Page 107 of Puppy on a Leash

“Watch me.” I noted how they hadn’t complained about Tony specifically, mind you. It only strengthened my resolve—and made me the tiniest bit more forceful when I yanked them out of the bed. “Besides, he’s not just someone. Remember all that stuff he said about being responsible for me, and that also meant handling me if I wasn’t taking care of you?”

Cece squeaked. “I think you’re paraphrasing.”

“So what?” I scoffed, all but carrying them down the hallway.

Usually, Cece was the chillest person on Earth. It was why we clicked. Times like right now, though? They had one mean stubborn streak.

Whatever.

The apartment wasn’t that big.

“Are you decent?” I half hollered when I triumphed and reached my door, Cece pouting behind me.

There was no response for a couple of seconds.

“Give me a minute, pup.” Was his voice grumblier than usual? Maybe. I was going to ignore it. “This better be good.”

“Hey!”

I did not glance back to catch how Cece reacted to that.

It was okay. We all knew Tony wasn’t the best at first impressions or, apparently, reading the room when there was a door between us.

It was a good thing I’d never tried to claim he was perfect.

He was slower than I liked, too. I was starting to shift my weight between my feet by the time he opened the door. His eyebrows etched into a furrow when he caught sight of Cece.

Good, he’d be putting things together in no time. Cece had one of those faces that made it impossible to hide the fact that they’d been crying. Hell, even I could tell when they’d just been on the verge of it.

It was great when it came to making sure they were taken care of. Not so great when they had an online meeting or anything job related and they’d had a rough night.

“So. How would you feel about Cece and I moving in with you?”

No one could say I beat around the bush. It was a gift.

Tony’s gaze shifted between the two of us a couple of times before he moved back into the room. He sat down on the chair by the tiny desk I kept there.

Huh.

In hindsight, I could’ve told him to sit down before springing the news on him.

“For what it’s worth, I tried to stop him,” Cece chimed in, “and I never said I was okay with his plan.”

“Will you shut up?” I huffed. It was playful. I knew Cece wasn’t mad because they didn’t have a problem punching my arm when they were. So, I turned toward Tony and focused on persuading him. “It makes perfect sense. I spend a lot of time there already, bar when I buried myself to study, but you already promised you weren’t letting me do this again. And you asked how I felt about moving in with you eons ago. And Cece doesn’t want to stay here after the summer. And you have a big house. You won’t even notice they’re there. They can help with bills and shit because you know IT people make good money, and they don’t eat that much. I swear.”

“I’m not a pet.”

“You kind of are,” I threw back at them. “And I’m in charge of you, so deal with it.”

“You are not in charge of?—”

“Hey.” Tony raised his voice that tiny bit louder to come out on top of the two of us while he put a palm up. “Did you want to talk to him about moving into my place?”

“No.” Cece shook their head right away. “I was telling him I was thinking of moving away, but he changed my mind. And then I told him about not being able to stay in this apartment, so maybe he could move in with you because I don’t want to, like, put him on the street. My moving in too is all him.”

“You’re not helping.”

“I don’t want to help?—”

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