LORENZO, MY FATHER'S BEST FRIEND のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 171 - チャプター 180

"I love you too."We moved together, slow and deliberate. Every thrust punctuated by a kiss, a touch, a whispered declaration."Don't ever leave me again," he said."I won't...""Promise me.""I promise—"He changed angles, hit that perfect spot that made me see stars. I was already close, wound too tight from days of stress and fear."Come for me," he said. "Let me feel it."I did, crying out his name, tears still streaming down my face. He followed seconds later, burying his face in my neck.We stayed like that for a long moment, both shaking, both crying.Then we made love again. And again. Each time slower than the last. Each time more tender.By the time we finally collapsed, exhausted and tangled together, it was nearly midnight."I'm sorry," I whispered. "For pulling away. For doubting us.""You're allowed to have doubts. You're allowed to be scared." He pulled me closer. "But next time, talk to me about it. Don't just disappear.""Okay.""Promise?""Promise."Saturday morning,

In his bathroom, I read the instructions three times.Pee on the stick. Wait three minutes. Look for lines or words depending on which test.Simple.Except my hands were shaking so badly I could barely open the package."You want me to wait outside?" Damon asked from the doorway."No. Stay."He did, leaning against the sink while I peed on both sticks, set them on the counter.Then we waited.Three minutes.It felt like hours."What would we do?" I asked. "If it's positive?""I don't know.""Would you want me to keep it?"He looked at me, really looked at me. "That's your choice. Your body.""But you'd have an opinion.""My opinion is that I'd support whatever you decided. If you wanted to keep it, I'd be there. If you didn't, I'd be there for that too.""But what do you want?"He was quiet for a long moment. "I'm terrified. I'm thirty-seven years old and I've never wanted kids. Never even thought about it seriously. But the idea of you being pregnant with my baby—" He stopped. "Part

Cole Hart was easier to manipulate than Vanessa had expected.She'd "coincidentally" run into him at the gym Tuesday morning. Introduced herself as a visiting professor doing research on pack dynamics.He'd been polite but guarded until she mentioned Lexi."I heard about you and Lexi Morales," she'd said, voice sympathetic. "That must have been hard. Unrequited feelings always are."He'd stiffened. "How do you know about that?""Small campus. Word gets around." She'd smiled, warm and understanding. "For what it's worth, I think she made a mistake. Choosing that professor over you.""It's not my business who she dates.""Of course not. But you must wonder sometimes. What if you'd pushed a little harder? What if you'd given her a real reason to choose you?"He hadn't responded, but she'd seen the flicker of interest in his eyes."I'm organizing a study group," she'd continued. "Strategy and Tactics. A few students from the class. Would you be interested? It might be a good opportunity t

DAMON'S POV I'd fucked up. I knew it the second Lexi walked out of my apartment. Knew it with every unanswered text I sent. She was right. I was spiraling. Letting my insecurities poison what we had. By eight PM, I'd drafted and deleted seventeen different apology texts. None of them felt adequate. I was staring at my phone, trying to find the right words, when it rang. An unknown number. I almost didn't answer. But something made me pick up. "Hello?" Heavy breathing. Then crying. Hiccupping sobs that sounded genuine and broken. "Damon?" A woman's voice. Slurred. Desperate. "Damon, I need help. Please." "Vanessa?" "I did something stupid. Really stupid. I—" More crying. "I can't—I don't know what to do—" Every instinct screamed at me that this was a trap. That I should hang up. Block the number. Pretend this call never happened. But she sounded genuinely distressed. And despite everything, I didn't want something bad to happen to her. "What did you do?"

DAMONDean Morrison's office smelled like old coffee and bad news.I'd been in this room before. After the Raines situation. After Cara. Each time the leather chair across from his desk felt smaller, the walls closer. Today it felt like a coffin.He didn't offer me a seat. That told me everything."Close the door."I did.He slid a manila folder across the desk without a word. I opened it.The photos were worse than I expected.Me walking into the motel. Timestamped. Me with my arm around Vanessa in that doorway, her robe half-open, my head bent toward hers. From the angle, from the lighting, it looked exactly like what she'd wanted it to look like.Then the second set.Lexi leaving my apartment building. Early morning. My shirt hanging off her shoulder, hair loose, a coffee cup in her hand. Three separate dates. Someone had been watching for a while.My jaw locked."Someone filed a formal complaint." Morrison leaned back in his chair, watching me. "Alleging an inappropriate relations