There抯 my excuse to shut Troy down. I stand.
揧eah, baby girl.?And then we can do anything you want because you just saved my ass.
I go to meet her at the door.
揑抣l tell my people we抮e on for the price lock then,?Troy calls after me. 揙h yeah, and nice save, Lancaster.?
揥hat抯 he mean??Destiny asks, giving me a puzzled look.
揥ho knows. Your Uncle Troy isn抰 right in the head,?I mutter.
揇ad, that抯 mean!?She smacks my arm. 揃ut let抯 see if Eliza wants to come…？
Oh, fuck.
Just hearing her name and knowing she might show up with too much skin hanging out makes my cock twitch.
Oh, fuck, no.
No, I can抰 be doing this.
揝he抯 probably busy,?I warn. And I抦 still not sure what this is, Eliza teaching my daughter to enjoy the ocean while I teach Eliza how to surf waves of ecstasy she never imagined.
揥e should at least ask,?Dess says insistently.
I shrug, holding in a huge sigh.
If I抦 already in hell, I抎 might as well get comfortable with the heat.
揑 suppose we could梙ey!?
I don抰 even finish the sentence before Destiny takes off, running around the house and looking for Eliza. I抦 equally relieved and disappointed when she doesn抰 find her.
揇ess, I have a meeting at three o抍lock. If you want to go see these turtles, we抎 better go now, or we won抰 be able to.?
揙kay!?She leads the way down to the beach, bounding out the back door.
Halfway to the supposed turtle nest, I pass the spot where Eliza pulled that ridiculous little pipe from her pocket and brewed coffee on the sand. The same place where we first kissed.
Damn, she makes me come alive in such dangerous ways.
揇ad, did you hear me??Destiny asks.
揥hat??
揅an we get a smoothie? I抦 so thirsty. There抯 a stand up there.?
I look up and see a couple beach bums with a makeshift smoothie and acai bowl stand.
揝ure. It would be refreshing,?I say.
Dammit. I抳e turned into a sap.
A few minutes later with a banana-coconut drink in hand that I really wish had rum, we find the heap of green sea turtles up the beach. They抳e already been roped off by the authorities to keep them safe from dumbass tourists. Destiny wades into the water past the ropes, hoping for a closer look.
揋ive them their space, Dess. They抮e a protected species!?I call.
She whips around with a mortified look.
揢m, yeah, I know. Since 1978, Dad, I looked it up. Their protection is almost as old as you, Boomer.?
揑抦 not old enough to be a Boomer, Zoomer brat,?I grind out.
What if she抯 serious about this marine biology thing?
Am I really happy with a lifetime ahead of my holier-than-thou daughter jamming her wisdom up my ass?
I find a big piece of driftwood on the beach and sit, holding her smoothie while I gulp down mine until the paper straw collapses.
Protected species or not, the lazy turtles have a mind of their own. One of them waddles into the water and swims up to her like a big dog with flippers, poking its head above the surface as soon as Dess surfaces.
They抮e almost face-to-face and she bursts out laughing before the beast ducks down again and swims off.
揇ad, did you see that??She turns to look at me with a smile that抯 pure joy.
I smile back, watching her hold her hands up to the evening sun like she抯 giving thanks to the universe.
In a single moment, she抯 a young woman and a kid again all at once, bursting with wonder. My kind, excitable, happy daughter, bobbing in the water without a hint of the tragedy that unfolded on this beach.
I give her a thumbs-up, refusing to let my mind crawl back there.
If only I had my turtles.
If only I had somewhere else to go besides Eliza and the filthy ways I want to defile her pretty little face. She struggled so sweetly just to fit me梐nd not nearly long enough.
I want to fuck her into the next century a thousand different ways.
I want her body molded to my cock, ruined for anyone else.
I want to take every hole, bend her over, and press her face deep into the mattress.
I want her to bite the bed as she screams my fucking?
揑 love these guys. I抦 gonna miss them so much.?Destiny appears at my side, the smoothie I was holding already in her hand. She sucks her drink down loudly.
Goddamn.
Where is my mind? Is it ever coming back?
I glance at her. 揧es, I think we抳e established your love for everything that swims.?
揙h, Dad. Definitely not everything. Weren抰 you listening the other day when Uncle Troy tried to tell me about sea worms? I mean, they抮e interesting, but yuck. No parasites for me.?
揋ot it. We抣l find you a program that only lets you work with cute animals then. I抦 sure it抣l be a breeze.?