me. They hit me so hard I take a step back and press a hand over my heart
. “You…” he’s becoming blurry now as the tears flood my eyes, “you don’t mean that! You said you never felt about anyone the way you feel about me.”

  “The lust we felt…it convinced me that what we had between us was love. We have hot sex, Stassi, but…we can’t ruin our lives for that.”

  “Wow.” My heart can’t take much more of this abuse so I finally retreat into the house. “Go,” I finally say as I sit down on the steps. “Please just go, you fucking coward. Whatever it is you’re so afraid of, I hope you realize that we could have faced it head on if you just talked to me.” I wipe my tears and press a hand to my heart again to see if I feel any cracks or fissures because it sure feels like my heart has split wide open.

  “I’m sorry, Stassia.” He shakes his head as he grabs the door handle. “Please know,” I meet his gaze, and in a brief flash, I can see everything he hasn’t said. There’s more to this. It’s not so black and white. “I’m just so sorry.” He’s gone without another word, leaving me confused, devastated and heartbroken.

  I’ve had to pull over twice to puke my guts out; the second time, I actually fall to the dirt on my hands and knees as the pain shooting through me kills my ability to stand. I manage to get back into the car again and place my head on the steering wheel as I take another swig of water and spit it out the open car door. I know I shouldn’t be driving with a war of emotions raging through me, but I’m not sure what I want to do. Part of me wanted to go to Stassia’s grandparents and confess the whole thing, but a part of me is scared of Dwight, her grandfather, and I’m fairly certain that Pamela could put me over her knee and whip me like I was one of her own.

  I decide to check into a hotel and I shoot Stassi a text.

  Me: I’m staying at a hotel in town. I’m safe.

  Surprisingly her response is instant.

  Stassia: Thank you for texting me and letting me know.