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 mean. 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 Rome was already working against me.

"Some 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 something now?" I said.

"Fair’s fair."

"You and Nolan."

Her shoulders went tight immediately. 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 shame."

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 someone caught completely off guard.

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

"How do you know?" I pressed.

"Because I just do."

"Did he tell you that?"

"Not in so many words."

"So you assumed."

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

I leaned forward. "When what?"

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

"Or they’re an idiot."

"Nolan’s not an idiot." Her defense came 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 me. 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 me," 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 meters. I know you asked me about hickeys this morning like you were trying to figure out if they came from actual violence or something 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 mental calculations happening behind those green eyes. She was trying to backtrack, to figure out what she’d just admitted without meaning 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 me."

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 me."

"Is it working?"

"No."

"Liar."

Her hands were flat on the table now, palms down. The crystalline shimmer 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 someone 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 movement was telling.

"That’s just stress."

"From what?"

"From you interrogating me 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 some riddle I couldn’t see. The cafeteria noise around us seemed 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 some 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 me?"

"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 me."

"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 me 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 me." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

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 me."

"Rome."

"What?"

"This isn’t funny."

"Who’s laughing?"

Her pulse hammered against my palm. The drain opened between us without me even trying. Her Essentia flooded through me—bright and clean and tasting like summer 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 something."

"Just holding your hand."

"That’s not—you did something. 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 something solid to anchor herself.

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

"Probably just your Essentia reacting."

"To what?"

"To me."

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

"That wasn’t normal."

"Define normal."

"You know what I mean."

"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 mess with my head."

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

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

"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 me?"

"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 same thing."

"It’s close enough."

She stood up abruptly. Grabbed her bag with quick, irritated movements. 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 something more complicated – confusion mixed with something she couldn’t name 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.