Bedroom Bully by Harper West

3

Rebecca

“We should hookyou up with someone.”

I slowly lifted my head at the sound of Brit’s voice. “What?”

She closed my office door behind her. “Is that another new dress?”

I leaned up, ignoring her question. “Yes, I got new work clothes now that I have the money to buy them in one of the most expensive cities in the country. Now, what in the world are you going on about?”

She shook her head, as if pulling herself from a trance. “There’s this new dating app, right? It’s called Babble. It sort of works like Tinder, but instead the women get to make the first move. If the women don’t chat up the men, the men can’t chat back. It’s genius, and it helps women to screen potential dates better.”

“And this has to do with me because…?”

She came to sit in front of my desk. “Look, I know we have a lot to patch up between us, but I figured this might be a good way to at least start. I know I’ve done some shitty things, but I swear I did it because I thought I needed to protect you.”

I didn’t believe any of her shit, but I was intrigued, nonetheless. “Okay.”

“Okay… you’ll do the app?”

I pulled my phone out. “What’s it called again?”

She walked me through how to set up a profile and it gave me time to get a read on her. I listened to her every word and drank in her every inflection. She was intentionally trying to put distance between me and JoJo, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why.

I didn’t get the sense that she liked him. But, outside of that reason, I had no other theories as to why she wanted to wiggle her way into that part of my life.

“There,” I said as I turned my phone toward her, “profile done.”

She clapped her hands. “Now, you just start searching, and swiping, and typing!”

“Right.”

She stood to her feet. “You want to get lunch with me today?”

I set my phone down. “Actually, I’ve got a hell of a lot of work I need to tend to today. Maybe some other time?”

Her eye twitched a bit. “Yes, of course. Some other time.”

And after I watched her leave my office, I picked my phone back up.

“Huh,” I murmured to myself.

On the one hand, it felt wrong to even be looking at something like this. I mean, if JoJo found out, he certainly wouldn’t be happy. But it wasn’t as if we were together. So, I decided to swipe and chat up a couple of guys.

What could it hurt, right?

I came across the profile of a man who was strikingly handsome for an accountant. Usually, they looked pretty frumpy, like me. All we did, every day, was crunch numbers for people who had more money than we’d ever see in our entire lives, and that changed people after a while. Some accountants were proud of their work, while others were walking carcasses of the person they used to be.

And I figured that, if nothing else, having another accountant friend in town would be nice.

Hi there. It’s nice to meet another accountant.

I sent the message off and didn’t expect him to respond for a while, but I didn’t even get my phone back in my purse before it vibrated.

You know, I was thinking the same thing when I came across your profile. And I have to say, you’re gorgeous.

I found myself smiling as I messaged back.

So, what do you like to do in your spare time? You know, when you’re not crunching numbers and hating your brain for the headache it can’t kick.

Those little dots bounced up and down on the screen before his message appeared.

I’m pretty much a homebody outside of work. I do a lot of reading in my spare time, when I don’t bring work home with me. I love a good movie marathon. I’m practically a professional at binge-watching television shows as well.

I was already bored with the conversation, but I figured I’d give him the benefit of the doubt.

Do you like traveling at all? Did you grow up in town, or are you a transplant like me?

I barely read his answer as my mind started gravitating to other things. I fixated on work while he flooded our chat box with things about his life I didn’t care about, like where he was from and what nationality his parents were. He spilled the beans on where his passion for numbers came from and how that led him to one of the most prominent cities in the world for accountants, and I legitimately yawned while reading all of it.

Sure, this guy seemed about as intimidating as a guinea pig, but that also meant there was nothing dangerous about him. He wouldn’t tease me or call me names. He wouldn’t steamroll me for his own pleasure or push me around simply because he felt he could.

Some of that resonated with me.

But the more we continued to talk, the more I missed JoJo’s presence.

“Jesus, how fucked up am I?” I murmured to myself.

While he kept word-vomiting in our chat, I moved to his profile. I scrolled through his pictures and found him posing with a hairless cat and it made me wrinkle my nose. Of course, he was a cat person. Why was every accountant on the face of the planet a fucking cat person?

I hated cats.

“At least JoJo doesn’t have a cat,” I whispered.

His profile had everything from how tall he stood to his religious views, and every new piece of information I came across only prompted me to compare him to my boss. I knew I shouldn’t have done it. I knew this man deserved better than to be compared with someone who wasn’t even in his league. But, as I flipped back to the conversation, I found myself not wanting to bother with the wall of text he had sent me.

My apologies, I get on tangents sometimes.

“No kidding,” I murmured as I typed back.

It’s okay, and while I’d love to keep talking, I really need to get back to work. My job is pretty new, and I don’t want to piss off the wrong person.

Every time he responded, he seemed to be typing quicker and quicker. Which only became more off-putting when he started sending new messages every four or five words.

Oh, I totally know how that goes.

You do what you need to.

I’ll be here when you’re done with work.

Or, if you’re not busy tonight, we could get drinks and food after you’re done?

I rolled my eyes as I answered.

Maybe, we’ll see how much work I have to take home. Take care.

I didn’t even bother checking the message he shot back. Instead, I tossed my phone into my purse and regretted ever setting up the account in the first fucking place. It reminded me too much of Tommy. The way he was much too eager to talk. The way he wanted to go out tonight instead of getting to know me a bit better. I mean, I only had one picture up on my profile. I didn’t have any information filled out except for a couple of sentences written in my bio.

“Better luck next time,” I said breathlessly.

I heard my phone vibrate a few more times before it silenced altogether, and I blazed a trail through my workday. I ate my protein bar for lunch while walking around to the other departments and getting updates on the work JoJo had expected me to do. I felt more powerful than I’d felt in my entire life. I felt stable, like I could take on the world, or even whatever bullshit JoJo conjured up for me.

It was an intoxicating feeling.

And I’d never let anyone railroad me again because of it.

Unless JoJo wants to railroad me again in his office.

After collecting the work I needed, I headed back to my office. I closed the door behind me and locked it for good measure, then dropped the files on top of my desk. I drew in a few deep breaths, trying to settle my racing mind as heat pooled between my legs.

All I wanted was someone to take control of me, so I didn’t have to think anymore.

“Damn it,” I murmured.

As much as I hated JoJo for what he had put me through, I found myself craving him. He made decisions about me and my body that didn’t require my input, and I loved it. I hated that I loved it, but I also didn’t deny it. It was fucked up in several ways, but as time passed, I felt less dirty about things and more curious about it as a whole.

Did JoJo like having that power over me?

Did he want more, like I did?

Or was there some sort of underlying reason for all of this?

Maggie would know.

I pulled my phone out of my purse and closed the dating app. I scrolled through my contacts and hovered my thumb above my sister’s name. One phone call, that’s all it would take. One phone call with the right set of words to back her into a corner, and I knew she’d sing like a canary.

But, I found myself closing the screen out before setting it on my desk.

If JoJo wanted to talk about what happened between him and Maggie, that was his business. And I had no right to go poking around, especially with something that had happened years ago.

I couldn’t get it out of my mind, though.

I couldn’t stop brainstorming all of the terrible, no good, very bad things Maggie could’ve done to him back in high school.

Then again, I also couldn’t see her being someone to commit those kinds of cardinal sins in the first place.