Your Girlfriend Calls Me Daddy Chapter 99 - 100 | If You Were Mine

I stared at Aurora across the table, watching her reaction carefully. "Predatory."

"You know what I an. The rich playboy who collects girls like trophies."

"That what people are saying?" I kept my voice casual, but I was cataloging this information. The reputation of the original Ro was already working against .

"So of them."

"And you?"

"I don’t know you well enough to have an opinion yet."

"But you’re forming one." I noted how she didn’t dismiss the idea outright.

"Everyone forms opinions. That’s just how brains work."

She took a long drink of her fancy coffee. Left foam on her upper lip. She wiped it off with her thumb without thinking about it. The casual gesture was strangely captivating - completely unconscious, completely her.

"Can I ask you sothing now?" I said.

"Fair’s fair."

"You and Nolan."

Her shoulders went tight imdiately. Interesting. "What about us?"

"You really just friends?"

"Yes." Too quick.

"You sure?"

"Very sure." Even quicker.

"Because the way you reacted earlier suggests otherwise."

"We’re friends. That’s all." Her voice was controlled, almost rehearsed.

"Friends who what, hang out constantly? Study together? Train together?"

"Yes."

"That’s a sha."

Her eyes narrowed. "What is?"

I went for it directly. "If I had a woman as beautiful and talented as you, I’d let the world know about it."

The words landed exactly as intended. Aurora’s cheeks flushed from pink to red in about two seconds. She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. The perfect image of soone caught completely off guard.

"I told you, we’re just friends. Nolan doesn’t see that way."

"How do you know?" I pressed.

"Because I just do."

"Did he tell you that?"

"Not in so many words."

"So you assud."

"It’s not an assumption when—" She stopped abruptly. Her coffee cup had suddenly beco the most fascinating object in the room.

I leaned forward. "When what?"

"When soone treats you like a friend, they’re probably just your friend."

"Or they’re an idiot."

"Nolan’s not an idiot." Her defense ca instantly.

"Never said he was."

"You’re implying it."

"I’m implying that if you were mine, everyone would know it. No confusion. No mixed signals. Just facts."

She looked up at . Her breathing had changed - faster, shallower. I could practically feel the energy building in her. The orbs in her palms must be activating under the table because her fingers flexed against the ceramic cup, a subtle tell I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t looking for it.

"You don’t even know ," she said, but there was less conviction now.

"I know you’re smart. I know you can shoot photon beams with enough accuracy to hit targets from fifty ters. I know you asked about hickeys this morning like you were trying to figure out if they ca from actual violence or sothing else."

"I was just concerned."

"Sure you were."

"I was!"

"And now you’re defending a guy who doesn’t hold your hand in public."

Her jaw dropped. "How did you—we don’t—that’s not—"

Got her. The trap was perfect, and she walked right into it. I watched the ntal calculations happening behind those green eyes. She was trying to backtrack, to figure out what she’d just admitted without aning to.

"We’re just friends," she said again, but the conviction was gone now.

"Right."

"We are."

"Then why are you so worried about what I think?"

"I’m not worried."

"Could’ve fooled ."

She set her cup down hard enough that coffee sloshed over the rim. "You’re being deliberately difficult."

"I’m being honest. There’s a difference."

"You’re trying to get a rise out of ."

"Is it working?"

"No."

"Liar."

Her hands were flat on the table now, palms down. The crystalline shimr was visible even through the cheap wood grain of the cafeteria table. She was cycling Essentia without realizing it - nervous energy looking for an outlet. Her control was slipping.

"Why do you care if Nolan and I are together or not?"

"I don’t."

"Then why bring it up?"

"Because you brought up guilt. You asked how I can be with two people without feeling bad about it. Seems like you’re projecting."

"I’m not projecting anything."

"No? Then why does the idea of soone else noticing you make you this defensive?"

"I’m not defensive."

"Your palms are glowing."

She looked down, saw the light pulsing faint blue beneath her skin, and quickly shoved her hands under the table. The panic in that movent was telling.

"That’s just stress."

"From what?"

"From you interrogating about my personal life."

"You started it."

"I asked about your girlfriends."

"And I answered. Now I’m asking about your boyfriend and you’re falling apart."

"He’s not my boyfriend."

"But you want him to be."

Silence. Long and heavy. She stared at the table like it might solve so riddle I couldn’t see. The cafeteria noise around us seed to fade into background static.

When she finally spoke, her voice had softened to almost a whisper. "It doesn’t matter what I want."

"Why not?"

"Because so things are more important than what I want."

"Like what?"

"Like not ruining a friendship. Like not making things complicated when we’re supposed to be focusing on hero work."

"That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day."

Her head snapped up, green eyes flashing with sudden fire. "Excuse ?"

"You’re putting your life on hold because you’re scared of making it awkward. That’s not noble. That’s just cowardice."

"You don’t know anything about ."

"I know you’re lying to yourself if you think friendship is more important than being happy."

"Maybe I am happy."

"Are you?"

She didn’t answer. Just turned toward the window, watching students passing between buildings outside. Her reflection in the glass showed everything she wouldn’t say to directly—a girl caught between what she wants and what she thinks she should want.

I reached across the table, moving slowly enough that she could pull away if she wanted. I took her hand and turned it vertical between us. Her fingers stayed tense against mine. The crystalline orbs embedded in her palms radiated a heat that traveled through her skin into mine.

"Not knowing how your boyfriend’s hand fits in yours seems like a waste to ."

I closed her hand around mine. Let her feel the shape. The pressure. The way her fingers naturally curled to match mine as if they’d been designed for this exact purpose.

"Why doesn’t Nolan claim you, Aurora?"

Her breath stopped. She tried to pull back but I maintained my grip. Not hard enough to trap her. Just enough that she’d have to actually commit to leaving if she wanted out.

"Let go."

"Make ."

"Ro."

"What?"

"This isn’t funny."

"Who’s laughing?"

Her pulse hamred against my palm. The drain opened between us without even trying. Her Essentia flooded through —bright and clean and tasting like sumr morning air, the kind of weather I wanted to stand in forever.

She gasped, eyes going wide.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You did sothing."

"Just holding your hand."

"That’s not—you did sothing. I felt it."

"Felt what?"

Color spread across her cheeks, flooding down her neck. Her free hand pressed flat against the table like she suddenly needed sothing solid to anchor herself.

"I don’t know. Sothing warm. Sothing that went all the way through ."

"Probably just your Essentia reacting."

"To what?"

"To ."

She pulled harder this ti. I let her go. She brought her hand back to her side of the table and stared at it like it had committed so unforgivable betrayal.

"That wasn’t normal."

"Define normal."

"You know what I an."

"Do I?"

"Stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Answering questions with questions."

"Am I?"

She glared, jaw tight. "I should go."

"You’ve still got thirty minutes."

"I have things to do."

"Like what?"

"Like not sitting here while you ss with my head."

"I’m not ssing with anything. Just having a conversation."

"This isn’t a conversation. This is you trying to prove sothing."

"What am I trying to prove?"

"I don’t know. That you’re right? That I’m stupid for waiting? That I should just throw myself at the first guy who pays attention to ?"

"I never said any of that."

"You implied it."

"I said if you were mine, I’d make sure everyone knew it. That’s not the sa thing."

"It’s close enough."

She stood up abruptly. Grabbed her bag with quick, irritated movents. Her hands were shaking slightly, but her posture was rigid with determination. The anger was clear in every line of her body, but underneath it was sothing more complicated – confusion mixed with sothing she couldn’t na yet.

"Thanks for the coffee."

"Aurora."

She stopped. Didn’t turn around. Just waited, one hand gripping her bag strap so tightly her knuckles whitened.

"If Nolan’s too damn scared to see what’s right in front of him, that’s his loss. Not yours."

Her shoulders tensed visibly. Then she walked away without looking back.