Chapter 65

Chapter Sixty-Five

Will

W hat had happened in the few minutes between talking to the girls and me going back into the kitchen, I had no idea. Now I was listening to Emma and Liv rant on about Zak and what a dick he was. All that while Maddy stormed around upstairs, also yelling about Zak being a dick.

If what I was hearing was true, then the little prick would be best keeping his distance from me in the future. Although, I had real trouble believing it. He adored Maddy, you only had to see the soppy grin on his face when he looked at her. How worried he'd been about her the last couple of days.

"And this girl is the girlfriend he had in London?" I asked the girls, standing in front of them with my arms firmly folded across my chest.

"Yes and he said they were finished, and when we went to London he told her to leave him alone. She kept flirting with him, but he knocked her back and?—"

"Emma, love." Sighing, I ran a hand across my face. "Take a breath before your lungs give up the ghost."

She took a huge breath, and then tagged team Liv with a look. "And in his story they're hugging, and it mentions that they're back together and he's put Maddy's favourite song over the top."

"Yeah, I got all that." I took my phone from my back pocket and flicked through to Zak's number.

Maya, who clearly already knew me well, said in a warning voice, "Will."

My eyes flicked up to hers. "What?"

"Do not call him." She was wearing a sling because the weight of the plaster cast was getting her down. Tucked inside it was a bag of Maltesers.

"Why do you have chocolate tucked in your sling?" I asked, trying to hide my grin.

"They're for Maddy. In times like this, a girl needs chocolate, not her dad calling up the boy in question." The raised eyebrow persuaded me to put my phone back in my pocket. "Now, will I take them up, or will you?"

Emma and Liv were looking at Maya like she'd just farted a rainbow or something, and I realised we'd never had boy trouble before. Otherwise, I'd have known about the chocolate. I mean, I knew about it during the week of her period, but never when a boy was involved.

"You go," I told Maya. "I may say totally the wrong thing about the little fucker, and if it's all a mistake, and she doesn't break up with him, I'll be the bad guy."

Maya grinned and nodded towards the hallway. "Are you coming girls."

Emma shook her head. "I should go home."

"She means that Liam is coming round." Liv rolled her eyes. "I should go home, too, though. I've run out of clean underwear. I thought we were only coming round for a few hours."

To be honest I thought it was a good idea, it wasn't doing any of them any good being holed up in Maddy's room. They absolutely needed to grieve, but the longer they stayed in Maddy's room, the harder it would be for them to leave it.

"Okay, but let me feed you first." I looked at them each in turn. "Good plan?"

"Do we still get garlic bread?" Emma asked.

"Absolutely."

"Yes, please," they both chimed.

"Right, go and sit in the lounge, and as soon as Maya and Maddy come down, we'll eat."

As they walked away, I exhaled and looked up at the stairs, hoping that Maya was able to get through to Maddy. Despite still being able to hear quiet sobbing, I had high hopes that she would.

A little while later, after the girls had gone back home, Maddy was still upstairs. She hadn't wanted to talk about it with me. She hadn't wanted to talk to anyone, she hadn't wanted to eat; she hadn't wanted to do anything except have a bath and get ready for school the next day. All she'd done was snatch the Maltesers from Maya, and then asked to be left alone. As for Maya, she was sitting on the sofa with me. She looked tired, and I knew it wouldn't be long before we went up to bed, too. It had been a hard day, a hard couple of days one way or another. Maya's pain seemed to be under control, but she had a stiffness about her shoulders and that crease between her brows was back.

"You okay, gorgeous?"

She nodded but there was a sulky pout to her lips. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"I know I haven't been able to give you much attention today, but tomorrow will be better."

Maya's mouth dropped open, and she gasped. "God, no, that's not it, love. Honestly."

"Are you in pain?" From my chair, I dropped to my knees and shuffled over to her, placing my hands on her thighs. "Do you need more painkillers?"

She shook her head and breathed in. The swell of her breast rose and fell with each inhale and her eyes turned dark as she stared at me.

"What then?"

She chewed on her lip. "I don't want to say. It makes me sound like a horrible person."

"What does?" I leaned up to give her a soft kiss. "I can't imagine anything making you sound like a horrible person."

"This would," she said quietly. "After everything those poor kids have gone through, saying this would make me feel like a vile, selfish cow."

She lifted her cast wrist with her other hand and cradled it against her chest. She winced a little, so I reached for her sling that she'd thrown to one side.

"Put this on."

"It's so unattractive, though." She rolled her eyes but still took it from me.

"Is that what's upsetting you, that you think your sling is ugly."

She squirmed a little and shook her head. "Don't judge me for this but…" When she paused, I waited patiently until she finally blurted out, "I'm so horny, Will. I'm so angry."

When her bottom lip trembled, I burst out laughing. "Seriously?"

"Yes, and don't mock me. It's been awful. I have this constant throb between my legs, and touching myself just isn't doing it for me, well actually, I can't because my ribs hurt when I do."

"Well maybe we should do something about that." At the idea of easing her ache, my dick moved behind the zip of my jeans. "I can make you feel much better."

"You don't need to. I shouldn't have said anything. I should jus?—"

I cut her off when I ran my finger up the inside of her thigh and then whispered it between her legs over the thin fabric of her leggings.

"Will," she gasped as I pushed her legs further apart and ran my nose along the same path.

Without saying anything, I reached up under her oversized t-shirt, and hooked my fingers in her waistband. I tugged gently, silently asking her to lift her hips. When she did, I dragged them down her legs all the way to her ankles, pulling them over her socked feet. Her legs trembled with anticipation as I did the same thing to the pretty pink knickers she was wearing until she was bare in front of me. Bare and beautiful.

"What about Maddy?" she asked, as her eyes fluttered closed. "What if she comes down."

As if timing couldn't be any better, I heard Maddy's bedroom door close. I pointed to the ceiling and we both listened as footsteps padded above us and then the bed creaked.

"See, nothing to worry about," I told her and then kissed the inside of her thigh.

"Are you… shit… are you sure?"

"Hmm," I hummed against her skin as I travelled closer to her pussy. My thumbs pushed into the softness of her thighs as my fingers parted her lips. She was so wet, the thin strip of hair she had was glistening with her arousal. I'd barely done anything.

"Christ, Maya," I said looking up at her. "You weren't lying, you're soaked."

"I've been so desperate for you since I dreamed about you last night."

"Really? And what was this dream about." Unable to wait any longer, I gave her one long lick from bottom to top and then sucked on her clit. Her good hand went to my hair and gripped it. As her nails scored my scalp, my dick got harder to the point of painful, so I reached down and undid my jeans. I was desperate to be inside her, but she wasn't well enough for that so my pleasure could wait.

"You fucked me," she replied breathlessly. "Fucked me against the wall, hard."

I tasted her again, this time flicking my tongue against her tiny bud of nerves and her hips lurched up. I could feel the wince she held back, and I tried to pull my head away, but Maya pushed me back.

"No. I need this more that it hurts."

Smirking, I went back to feasting on her, eating her out and making her pant. Hearing her whimpers, seeing her nipples tight and hard, pushing against her t-shirt, and feeling how she thrust her hips closer and closer to my face, made me feel like I'd just been pronounced King. It made my heart full and my dick rock hard.

"You taste so fucking good," I told her, and nipped at her clit causing her to cry out a curse, and tug on my hair again. Licking, nipping and sucking I drove her right to the edge and over it, until she came, and I tasted every single inch of her release.

"Will," she panted. "I…"

"I know." I kissed the inside of her thigh which was sticky and damp and wondered how I'd managed without her for so long. "I'll get you some tissue."

"What about you?" she asked, her chest heaving. "You need me to?—"

"No, I'll be fine."

I wouldn't. I would have to go upstairs and sort myself out in the bathroom, there was no way I could sit for the rest of the evening with a boner as hard as steel.

"Will," she pleaded, her eyes flaring.

"It's fine, gorgeous." Pushing up on my knees, I cupped her face and smiled at her sheer beauty and my heart stuttered. "I love you so much. You're it for me, you know that don't you?"

Her gaze softened even more than I thought possible, and she gave me a single nod. "Same," she whispered. "I can't believe I found you. What if I hadn't gone into that bar?"

"You did, so don't worry about it." I reached for her knickers. "Lift your legs up." She did as I asked, and I pulled them and then her leggings halfway up her legs. "Want tissue or the bathroom?"

"Bathroom," she replied, so I finished redressing her and then helped her to her feet.

"You go first," I told her. My dick would have to wait for some attention.

As she left the room, I decided there and then I was going to marry her, I just had to speak to Maddy first to make sure she was okay with it. Then she and I were going ring shopping. First, though, I needed to wash my face and then check on my daughter.

"Can I come in?" I asked, poking my head around Maddy's bedroom door a few minutes later.

She was on her side with the glow of her phone lighting up her tear stained face. Her lips were curled inward, and her little face was so sad I desperately wanted to kick Zak in his nuts.

"Hey, Dad." Maddy put her phone on her chest of drawers and gave me a sad smile.

"Good bath?" Sitting on the edge of her bed, I ran a hand down the long plait that she'd put her hair into.

"Yeah, okay." She sniffed, a single tear creeping down her cheek.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I know it's all too much for you. Ana and now this with Zak. Have you spoken to him?"

She shook her head and dropped to her back, resting her forearm over her eyes. "He's called me a few hundred times. I'm guessing Liam told him that I've seen the picture." Her breath was shaky as she placed her hand on her stomach. "I don't know what to do, Dad. It's bad enough that I'm sad about Ana, and I'd just decided to speak to him instead of blaming him, and then…" Her voice broke, but she held it together. "And then I saw the picture of them together and it just broke my heart even more."

At that moment my heart broke, too. My poor little girl she was absolutely devastated. She'd been dealt two hard blows in a matter of days; her grief being doubled by Zak's actions. How could he not realise what it would do to her putting that picture up? How could he do that to her, my baby? Because I had to admit, it didn't seem like the sort of thing he'd do. Yet the evidence was there to see.

"Take my hand, sweetheart." Maddy laid her tiny one in mine, and I wrapped it up tight. "Are you sure you're ready to go back to school?"

"I've got to go back sometime and apparently we're having a special assembly for Ana tomorrow. Millie Burton messaged me, Em and Liv."

"How are you going to deal with Zak?"

She tried to disguise the whimper, but I heard it and felt a pain in my chest.

"I'll have to speak to him," she finally said. "Find out why and," she shrugged, "and when?"

"Yeah, I can't get my head around when he met up with her again, are you sure it was him." Zak was a good kid, and I found it hard to believe he'd do that to Maddy. That didn't mean I wouldn't kill the little fucker and bury his body where no one would find it if he had.

"I'm sure," Maddy replied, her voice almost a whisper.

"Well, I still think you should listen to what he has to say but stand your ground and remember you're a Newman. We don't let people treat us without respect."

Nodding silently, she pulled up into a sitting position and threw her arms around me. "Thanks, Dad. I love you."

"I love you, too." Inhaling I recognised the smell, it was the baby shampoo I always used on her when she was little. When things were going on in her life, like exams, or her first dance recital, which was also her last, and when her boyfriend broke her heart, she always used it. It was like it gave her comfort.

"You know this is all your fault," she muttered against my chest.

"What is?" I pulled back and frowned at her.

"The Zak thing."

I sifted through my brain trying to think of what I'd done to cause Zak to be a little wanker to her. "I don't know what I did, but?—"

"You're just too good, Dad," she sighed with a roll of her eyes. "You're a high bar to reach and he didn't make it."

My chest went tight as my heart grew with the amount of love and pride that had just been pumped into it. If ever I'd doubted that I'd not managed to do my job as a father properly, then Maddy measuring every boy against my qualities, proved me wrong.

"Maddy, you are my greatest success in this life. My most treasured gift. From the moment I set eyes on you; I loved you. I knew I would love and protect you until my dying day, and I will. Wherever you are, whoever you're with, however old you are, that, is my promise to you." I kissed her forehead, already dreading the days she wouldn't be around for me to do this, yet also wanting her to soar. "I love you, Madeline."

"I love you, too, Dad and thank you for being my dad."

"Anytime sweetheart, anytime. Now," I said, brushing her hair from her face, "get some sleep."

She snuggled down under the duvet. "Thank Maya for the chocolate for me, it really helped."

I gave her a wide smile, glad that it had and glad that Maya had known exactly how to help my little girl. It just proved that she was made for me.