All Chapters of my girlfriend's Dad: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

Eli had expected dinner to feel easier.With Lily at his side, he thought her chatter would fill the silence, that Damian would fade into the background like any other dad, nodding and smiling politely while the kids talked.He was wrong.The three of them sat at a long oak table, candles lit in a way that made the room feel both warm and strangely formal. A roasted chicken sat in the center, flanked by bowls of potatoes, green beans, and bread. The air smelled faintly of rosemary and garlic. Lily had piled her plate quickly, humming under her breath as she scrolled through something on her phone between bites.Damian, however, didn’t touch his food right away. He poured himself a glass of red wine, then glanced at Eli’s water glass.“Wine?” he asked.Eli hesitated. “Uh, sure. If that’s okay.”Damian gave no answer, just poured with a steady hand, sliding the glass across the table. Their eyes met briefly. Damian’s expression didn’t shift, but something in it made Eli feel like he’d j

Eli woke earlier than usual the next morning, determined not to give Damian any reason to think less of him. The house was quiet, the kind of heavy stillness that comes before coffee brews and footsteps sound. He slipped out of Lily’s room, careful not to wake her, and padded down the stairs.The kitchen glowed faintly with the soft amber light of dawn through the windows. Eli rolled up his sleeves and decided he’d make breakfast. He wanted Damian to come down and see that he could be useful—that he was willing to put in effort.Eggs. Toast. Coffee. Easy enough.But somewhere between scrambling the eggs and buttering the toast, he lost focus. He left the butter knife streaked across the counter. He forgot to put his shoes away by the door after slipping them on to grab the paper from the porch. And when he poured coffee, he set the pot down a little too hard, a faint splash marking the pristine surface of the counter.He didn’t notice any of it.Not until Damian’s voice cut through th

The smell of roasted chicken filled the dining room, warm and rich, but Eli’s stomach was in knots. He sat across from Lily, watching her spoon mashed potatoes onto her plate, smiling at something trivial her dad had said about work. Damian didn’t speak much, but when he did, everyone seemed to fall quiet just to listen. Eli tried not to fidget. He could feel Damian’s presence at the head of the table like a weight pressing down on him. The man didn’t need to raise his voice. He didn’t need to glare. The quiet control he carried was enough to make Eli’s pulse skip every time their eyes met. “More wine, Eli?” Lily asked, nudging the bottle toward him. “Uh, yeah, sure.” He reached for it, trying to keep his hands steady as he poured her a glass. “You’re so tense,” she teased, laughing. “Dad doesn’t bite, you know.” Eli forced a laugh, his throat dry. If only she knew the truth—that it wasn’t fear of disapproval that made him sit up straighter or mind every word. It was somet

The weekend arrived like a storm Eli wasn’t ready for. Lily wanted to spend the day out with friends, shopping and catching a movie. She had begged Eli to tag along, but something in her tone told him she wouldn’t mind if he stayed behind. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” she said, tugging on his arm playfully. “We’ll just be running around all day, and I know how you hate malls.” Eli hesitated, torn. A day surrounded by Lily’s friends meant a reprieve from Damian’s gaze, but it also meant hours pretending to laugh at inside jokes he didn’t understand. The thought of it made his chest heavy. “Maybe I’ll stay here,” he muttered. Lily grinned. “Perfect. Dad’ll be around anyway. He can keep you company.” His stomach dropped, but she kissed his cheek quickly before running off to grab her bag. Minutes later, Eli found himself standing in the foyer, the sound of the front door clicking shut behind her. The silence that followed was suffocating. He turned slowl