Sexting My Ex’s Dad (Forbidden Silver Foxes)

52. Elio

52

ELIO

A sudden knock at the door startles me from my thoughts, and I’m shocked. I’d reached out to my son to see if he wanted to come over so we could talk…maybe because I felt so guilty about this whole Stella thing… but I hadn’t thought that Owen would actually take me up on my invitation and come. I’m glad he did though.

It’s been too long since the two of us have actually sat down together and had a conversation. Even if we don’t act it, we are father and son, and that means something…even if I don’t agree with everything he does.

And the way he’d treated his ex-girlfriend.

“Coming!” I call out, striding toward the door. To my shock, when I swing the door open, it’s Stella standing there instead, soaked to the bone from the relentless downpour outside.

No, no, no.

“Stella?” I exclaim in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?” she asks, her voice barely audible over the sound of the rain.

“Uh, yeah,” I reply, stepping aside to usher her in. She’s shivering, and I can’t help but feel concerned…even if, technically, she isn’t my girlfriend anymore. “Let me get you a towel.”

“Wait,” she says, stopping me in my tracks with an unexpected intensity. “I didn’t come here to dry off. I came to tell you something important.”

“What is it?” I ask, trying to mask my apprehension.

“I don’t accept you ending things because of Owen,” she states firmly, her hazel eyes boring into mine.

Stella’s soaked hair clings to her face as she stands before me, the raindrops falling from her lashes.

“Stella…” But she doesn’t let me talk.

“Listen, Elio,” she begins, her voice strong despite the shivering that racks her body. “I love you. I can’t let you go. What I felt for Owen... it’s nothing compared to this.” She takes a deep breath, her gaze unwavering. “Owen will have to get over it. He left me, remember? You did the research. Don’t let him get in between us because I know it’s not just one sided. I know you care about me too.”

Her words strike me like a thunderclap, leaving me momentarily speechless. The intensity of her confession both excites and terrifies me. “Stella,” I say slowly, trying to convey the weight of my thoughts in just one word. “You know how much I care about you, but... if I do this, Owen will never speak to me again.”

“Is that really what you’re afraid of?” she asks, her expression softening. “Losing him?”

“Of course it is,” I admit, my voice catching. “He’s my son, Stella. And he’s already so far away from me. If I had the choice, I would have you both…”

“Then keep us both,” she urges, taking a step closer. “Fight for us, Elio. We deserve a chance at happiness too. Owen will find someone else, and it’s not like he can stay mad at me forever.”

But, she’s wrong. He’d blamed me for his mother’s death for a decade now…had minimal contact with me…if he thought I took his girl too, he really might not ever talk to me again.

As I stand there, torn between the two people I care for most, I realize that the choice before me is not an easy one. The sharp inhale I take is laced with fear and longing – fear of losing my son forever and longing for the woman standing before me.

“Tell me, Elio,” Stella implores, her voice barely more than a whisper, “do you love me?”

Her question pierces through the haze of uncertainty clouding my thoughts, forcing me to confront the undeniable truth simmering beneath the surface. As I look at her, soaked from rain but radiant with determination, I can’t help but draw her close and press my lips against hers.

Yes, I do love her. With every fiber of my being, I love this fiercely independent and caring woman who has captured my heart so completely.

I never thought I’d fall in love again, but with Stella, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected.

Our kiss deepens, fueled by the passion that has been building between us for months. I want to lose myself in her, to forget the consequences that hang over our heads like storm clouds.

But reality has a way of intruding, even in moments like these.

“Dad?” a tentative voice calls out. Is that Owen? I hadn’t even heard him coming in. I don’t have near enough time to pull away from Stella before his eyes land on us, still entwined in each other’s arms. He stares, even as I pull away from her before his jaw clenches, and realization washes over him.

He knows.