Daddy Next Door - The Complete Series Box Set (A Single Dad Navy SEAL Romance)

by Claire Adams

  In my head, I imagined reaching down and unzipping Johnny’s jeans, tugging them down over his hips. I pictured what his chest must look like, the deep v of his hips; did he have a happy trail? I closed my eyes and put my head under the shower, letting my hands wander downward until I came to my hips. I spread my legs a little bit and reached down between them, licking my lips and feeling my body heat up under the water while I thought about Johnny. What it would be like to have him right there in the shower with me, kissing me, touching me, teasing me. I started to rub myself slowly, working my way in between my labia, stroking lightly at first and then harder as I got more and more turned on.

  I knew I shouldn’t even be thinking about it; Johnny probably hadn’t given me a second thought as soon as he’d walked away from me after leading me to my class. But as I started working myself, touching and rubbing and stroking my clit, moans starting to leave my lips, I couldn’t help but imagine going down on him or having him playing with me like I was playing with myself. I thought about him pinning me down on my bed and kissing his way down my body, coming to my hips and teasing me with that sparkle in his eyes until I was ready to beg him to stop—until I was ready to beg him to go on.

  I slid one finger inside of myself, biting my bottom lip to keep from making too much noise as I thought about what it would be like for him to finger me, for him to work me with his hand until I couldn’t stand it anymore, and then finally what it would feel like to have him inside of me. I slid down to the floor, the water pouring on my head, down my breasts, beating on my shoulders while I worked two fingers in and out, my thumb pressed against my clit, my hips moving with a mind of their own. I could only imagine what Johnny looked like naked, what he would feel like, how big he was underneath his clothes. I knew I would probably never get anywhere near enough to find out, but in my head, I imagined him pressing me up against the shower wall and holding me there, thrusting into me slowly and then faster and faster. My fingers mimicked what I was imagining until I was gasping and shivering, moaning at the thought of him.

  By the time I was finished, the hot water was almost exhausted, and I had to hurry to wash my hair before it went completely cold. I stepped out of the shower on unsteady legs, shivering until I got the towel wrapped around me, and made a beeline for my room; Georgia had apparently finished the chapter while I was in the bathroom, and the lights in the common area of the dorm were out—she must have gone to bed.

  I got myself dried off and climbed into my own bed, thinking about everything that had happened in such a short time. I shook my head; it had been so stupid to get myself off thinking about him. How many other girls were probably doing the same thing at the same time? Even if Johnny had been a total jerk, he was hot—and he definitely wasn’t a jerk. He’d been so nice to me, but it was stupid of me to even think of anything happening between us. He was just a nice guy who was being friendly to a freshman girl. I knew I was cute, but I didn’t think there was any way I could compete with every other girl on campus. I had felt better while I was in the shower, but that wasn’t enough.

  I turned onto my other side in the bed and told myself that it didn’t matter that a bunch of other girls—practically every other girl—was hot for him. I was just being silly; I just had a crush on a nice, hot guy. It would pass, and then I’d move onto someone I actually had a decent shot with. In spite of my pep talk, I couldn’t help but feel a little depressed, and as I fell asleep, I thought that if I was going to let some stupid guy completely screw me up after nothing more than a couple of conversations, I was a total idiot.

  Chapter Seven

  By the next morning when I got up, I had resolved to put Johnny out of my mind completely. I mean, how hard could it possibly be to stop thinking about him? I probably wasn’t going to run into him again—the two incidents where we had ended up speaking were total flukes, and I had a much better idea of where I was going on campus. I would find my own way around, and I was almost determined to not draw any attention to myself whatsoever—the better to avoid risking having another run-in with Johnny that would twist my thoughts around in circles yet again. The less attention I paid to him, the better off I would be.

  I made it to my first class of the day without a hitch, following a bunch of other freshmen to the building and even managing to keep up a bit of conversation with them before the professor arrived. I told myself that I would make a decent showing in the afternoon math class I had—that I would actually be focused instead of distracted and make up for the fact that I hadn’t been paying attention at all the previous day when the professor had been going over the introductory material. I participated in the class discussion and got a few grins for my occasionally smart ass remarks. The class was one of the Freshman requirements—and I thought to myself that if there was any class that I could possibly sleep through and still manage to get all As, it would be this one.

  I was feeling much better about the situation as I started to make my way across the campus, heading towards the dining hall to meet with Georgia. She’d had a different first class—I thought it might have been her Biology class, with the lab set for later in the day; but we had Precal together, so we had made an agreement that we’d walk there every day, unless one of us got sick and had to stay behind in the dorm. I was actually starting to look forward to my afternoon classes, thinking that it would be so much easier to deal with everything without worrying about whether or not Johnny knew I existed and who might be flirting with him. I’d skip the party—and the crazy frat boys that would come with it—and find my own group of friends, probably some of the girls from my floor of the dorm.

  “Becky!” I heard a familiar voice calling my name from behind me and turned just in time to see Johnny jogging up, looking out of breath. I was surprised; had he rushed to catch up with me? I told myself he’d probably been running for another reason, spotted me, and somehow or another remembered my name. It was nothing. I wasn’t going to let him infiltrate my brain the way he had before.

  “Hey,” I said, putting on a polite smile as he came to a stop next to me. Some of the people around us kept going, moving towards the dining hall and the food it promised. My stomach was growling; I had managed to grab some fruit and some coffee, but I was more than ready for more to eat than that.

  “How’s it going? Settling in all right?” I smiled in spite of myself and nodded.

  “Yeah, I actually managed to make it to my first class of the day without having a meltdown or ending up on the completely wrong end of campus,” I replied. Johnny laughed.

  “See? I told you you’d get used to this place in no time. You’re too smart to wander around lost every day of the first semester. Who did you have?” I showed him my textbook for the Introduction to Academic Life class and he grimaced with sympathy.

  “I’m pretty sure I could sleep every day in that class and still manage to get an A,” I said, shaking my head. Johnny nodded.

  “Oh God, yeah, it’s boring as hell, and anyone with half a brain could manage a passing grade on the tests. Banks isn’t too tough, though. I heard—what’s his name—Kircher is a total asshole when he teaches it; makes everyone write like ten essays.” Johnny grinned.

  “Ten essays wouldn’t be that hard,” I said. “As long as I could stay awake to write them.” Johnny laughed.

  “You know, I think that might be the first actual joke you’ve told me! Congratulations, you are officially a full student here.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Oh, so everyone who wants to be a fully-accepted student has to tell you a joke?” Johnny shook his head.

  “Nah, but it shows you’re getting used to this place. Not afraid of us big, bad upperclassmen anymore.” I gave him a playful shove, and he responded by giving one of the braids I had put my hair into a playful tug.

  “How do you expect me to be afraid of you when you’re so nice to me all the time?” Johnny smiled, and there was something in his eyes I couldn’t quite read, but it made my heart start beating fas
ter.

  “Hey, I’m just doing how I do. It’s easy to be nice to a pretty girl like you—but I’m still plenty capable of kicking ass and taking names.” I rolled my eyes.

  “I’ll believe it when I see it.” I could feel myself blushing at the fact that he thought I was pretty and told myself to stop it.

  “Who else have you got today?” I showed him my Precal textbook and made a face. Johnny groaned.

  “God, I’ve only had one class with this guy and already I’m hopelessly confused. Is he as uptight as he seems?” Johnny nodded.

  “Every bit. I had him my freshman year, too, and I swear, if you didn’t phrase things in your answers exactly the way he put them in the notes, you were screwed.” I groaned and put my face in my hands.

  “God, I’m screwed. I’m going to fail.” I sighed. “Well, at least I know it now.” Johnny laughed.

  “Well, there are lots of tutors, and if nothing else, I’m sure he’s never changed the answers on his tests in all this time, so you can ask me what you should write and I might even have the answer!” We were both walking, making our way slowly towards the dining hall from the opposite end of the campus, and in spite of my firm resolution to never even think about him again, I felt myself smiling, reacting to Johnny, blushing, my heart beating faster at the fact that he seemed to have wanted to talk to me specifically.

  He stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop as he did, and tilted his head slightly to the side. “I have an important question for you: do you like hockey?” I hesitated for just a second; I knew absolutely nothing about hockey other than the fact that there were a lot of fights and it apparently took place on an ice rink.

  “I love it!” I lied. I felt my cheeks burning again—I thought to myself that if he asked me what my favorite team was, I was going to be totally screwed. I had better think of something. Hockey teams… what kind of mascots did they have? What cities even had teams? And if I said the wrong team, it would be just as bad as if I admitted I didn’t know anything at all about hockey, but just wanted to say yes so that we could keep talking.

  “Great!” Johnny’s face lit up, and he was beaming down at me, looking as excited as I could imagine him ever looking. “That’s really awesome, you don’t even know. There’s a game tonight; do you want to come watch?” I felt my heart leap up into my throat—he was asking me to come to a game with him! I took a deep breath as surreptitiously as I possibly could.

  “Yeah, that sounds great—when did you want to pick me up?” Johnny frowned slightly for an instant before he laughed.

  “Oh, I’m playing—but I could have a ticket put aside for you so you could come and watch me play.” I felt a little disappointed; I thought of all of the games I’d gone to for my friend in high school. At least, I had known something about football. Johnny put one hand on my shoulder and I felt as if I would vibrate out of my skin at any moment. “I would love for you to come and watch me.” My heart skipped a beat in my chest at the word “love.” I told myself I was being ridiculous, but it sent a little quiver through my body even so.

  “Can I bring my roommate? She—she likes hockey, too.” Johnny nodded.

  “I’ll have them put two tickets aside for you at the box office.” He beamed down at me and gave my hair a quick tousle. “Can’t wait to see you there,” he said.

  “Thanks—I’m really excited. First game at my new school!” Johnny’s hand left me and he told me to make sure to be there with plenty of time; I watched as he started to head back the way he had come, and felt my skin tingling all over, my heart beating faster. I glanced over my shoulder, not wanting to give up the moment I’d just had, and caught sight of Johnny looking back at me, a little smile still curving his lips as he went on his way to another class. When I turned back around, I saw a group of girls who had come to a stop, looking from Johnny to me. When they saw me looking at them, I watched their expressions go from shock to envy, and then anger. It was petty of me, and probably pretty stupid, considering how keyed up I had been before, but I had to admit that it felt really good to see them all looking so jealous that Johnny had paid some attention to me.

  Chapter Eight

  I felt fidgety and nervous as Georgia and I got to the hockey stadium, all the way at the edge of campus; it was farther away from the dorms even than the football field. When I had told Gigi about Johnny inviting me to come watch him play, she had taken it as a sure sign that he was definitely into me—and I couldn’t help but think that he at least had remembered my name, at least wanted me there, at least had said he’d love it if I was in the crowd. It probably didn’t mean much of anything in the long-term, but I had to admit to myself that he at least was showing me a little attention. He had to be at least a little interested in me.

  I stepped up to the box office and cleared my throat. It had occurred to me more than once that as nice as Johnny might seem, this all could be an elaborate prank. But I couldn’t just assume that of him; I had to take him at face value that he had meant what he’d said. The woman, who looked about my mom’s age or slightly older, looked up. “Hi,” I said, smiling nervously. “I should have two tickets reserved there—uh…” I glanced around; there were a few people behind Georgia and me in line. “They would have been put aside by Johnny—Johnny Steel.” I tried to say the name as quietly as possible; if it was a prank, I didn’t want anyone to know, or at least, as few people as possible.

  The woman looked down at a list and smiled. “Yes, I see two tickets, right here. Can I get your ID for a second? I do have to make sure they’re going to the right person.” Relief flooded through me as I dug my ID out of my wallet and handed it over.

  With our tickets in hand, Gigi and I went into the stadium, both of us getting more and more excited; I had looked at the tickets to try and figure out where we were sitting—what section, so we wouldn’t be wandering around forever. We found the part of the stands where our tickets had us and went through the gate to that area, and I looked around at the seat numbers. As we moved forward, and forward, closer and closer to the ice, I finally could see that the tickets that Johnny had had them hold for us were right behind the glass, right next to the area where the team would be. “Holy crap!” Georgia said as we sat down. She gave me a little grin.

  “They probably just have, like, a certain group of seats they can choose from,” I said, though my cheeks were already warming up. I would be able to see everything—and especially Johnny. When Georgia had mentioned we were going to the game that night to some of the other girls on our floor, they’d told us that Johnny played Left Wing, that he was one of—if not the—best player on the team. Angelina had been nearly green with envy at the fact that we’d gotten free tickets from one of the star players—she was a huge hockey fan, and the college’s team was one of the reasons she had chosen the school.

  We settled in to watch the game, and I looked out over the ice constantly, watching as the two teams came out and started warming up. My heart was pounding, and as soon as I saw Johnny, I knew I was grinning like an idiot. “We should have made a giant sign,” Georgia muttered to me as everyone around us cheered, elbowing me playfully.

  “Right,” I countered, “Because nothing says ‘date me’ like acting like an obsessed fan-girl.” Georgia laughed and we were swept up in the excitement of the crowd and the action of the game.

  I really had very little idea of what was going on—and I felt a little bit guilty, more than once, that here I was, watching a game I didn’t even know anything about, when someone like Angelina would have given an arm—or at least a finger—to be there. But it was obvious to me as I watched that Johnny was a star for a reason: he was as tough on the ice as he was nice in person, fast and brutal pushing through other players, and I was barely even able to keep track of the puck as he raced from one end of the ice to the other with it, passing it with just a quick movement to one of the other members of his team or intercepting it from the other team. There were no actual fights, but it was easy for
me to see how hockey had developed a reputation as a brutal sport—players jostling and shoving, knocking into each other. Even with pads it was hard for me to imagine how any of them managed to escape unscathed.

  It almost hit me like a shock when the clock ticked down and the game was over. Our team had won by two points, and everyone in the crowd was cheering, a few people talking about what a great game it had been. Georgia and I were cocooned in sound, cheering ourselves, jumping up and down and laughing as everyone celebrated around us. “Come on,” Georgia told me quickly, as people started to filter out—the other side had started to leave almost immediately, less excited and enthusiastic due to their loss. “Let’s see if we can find him.”

  We somehow found our way to the locker room area and hovered outside, waiting with a dozen or so other people for the players to come out. I could still feel the jumpy, nervous, excited feeling bubbling up under my skin. I told myself that Johnny wouldn’t even notice me, that he’d come straight to me, that I shouldn’t be disappointed no matter what happened. He would react the way he would react, and just because he had said he would love it if I came to the game, it didn’t mean that he hadn’t said the same thing to a dozen other girls.

  Johnny came out and I held my breath, not wanting to be the kind of girl who would make a fool of herself by screaming. A bunch of the people clustered around the locker room entrance moved in closer, and Johnny smiled, politely thanking them, shaking hands, accepting the attention. I saw him looking around and I stood on the balls of my feet, wanting to stand out—but not willing to be more obvious. When he spotted me and came straight over, I felt my heart flip over in my chest.