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

by Claire Adams

  Chapter Six

  I was still glowing, buzzing from head to toe from my night out with Johnny, the next day. It was easy for me to put my mind at rest, to go to my classes and actually focus; Johnny caught me on my way to my first class of the day and kissed me eagerly, teasing me just a little bit, caressing along the curves of my body until I was more than ready to ask him to carry me off to the dorms or to the frat house—that I didn’t even care about my class anymore.

  But once I was in class, I was in a great mood, able to pay attention. The question of Claire White still simmered in the back of my mind, but I was mostly satisfied with Johnny’s answer; if he had been her boyfriend, if she was the first girl he’d been with sexually, and he had loved her, then of course he would be less than willing to talk about her. I thought about the girl; Johnny’s comment about girls flirting with him was right. I couldn’t be surprised if girls who wanted Johnny for themselves had an eye to sabotage any relationship he might get into. I’d have to get used to the fact that the guy I was into was one of the most-desired men on campus.

  I had my phone on silent, not even on vibrate; while I knew that Johnny would probably text me at least once, I was determined not to lose my focus over anything while I was in class. I checked my phone when I went from one class to another—my second one of the day, the last before I could go to the dining hall for lunch—and saw that my mom had called. I rolled my eyes; leave it to her to have no idea that I’d be in class. As I walked from one building to another, I listened to the message. “Hey, sweetie! I just wanted to catch up with you and see how you’re doing with your second week of college. Give me a call back when you get a chance. Love you!”

  I couldn’t call her right away; even if I didn’t have class, I wanted a little bit of privacy to get her up to date on my life. Before I put my phone away for class, I saw that Johnny had texted me. Mosquito bites? I can put some lotion on them for you later, you know… I smirked to myself and replied that as far as I was concerned, he could put lotion anywhere on my body, and I’d have to make time to let him do it soon.

  I put off the phone call for as long as I could; it wasn’t that I didn’t love my parents, but I was excited to be away from them, and calling home would have been a reminder that I was still—in their eyes at least—a kid. Besides, I had lunch, and then more classes to go to in the afternoon. Georgia laughed at me for trying to unobtrusively scratch the few stray mosquito bites I had gotten from my almost-camping trip with Johnny the night before and laughed even harder at his suggestion of being the one to doctor them for me. I went to my afternoon classes and then lingered at one of the booths advertising a club event coming up, all to put off the fact that I would have to call my mom.

  I finally got up to my dorm, and into my room, and closed the door behind me. I would much rather have been calling Johnny, but I knew that I couldn’t delay any longer. I threw myself onto the bed and dialed out to my mom’s number.

  She picked up after two rings. “Hey, sweetie!” I smiled in spite of myself. I really do love my parents; deep down, in spite of the way that they had pressured me to date only “good” boys, sons of their country club friends, I knew that they had my best interests in mind. Even if I disagreed with them as to what would make me happiest in life, I had to admit that they were looking out for me in their own way.

  “Hey, Mom. Sorry I had classes all day, I only just how have a few minutes to talk.”

  “We’ve missed you, Becky,” my mom said, and I had to believe her; somewhere I actually missed them a little bit. I missed my dad’s help with my math homework; I missed my mom asking about the boys at school. I was excited to be on my own, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t looking forward to seeing them again at break.

  “How are things over there?” Mom rattled on for a while about this or that friend, this or that scandal in the neighborhood. She told me about a situation happening among the PTA at my old school; since Mom was no longer a parent to a kid at the school, she had some distance from the drama, and could just sit back and laugh at everyone else.

  I listened, pretending to be interested. “Really? What did she say?” I heard about Dad’s new project at work, and about the fact that they were thinking of renovating the bathroom on my side of the house, since they could now—while I was away at least—use my room as a guest room.

  “I wanted to ask—are you coming home this weekend? Your dad and I would love to see you.” I considered it. If I went home, I definitely wouldn’t have a chance to spend any time at all with Johnny. I also didn’t really think I wanted to go home again so soon after starting; after all it had only been a couple of weeks—not really very long at all since my parents had said goodbye.

  “I’m really busy, Mom,” I said, trying to make my voice sound as regretful as possible. “I’ve got a lot going on with classes and everything… just, really super busy all the time.” Mom laughed.

  “Thus speaks the college girl!” she said. “Just what are you so busy with? I know you’re smart enough to keep up in your classes.” I hesitated again; things were so new with Johnny.

  “I’ve been making friends,” I started. “And you know, just because I can keep up with my classes doesn’t mean I shouldn’t get ahead.” I bit my bottom lip and finally took the plunge. “And I met a boy.”

  “Really?” Mom’s voice practically crackled with excitement. “What’s he like? Tell me all about him.” I blushed, smiling in spite of myself.

  “He’s really nice. He’s—he’s in one of the frats on campus, Phi Kappa something.”

  “That’s great! I knew you’d get into Greek life.” I rolled my eyes. Just because I was dating a guy in a frat didn’t mean that I was going to join a sorority. “I’ll have to ask your dad about what he knows about that group.”

  “Yeah, well, he’s… really sweet. And he’s an upperclassman.” Mom made an approving sound, and I told her—in as little detail as possible—about going to the party at Johnny’s invitation, about the date he had taken me on into the woods. Mom laughed again and told me to make sure to ‘take caution’ and to not be ‘that girl,’ by which I knew she meant that I shouldn’t be too easy. That ship had sailed, but I was not about to tell her that. Instead I focused on how nice he was, and the fact that I was hoping to see him again that weekend, which was why I couldn’t go home.

  “Well, why don’t you invite him to come down? I’m sure your father would love to meet him and so would I. He can have dinner with us down at the club.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Mom—it’s way too short notice. He’s probably already got plans, something going on with the frat.”

  “Well you can invite him, and if he doesn’t have anything going on he can come and meet us. I want to make sure he’s good enough for you, and if you’re as serious about him as you sound then it would do you good to introduce him to your parents.” No matter how I tried to argue that it was a silly idea and that it was too soon for him to be meeting them, Mom insisted that it would be fine, that I was just being self-conscious and everything would be fine. She finally just told me to invite him and have done with it, and if he didn’t want to come, that was his choice.

  I finished up the call, trying to salvage what I could; I knew Mom was suspicious about the fact that I didn’t want to bring Johnny home to them—and really, she had good reason. He was a frat brother, but it wasn’t like he was as wealthy as they probably wanted. He wasn’t one of the well-groomed, suit-wearing boys who were coming into trust funds that Mom and Dad both had tried to push onto me when I was in high school. But I had to at least invite him; I told myself that Johnny would probably just brush it off and say he was busy and I could take that back to my parents. But at least, I thought resentfully as I hung up the phone, I wouldn’t have an excuse for not going home. If Johnny was busy, then they would insist that that freed me up to visit. I felt like a very large fox caught in a very small trap.

  Chapter Seven

  I was still a little
unsettled when Johnny called a little while later and suggested we meet up for dinner at the dining hall. I didn’t say anything at all about my mom’s invitation—I was still debating whether or not I wanted to even mention it period—but I thought at least it would be good to spend some time with him. “Hey, Gigi!” I called across the dorm. “Get your nose out of whatever book it’s wedged in and let’s grab dinner.”

  We walked down to the first floor of the dorm and then halfway across the campus to the dining hall; I told her about the call with my mom, and about the stupid invitation to dinner she was forcing me to make. “Just play it off like it isn’t a big deal. I mean, it’s not like you want him to meet your parents so soon, is it?” I had to agree that I didn’t.

  We were still chatting about things when we came up to the dining hall entrance. Johnny grabbed me, lifting me up into his arms and kissing me on the lips in front of everyone, and I laughed as he swung me around, thinking that if nothing else, I had started off my school year right. He put me back onto my feet and finally noticed that Georgia was there with me. “Hey, Gigi,” he said, giving her a grin. “You here to make sure no one gives the hottest girl on campus the stink-eye?” Georgia laughed.

  “Oh you know everyone’s eaten up with envy anyway. Nothing I could do about that. But I did hear there was food going on, so I figured I might as well come along.”

  We went into the dining hall and Johnny kept his arm around me, standing in line to wait to swipe our IDs at the register and get into the line in the serving area. The dining room was half-filled with students already digging into their meals, and the line in front of us stretched out nearly to the door. I looked up at the menu board as we neared the entry into the serving area, and joked with Johnny and Gigi about the offerings; it was “Middle Eastern Night,” with falafel, hummus, kabobs and more. I had very little confidence in the authenticity, but at least it couldn’t be all bad.

  We loaded up our plates, taking things from different stations around the serving area; I joked about Johnny loading up his plate with protein and made sure that I got at least a little bit of salad on my plate. There were different themed desserts as well: roasted figs, rose ice cream, and thin orange blossom honey pancakes, among other things. I was glad to see that Johnny was just as comfortable with Georgia as he had ever been—it made me feel even better about everything, about the fact that I was falling for him fast. If he hadn’t been able to at least make conversation with Georgia, or if he’d snubbed her or was mad that I’d brought her along, I would have felt weird about dating him.

  We finally found a place to sit with our trays; I joked to Johnny about my self-imposed quest to taste every one of the juices the dining hall offered and then after that to experiment with as many combinations as were possible. I noticed as we moved through the line and then through the dining area to find a table where we could all sit that a lot of the girls were still looking at me with disappointed—some of them even rampantly jealous—glances, their lips pressed together in pouts or frowns that disappeared if they thought Johnny was looking at them. I didn’t exactly like the fact that so many people wanted to date the guy I was seeing, but I decided to ignore them; after all, it wasn’t their business. Johnny liked me, at least for now, and I wasn’t going to get all insecure and let them win.

  We talked about our classes, and Georgia told Johnny about some of the clubs she was interested in checking out; I talked about getting to class late, glancing at Johnny with a little grin. Johnny teased me about my mosquito bites and said that I might as well just walk around in a bikini since it was still warm enough, so that he could dab me with calamine lotion whenever I needed it. “Oh god,” I said, laughing. “Then I’d be that weird spotted freshman girl. No thanks.”

  I started to relax, but even as we ate, I could still remember my mom’s insistence that I ask Johnny to come down and visit for dinner. I glanced at Georgia and she gave me a little, tiny nod. “Hey, so, Johnny,” I said anxiously, putting my plate aside; I hoped that I would still have room for dessert afterward. “So I talked to my mom earlier—she called me while I was in class and I couldn’t put it off forever.” I explained about the phone call a little bit, how I mentioned I was kind of seeing someone and wanted to not come home so I could—hopefully—see Johnny again.

  “Well yeah, I’d hope you’d rather spend the weekend hanging out with me than with your parents,” he said with a laugh. I took a deep breath and decided to go all in.

  “So, Mom said that I should invite you to come for dinner with us. It’s no big deal—it’s not like a serious thing—but I guess she was trying to keep me from having an excuse not to go home.” My heart was pounding in my chest. Johnny grinned.

  “Of course I’ll go to dinner. I’d love to!” I couldn’t believe my luck; Johnny had to be the sweetest guy I had ever met in my entire life.

  “It’s not—like—something where I’m trying to like…” I stumbled over my words. “I didn’t even say you were my boyfriend or anything just that we’d had a couple of dates.” Johnny laughed again and reached across the table, ruffling my hair.

  “Well, when you tell them that I’ll be coming to dinner you can tell them that I am your boyfriend.” I grinned, and then remembered; these were my parents. It was going to be at the country club.

  “It is going to be at their stupid country club,” I pointed out. “The food’s not bad, but the place is pretty lame, and it’s going to be all stuffy and everyone dressed up and stuff. You really don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” Johnny rolled his eyes.

  “I’ve never been to a country club before; it could be a lot more fun than you think. Don’t worry about it, Becky. It’ll be fine.” He stood and reminded me about the desserts, and I felt relieved in spite of the fact that there was no way I could get out of the weekend visit home anymore. He pulled me close while we were both walking back towards the serving area and wrapped his arms around me, leaning in to kiss me in front of everyone.

  I was absolutely thrilled at the fact that I would get to introduce Johnny to my parents, that everyone in the dining hall knew that Johnny and I were together—really together. While we were grabbing little bits and samples of the different desserts, Johnny asked me if I was going to the game that night and my bubble of relief popped.

  “Oh—yeah, of course I am. Can’t wait!” I hadn’t even known there was a game going on.

  “I’ll make sure you’ve got tickets waiting for you at the box office. Can’t have you up in the stands where I can’t even see you!” Johnny tousled my hair again as we made our way back to the table, and I thought wryly to myself that I would definitely need to become a much better hockey fan if I really expected the relationship to last.

  Chapter Eight

  Georgia and I once more got to the hockey stadium and went straight to the box office for our tickets. “At least if I have to become a hockey fan for the sake of my relationship, I don’t have to worry about being interested in something I can barely see,” I joked.

  “We’ll get you up to speed, don’t worry,” Georgia said. “I’m sure we can find everything we need to find online, and in no time at all you’ll be telling me all about Johnny’s stats and how he’s improving or who the other team is and why I should care.” We both laughed as we took our seats, starting to react to the atmosphere of excitement all around us. Georgia grabbed us some snacks from the concession stand and we settled in to watch the game.

  Once more I had next to no idea whatsoever about what was going on in front of me. I could spot Johnny, and as the two teams took the ice, warming up and getting into the groove of the game, I felt a tingle of excitement. That was the man I loved. I cheered for him and he looked around, spotting me from the center of the ice, grinning as he looked up at me through his visor.

  Even though I didn’t know what was going on in front of me, I could tell that the game was tougher than the first one I had watched. Johnny was still playing well, but every time he looked
up to catch sight of me he got distracted. Georgia laughed and told me that if our school lost its edge in the coming weeks, it would be all my fault; Johnny was the star player, and he was clearly the highest-scoring member of the team.

  We got into it, cheering when everyone else around us cheered, and Georgia decided that we both needed to know exactly what was going on—me in particular. She had her phone out and as the announcer made comments, she looked up every term we heard, reading out the definitions to me as quietly as she could so that no one else in the stand would know that we were clueless, giggling at some of the sillier terms and what they meant. I finally got to know what Johnny’s position—Left Wing—really entailed, and what the other positions on the ice were, and stored the facts away as best as I could to be able to make some kind of conversation with Johnny when we were together.

  We barely had the convenience of reading the information off of Georgia’s phone—the game was exciting, especially since Johnny was so distracted by my presence. I felt a little guilty, but I couldn’t help but feel my heart leaping every time that he glanced up to give me a little grin.