Page 108 of Puppy on a Leash

“Easy, the two of you.” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. He did it a lot. I wondered if he was aware of how much of a tell it was. “Jaime, forget all about Cece’s qualities as a roommate. Why do you want them to move in?”

Okay, it had possibly been unreasonable to expect him to go with my plan without any follow-up questions.

Dammit.

For a journalist-to-be, I really didn’t like follow-up questions.

“Well, they are struggling, as evidenced by their far-fetched plan to move out for an entire year.” I did my best not to huff too much while I paused. Cookies were in my future. It was decided. “And you said you were also responsible for me being a good Alpha, and living together is the best way to keep an eye on them. Besides, you’ve been amping up your Daddy tendencies a lot lately, so I don’t know why you’re complaining. Like, here’s someone who needs Daddying! I’m handing them over on a silver platter.”

I shut up because I might not be too proficient reading Tony’s face yet, but I had a feeling that I was making it worse. I had a tendency to do that the more I spoke.

There was another sigh before Tony spoke again. “We’ll talk about that last part and me amping up anything, but I amnotgoing to be someone’s Daddy when they’ve not consented to it.”

“I mean, no, but?—”

Why did everyone have to get so picky over words when I was just trying to do the right thing? Tony knew what I was saying.

He did, right?

Huh.

Maybe he didn’t.

“That said…” Tony leaned back in the chair. I only cringed a bit when it creaked under his weight. “Cece can move in to the house next to mine in September.”

“Um.”

“I own both properties.” Tony sighed. “My parents bought me that property so that I could start building a portfolio when I turned eighteen. I’ve been renting it ever since and bought the one next to it when it went up for sale.”

Sure, because everyone around me owned two properties and got a house as a birthday gift when they turned eighteen. He was, like, less than ten years older than me.

Whatever.

I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. However that saying went.

“Does that work for the two of you?”

Oh. Right. We weren’t answering.

I exchanged a glance with Cece. Regardless of their attempt to appear unfazed and how they’d started out rejecting the idea of Tony helping out, they looked subdued now. Maybe with a dash of longing that wasn’t only in my head.

“It works for me.”

Cece took a second longer to speak. “I don’t want to kick out anyone.”

Tony crossed his arms. “The current tenants leave in August. They were here as part of getting their PhDs.”

Cece pushed forward, even though I didn’t see what else there was to say after that—other than to accept the offer. “I’m not going to stay there for free, either.”

“Jaime just announced you’re rolling in cash,” Tony teased. “I wouldn’t expect anything else.”

“Good.”

I frowned. I wouldn’t say they were rolling in cash. I knew they stayed in this tiny apartment because of me, but I had a feeling Tony was not going to upcharge them, so I kept to myself. If anything, Tony would do the opposite, and I wouldn’t say a word there either.

“Anything else you need to say, pup?”

Yeah, I knew a trap when I saw it. Hard pass.

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