Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
I bit my bottom lip, wondering whether he was mad or not. I was beginning to figure out that though he was an expert at hiding his emotions, Giovani wasn’t inhuman. He had tells just like anyone else. From the way he clenched his jaw, still and motionless, this was anger–I was pretty sure.
“Are you sure?” I asked uncertainly.
“I just wanted to know if the age difference bothered you or not, nothing else,” he said impassively.
I frowned, gazing at him for a minute before I shook my head. “It doesn’t.”
“Okay,” he said simply.
I laid back down into his arms. He was still tense, and it was a bit uncomfortable, but eventually, I found a spot I liked. I relaxed, my eyes drifting off, when I heard yet another out-of-the-blue question come out of his mouth.
“So, are you interested in Alessandro now?”
“I knew it!” I glared at him, cranky now as I sat up in bed and crossed my arms. “You are upset!”
“No, I’m not,” Giovani said insistently, sitting up as well. He stared me down like I was being a petulant child, and I threw my hands in the air, ready to scream.
I just wanted to sleep, to get a good night’s rest for once, and now he was acting like… like–
I paused, swerving my gaze back to him as I pondered the thought.
He was acting like a jealous boyfriend.
“Are you jealous?” I frowned. “Is that what this is about?”
His nostrils flared as his icy stare turned to a glare, and he snapped, “Of course not! Jealous? Of him? Why would I ever be jealous of him?”
I flinched back, a little hurt at how adamantly he denied it. I saw his face soften, and he reached out to me, but I was angry.
I hated this. I never should’ve come here.
“Olivia–”
He called me back, grasping my wrist, but I pulled away from him, crossing my arms angrily as I stood my ground.
“I’m not bothered by the age difference, even if you obviously are. I’m not interested in Alessandro, so I turned him down. And I’m not okay with being treated like this for something I didn’t even do!” I threw my hands up, ready to storm back to my room.
Nightmares be damned, I wasn’t going to deal with a man-child who couldn’t admit his own feelings all night. Be jealous, fine… but don’t take out your frustration on me.
I deserved better than that.
“Wait, Olivia–”
I heard him clammering after me, and I had just reached the doorknob when his arms wrapped around me. I stubbornly tried to throw him off, but there was no way I was strong enough.
He firmly pulled me into his chest as I huffed, bristling unhappily.
“I’m sorry, Olivia. You’re right.” He sighed, burying his head into my shoulder.
I refused to touch him back, just kept limp in his arms as I stared out the window.
The moonlight was particularly nice tonight.
“Please, I didn’t mean to snap at you,” he said softly, holding me like I was everything.
I shut my eyes tightly, trying not to give in, but I was always soft. When Tallon broke my favorite doll or when Dahlia spilled water right over my finished school project, I had never been able to stay angry. It passed just as quickly as it had come. My mom said I inherited it from my dad, but I had no way of knowing that for sure.
I sighed, already feeling the backbone I had developed soften into a pile of marshmallows. I wanted to be angry, but I just couldn’t.
“Olivia? Carino, say something,” he pleaded, desperation evident in his voice as he held me like I was going to vanish before his eyes.
Slowly, I lifted my hands and wrapped them around my back. “That wasn’t cool,” I muttered.
“I know. I’m so sorry,” Giovani chuckled into my shoulder. “I’m supposed to be the older one here, but I was acting like a child. You were right, I was jealous. Alessandro, he… he said something, and I got upset. But I didn’t have any right to interrogate you like that.”
I gently pulled back, just enough that he wouldn’t have to let me go, and I grasped both of his cheeks, pouting as our eyes connected intimately.
“I shouldn’t have hidden Alessandro almost kissing me either. I was confused, and I was thinking about protecting his feelings, but I didn’t take into account how it would make you feel. I’m sorry, too,” I frowned.
He smiled, relieved, and leaned in. His lips were right there for the taking, but I gently held my palm to his lips, preventing the kiss.
I felt his lips tip downward, confusion in his eyes as I smiled sadly at him.
“I’m not mad, but I think I should go back to my room now,” I told him softly.
His eyes widened and then I felt him slump, his disappointment obvious even to me.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I giggled and removed my hand so I could press a quick kiss to his lips. This time, when I pulled away from his arms, he let me go.
I sent him one last smile before I shut the door. The sight of his sad eyes was the last thing I saw.
*Olivia*
The chill of the night swept across me as soon as I slipped out of Giovani’s room. The cold was permeating, but it didn’t bother me as much as it had before.
I felt bad leaving Giovani, especially with those sad eyes he’d given me, but I knew I did the right thing. We both needed time to clear our heads and figure out what we wanted.
If our relationship was going to work, we needed to be on the same page, and at the moment, we just weren’t.
I tip-toed across the bare floorboards, wishing I had brought my slippers. Just when I made it to my room, I heard the creaking of someone else’s footsteps from down the hall, where Alessandro’s and Tallon’s rooms were.
My mind went blank with panic as I opened my door and slipped in, shutting it quietly. I heard a door opening down the hall just as my door closed.
Inside my room, I breathed a sigh of relief. I hoped nobody saw me because I didn’t have a valid excuse for being out of bed.
Again.
I crept into bed, sliding under the covers as I grabbed my pillow and held it tightly in my lap. I was still awake for the moment, despite the growing comfort of being in bed.
I glanced at the clock on my bedside table, which had 2:43 flashing at me in red lights, highlighting just how late it was… or early, depending on how you looked at it.
I did some quick calculations in my head about what time it would be in the States. I nodded to myself and grabbed my phone, unplugging it. The battery was fully charged already, so I opened the lock screen and dived into my contacts.
I hesitated, my thumb hovering over ‘Mom’ before I shook my doubts away and pressed call. The phone rang once and then twice before I finally heard a soft “Hello?” from the other side.
