Page 33 of Flawless Foundations

"I've missed you so much," she says in my ear.

"Me too." We smile at each other, and she waves us to come in from the foyer.

"So, who's the better roommate?" I joke. Emmy smiles slyly, and Jake shakes his head.

"Oh, Jake looks annoyed, has this come up already?" Levi asks.

"Yeah, only like, five hundred times since we moved in. Every time I do something that isn't the way she does it, she lets me know how she and Becca did things. Becca this, and Becca that. If I didn't just lay down some serious cash on this place, I'd offer to let Becca move in, and I'll take her apartment," Jake grumbles as he walks into the now put together kitchen and pulls out some beers. We all laugh as we gather in the kitchen.

Emmy strokes his wounded ego, though and tries to make him feel better. "Ah, Jakey, don't be so sad. There is something Becca could never give me that only you can. And that's little Jake. He's priceless." His eyes narrow at her use of nicknames he doesn't particularly like. I bite my lip trying not to laugh. Levi smiles but drinks his beer.

"You're lucky I love you, Em, because sometimes I think he," he points down to his pants, "is the only reason you keep me around."

She gives him a loving look, and I know by the mirth dancing in her eyes that she's not done. "Of course that's not the only reason, you're also really good with your hands." She winks.

"Ugh. Okay, that's enough. I can't take it anymore," Levi grouches.

"Come, let's move to the living room, I've decorated it!" Emmy says excitedly.

We follow and, sure enough, her living room is just perfectly Emmy. Levi and I take the couch as the new homeowners share the love seat.

"So, where'd the Skee-Ball machine end up?" I ask. I saw the whole place when I helped them move in, but they didn't know where they were going to have it set up.

"The study," Jake answers.

"You have a study?" Levi asks.

"Yeah, I've decided to take some online classes for a degree in management, so I needed a place to study. It felt like a good idea in case I need to take a break. I'm not a fan of school." He shrugs and takes a drink.

We congratulate him on the news and take turns asking more about his classes. Turns out that he’s on a shortlist for the maintenance supervisor role as the current guy is considering retirement. The management role would be a huge promotion and would give him more normal work hours and less time on maintenance calls within the building.

"Becca has some news." Levi nudges me with his elbow.

"Besides the fact that you two are bumping uglies now?" Jake laughs. Emmy smacks him. I can't help but laugh.

"Yes, other than that. It looks like I'm going to be working with King Cosmetics to grow their online platform for all things beauty. They are going to power Glitz & Gloss and help me grow it. It's going to be huge."

Jake tells me how awesome that is, and Emmy smiles, but I catch the look she sends Levi's way. She covers it up quickly and wastes no time congratulating me on my own news, but the tension that flows between the siblings leaves me unsteady. Jake seems oblivious to it, so maybe it was nothing.

The feeling of unease is enough to not mention that Levi and I are moving in together. It's probably a good idea anyway since we don't even have a plan. I can't help but think Emmy would not be as ecstatic as I am about the move.

Chapter 16

Levi

It's an overcast Friday afternoon, and I'm stuck in a third-quarter budget meeting. It's lasted nearly forty-five minutes already and I'm chomping at the bit to check in with the marketing and web teams on where we are with the Glitz & Gloss project. Last week, we had our meeting with Becca. We went over our vision and finances in the meeting and I was pleasantly surprised at how prepared Becca was. I know she's whip-smart, she's got two degrees to support that claim, but I've never seen her in a business setting. She walked in wearing a sexy as sin pencil skirt and a bright red blouse. She had notes and asked tough questions. Needless to say, I had a hard-on for her the whole time.

She gave us some things to think about, and after some back and forth throughout the week, we finally signed a contract with her on Monday. We wasted no time getting started and I'm excited to get a weekly report in my inbox this afternoon.

I twist in the leather conference room chair as I lean back and cross my leg over my knee. Charlie is running this part of the meeting, and he'll give me shit later because I'm clearly not interested in what he's sharing. I discreetly shoot Becca a text.

Me:are you moving in this weekend?

Her reply comes immediately.

Becca:next week. You know this.

Me:explain to me why you have to wait until next week again?

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