Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>
James.
That f*cking prick. Neal really thought he was smooth by doing something like that for Becca. First, he called me and told me he loved her and he wanted her, and now this. It was crossing the line, but from the looks of it, Becca saw nothing wrong with it.
“Shall we go inside?” I gritted out, watching Becca’s shoulders sag as she shook her head with a heavy breath and turned towards the door.
“Is there a problem?” Neal said softly so she couldn’t hear as I passed him.
I didn’t bother to acknowledge him, though. If I did, there was no telling what I would end up saying, and the last thing I wanted to do was to upset Becca over something like this.
I was working towards building trust with her, and that was what I needed to do. The last thing I needed to do was start a ‘I’m better than you’ match with Neal, just to put him in his place. At the end of the day, she was with me.
Walking through the lobby of the building, she headed towards the elevator and waited for Neal and I to catch up with her.
“All the way up,” Neal said, pushing the buttons on the elevator as the doors closed.
“All the way up? But that’s where—”
“The penthouses are… I know. Exciting isn’t it?” Neal replied, finishing her sentence with a grin. “I wanted one that was really nice, and I figured you would rather stay in this one as opposed to one of the others.”
“Neal, you didn’t have to. I would have been fine with any of them,” she stammered as the elevator doors opened, and we stepped out onto the wood flooring of the hallway.
“Don’t be silly. Now, you’re going to be number 107, and that is the one right here down at the end of the hall,” Neal carried on from in front of us.
The man walked with a purpose, and being the remarkable salesman he was, he had swagger and meaning in every step he took. As if the apartment was a glorious showroom with million dollar cars.
It didn’t matter. That was the demeanor and charm that flowed off him.
Becca walked by my side, speechless, as we approached the door, and I had a feeling that whatever Neal had picked for her was going to completely blow her mind away.
“Neal, what am I going to do with you?” Becca laughed softly as he turned the key within the doorknob and gently swung the door open.
“Well, it depends. I got you beautiful hardwood flooring with acoustics to die for. So what do I get in return?”
It was all playful banter, but none of it did I appreciate. The only thing that kept me from losing my mind was knowing Becca was mine, and her situation with Neal was nonexistent.
If his idea was to piss me off, he was doing a good job of it. Problem was, I could play the game better, and I wouldn’t mind putting him in his place.
“Oh, my God!” Becca exclaimed as her eyes took in the sight before her. Long hardwood floors going down the hallway to a beautiful kitchen with granite countertops. The kitchen opened up into a spacious living room with tall floor-to-ceiling windows and a beautiful balcony overlooking the campus.
“Do you like it?” Neal asked with a sly grin as he moved forward and gestured to every little, small detail that the room had to provide.
“Like it? Neal, I absolutely love it. How in the world did this gem of a place happen to be up here in this building?”
The astonishment that I saw in her was something I hadn’t ever witnessed before. She kept talking with Neal about the different things that she could do to this space, and later on, how he could even market it to others.
She may have been going to school for statistics and data analysis, but there were other secret talents and passions she held close as well. That was something I would speak to her about later, because if she was going to be with me, I wanted her to follow her heart.
Not worry about making a lot of money to take care of her father.
I would take care of him for her… even if she refused to let me.
“This is going to suit you very well, Becca,” I finally said, speaking up, watching as both of them turned to face me. Becca blushed lightly as she made her way over and grabbed my hand. “Perhaps we need to find where the bedroom is.”
I knew it was nothing but banter, but Neal seemed very tightlipped over the comment, and stepped forward with a smile. “Don’t worry, Becca. I can show you where your bedroom is.”
I didn’t miss the emphasis on the word ‘your’ from Neal. He pivoted and headed towards the stairs, gesturing for Becca to follow him.
It was all very organized by him. He had planned all of this, including showing her off in front of me, as if I would be jealous. Well, okay, maybe I’m slightly jealous. Not that I would ever tell Becca.
Even so, this entire event was more than annoying.
As I walked up the stairs behind the two of them, their conversation continued, and I suddenly felt like the third wheel in the room. But once we reached the top floor, it was easy to see why he picked this space.
There was a massive space that opened up as if it was a second living room, and on the far back wall was nothing but windows that also overlooked the campus. When one looked in the opposite direction, though, two doors were visible.
One led to a fairly decent sized spare bedroom, and the other led to a massive master bedroom that held the biggest bathroom Becca had ever seen, according to her, of course. The bathroom had been recently renovated and was absolutely delightful.
“This bedroom is enormous. I don’t even think I have furniture to fit into this.”
“Don’t worry about that, Becca. I’ll take you shopping and help you pick out some nice things.” Her eyes met mine, and a smile spread across her face.
“As amazing as that would sound, you have to get back in a couple of days, and I still have to go pack up my stuff from Tally’s apartment. So for now, those belongings will be perfectly fine here. But if you’re able to come back up in a couple of weeks, we’ll have enough time for me to save up some money, and we can go then.”
There was a twinkle of mischief within Neal’s eyes at the words Becca had said, and it was enough to trigger me. My rigid stance and glare caught his attention as he tried to focus his gaze elsewhere.
If I had to leave a couple days later than planned, then so be it. There was no way in hell I was going to allow Neal to be the one that helped her decorate her apartment.
Friend, be damn.
She was my girl, and I was there to smooth things over with her. Why else would Neal suggest for me to come here and win her over?
“Very well. We can discuss that later.”
“Thank you,” Becca said, stepping forward wrapping her arm through mine. “The only other thing I have to say is, Neal… absolute perfection. Thank you so much for helping me out. I really appreciate it.”
“Oh, please… you don’t have to thank me. You’re doing me a HUGE favor by helping me manage these other apartments in this building. We can go over those later, though, once I get them sorted,” Neal replied. “I do have to get going, though. So I will catch up with you later?”
Nodding her head, Becca grinned, stepping from me as she wrapped her arms around Neal. “Yes, we can get coffee later this week if you’re up here.”
Coffee… there was no way.
Becca.
The tension was high when we met Neal to look at the apartment. I had suddenly regretted the idea of letting something like that happen because the entire time James looked like he was going to kill Neal. Which wasn’t good.
Every moment Neal made regarding me, I felt as if James was pulling me back. Every word Neal would say, I heard the scoff of disapproval leave James’ throat.
He wasn’t pleased with Neal being there, and I wasn’t quite sure why.
Never once had I honestly seen James act truly jealous, but right now, I found it all more than amusing. “Well, that was fun.”
As soon as Neal left, and James and I were left alone, I tried to find a way to approach the conversation. James paced around the living room of my new apartment, glancing out the large bay windows as he watched Neal walk to his car.
“What are you doing?” I finally asked him, causing him to look over his shoulder at me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he replied with irritation in his tone.
Furrowing my brows, I tried to understand what he was asking. “Tell you what?”
“That this was Neal’s apartment. You didn’t have to take something from him. I could have gotten it for you.” James was upset, and that was clear, but he didn’t have any right to be upset.
“Why are you acting like this? What does it matter if it’s an apartment that he owns, or if it’s an apartment that you own? I’m grateful for the help that both of you have given me, and I’m happy with this place. So why can’t you just be happy for me?”
My bold statement seemed to catch him off guard. Calmly he stood there, staring at me with his arms crossed over his chest as he inhaled deeply through his nose and out of his mouth.
He was trying to control his temper, and the sight was more than cute.
“If we’re going to be together, we can’t keep secrets from each other. That was something that you told me. So I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me you were doing this.”
Raising my brows with an amused grin, I considered the facts of his decision. He was forgetting one important detail though, and I knew that once I told him, he would end the discussion.
“James, I spoke with Neal about this place before you and I even decided that we would rekindle what we have. You and I weren’t even talking when the prospects of this place became an idea, so why would I suddenly tell him no? After all the work he’d put in to get it for me?”
Speechless, he stood there with nothing to say on the matter.
I mean, what could he say…? He knew I was right.
No matter what, James seemed to think Neal was interested in me in a romantic way, but Neal respected my choice of being with James. If James couldn’t learn to be understanding and accepting of that, then perhaps us rekindling what we had would be a little more difficult than I had expected.
After all, if he couldn’t be fine with me living in this place, how was it going to be fine with long distance?
There would be thousands of miles between us, and I was staying on a college campus surrounded by very hot, eligible men. Not that I was interested, but I knew those negative thoughts would cross his mind, eventually.
Without trust, this relationship couldn’t work, and that was something that he had to learn to give me. Otherwise, what was the point?
Walking towards him, I pushed at his arms, forcing them apart until I could slide my arms around his chest. He was really a big giant teddy bear under all these muscles and designer clothing. “You have to learn to trust me.”
“I do trust you, Becca. It’s him I don’t trust,” he groaned as he pulled me close.
I looked up to see he had a mischievous grin on his face. “Are you really going to continue to sulk about this place, or are you going to help me go get the things I have from Tally’s apartment? We can always bless it afterwards.”
“Bless it, huh?” James finally chuckled as he rolled his eyes. “That sounds fun.”
“It does, but we can’t do that without furniture.”
Reaching down, he gripped my thighs, catching me by surprise, and lifted me up to press his lips against mine. “We don’t need furniture to be able to do something like that.”
The kiss was magical, as always, but as I giggled, I knew he was still upset. “Come on… the faster we get done, the more fun we can have.”
“Why the rush?”