Page 17 of Daddy's Best Friend

13

ELLA

For a Saturday morning—brunch with Mom and Dad—it sure sucked. I sat with my fork in hand, pushing eggs around my plate wishing it was last Saturday when I was waking up in Alan’s bed. The entire weekend had been amazing. I Ubered there for dinner Friday night and didn’t leave until Sunday after breakfast when Alan insisted that I head home to finish my homework.

A smirk crept out as I thought of how many times I’d fucked him, each room of the house he’d taken me. The crazy things he did with his tongue on my clit. Fuck… I wanted to go back there right now and do it over again. The best part about it was knowing the secret we had, but pretending we were one-hundred-percent professional at work.

Alan was kind and charming. I found him even more irresistible just hanging out around his house than I found him at work. He entertained me, fed me, fucked me, and he even held me until I fell asleep. All in all, it was a magical weekend, and I would have asked him to do it again this weekend, except Trevor was home and I had plans with Mom and Dad.

“What’s that smirk about?” Mom grinned as she took a bite of her eggs.

“Ella, you’ve been smiling a lot this morning. Are things going well at work?” Dad sipped his coffee, a staunch believer that black coffee was the only true breakfast. “Alan told me you’re doing quite well. He may offer you a permanent position with his company.”

I shrugged, stuffing a bite in my mouth, chasing with my syrupy-sweet, extra creamy coffee that made my father’s eyebrows furrow in disgust. I didn’t even bother wiping away the cream mustache from my upper lip.

“Work’s okay.” To avoid any further questions, I asked one of my own. “What about you, Mom? How is the ribbon club or whatever hobby you have now?” Mom shook her head at me, rolling her eyes.

“It’s the Red Hat Society, and it’s quite enjoyable. But I asked you first. You seem happy. Have you met someone? That look… the glimmer in your eyes. You’re happy.” She nodded and smiled knowingly, and I couldn’t deny it. Iwashappy.

“I might be seeing someone.” The sideways grin was hard to hide. The fact that I was able to even say I was seeing someone made my heart soar. Alan was amazing. He was everything I wanted in a man—charming, funny, smart, successful, mature—a really great fuck. “I don’t want to jinx it by saying too much.”

“You’ll jinx your future getting wrapped up in silly affairs. Ella, you need to take this opportunity with Alan seriously. This could set you up to be successful your entire life.” Dad sucked in a drink of his scalding coffee through his teeth and pursed his lips as he awaited my response.

I took a deep breath, frustrated that in order to keep the money for my dorm room and food, I had to continue with these pointless brunches. There was a chance I could start skipping out, blame work and say I was doing homework, but Dad had made it clear that if I didn’t do with my life what he thought I should be doing, he’d pull the plug on the cash cow.

Part of me feared that because even though the job with Alan was a paid internship, it wasn’t nearly the lifestyle I was used to living. It also would not afford me the privilege of Ubering everywhere I wanted to go.

“Dad, I’m taking my job seriously, okay?” I pushed my plate away, no longer hungry.

His lectures started in almost immediately about my drinking and partying and how I was “throwing my life in the shitter.” They lasted late into the afternoon after a round of golf, a late lunch with Mom and her friend Cecilia, and well past dinner at the Peruvian restaurant on the A1A. When I got a text from a friend asking me to meet her at the Liquor Lounge, I ditched Mom and Dad faster than a hot potato.

Whitney was all fun and games until around 11 p.m., when some loser named Julio rocked up and asked her to dance. I saw it in her eyes the minute she asked me to hold her drink. She wasn’t coming back. And she didn’t. I got a text 40 minutes later that she was going home with him and that I’d have to get my own Uber back to the dorm.

Frustrated, I finished her drink and mine, planning to Uber, but I hadn’t realized how much I had to drink. Miami was a nice town, but not when you were a single woman, half dressed in slutty clothes, and drunk. I agonized over the time. If I tried tosober up it would be the wee hours of the morning, and I was exhausted.

Two men tried to hit on me and take me home, but I wanted nothing to do with it. So, I pulled out my phone and called Alan. His phone rang and rang, and he did not pick up. So, I called again, and again—until someone answered.

“Yo, who’s this? My dad is busy.”

My gut churned. “Trevor?”

I heard my own shockingly slurred speech and regretted opening my mouth. If Trevor had Alan’s phone, where was Alan?

“Ella? Why are you calling my dad?”

I honestly wasn’t in the mood for his snotty questions. I just wanted to get home safely and the only person I knew I could trust was Alan. If I called my dad, that was the end of my life—or at least my living away from home. If I called Alex, he’d take two hours to come get me, or he’d be too drunk himself to come get me. I wasn’t about to ask Trevor. Whitney had ditched me. And taking a cab or an Uber was out of the question, especially when the flirty Hispanic woman with alluring eyes bought me another drink.

“Fuck… Just let me talk to him. What is he doing?”

“No, you tell me why you’re drunk and calling him. What did your dad tell you to fuck off and now you want to get my dad drug into the middle of it? You know you did enough of that a few weeks ago.”

Rage boiled in my veins. Had he actually insinuated that I had dragged his father into a situation where he was not wanted? Hisfather saved me from him. I wanted to scream at him and if I hadn’t been in public I would have.

“Trevor, just let me talk to Alan.”

“That’s Mr. Walters to you, Ella. And I don’t think you should—”

His voice stopped instantly, and I heard the warm baritone of Alan’s voice interject. He said something sternly; I couldn’t understand what it was because it was muffled, but it all became clear when he spoke into the receiver.

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