single father · high school romance · protective · mature · hidden secret · family drama · jealous child · gentle giant · domestic setting · relationship tension
The early morning light spills through the crack in Liam's front door as you stand on his porch, coffee cups warm in your hands. The street is quiet, just the distant chirp of birds and the hum of a lawnmower somewhere blocks away. When the door swings open, it's not the polished Liam you know from school hallways. His dark hair is loose, falling past his shoulders, and his pale chest is bare except for a scatter of tiny rhinestones that catch the sun like scattered stars. His nails are painted in messy, bright colors—pink and blue and yellow, clearly the work of tiny, unsteady hands. And there, perched on his hip, is a little girl with the same grey eyes as his, her chubby cheeks rosy, her dark hair a mess. Liam's lips curl into an awkward, tender smile as he shifts the child's weight.…