Two Hotties Next Door

“His very impressive cooking skills. He certainly is. I’m even a little impressed.”

“Just a little?”

“I lie. A hell of a lot impressed,” she said with a giggle.

He loved that sound.

“How was your day?”

“I did some changes to my art studio. I’m working on little doodles and patterns on the wall. It’s not canvas, so I feel a little more freedom to express myself.” She smiled at him.

The worry seemed to have faded away.

“So, I have to ask,” she said. “The one day I went to the gym, I came home and slept for, like, twelve hours straight. How do you two handle it?”

“We’re big, strapping young men. We can take on anything,” Ace said, flexing his muscles.

“That is cute.”

“We’ve been at this a long time,” Brett said. “It’s our work, so we pretty much have to be able to do anything that our clients throw at us.”

“Is the experience different with a personal trainer as opposed to going solo and just winging it?”

“I couldn’t tell you. I’m a guide. I make sure people don’t push their boundaries or their limits.”

“What if someone likes to have their limits pushed? To experience that bite of pain?” she asked.

He stared at her lips, wondering what they would be like around his cock. “Everyone has a point where they need to be brought back from the edge, Meredith. I’ll throw you in a free session if you want? Show you what you’ve been missing.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Three

“You were both flirting, and I made the perfect quinoa salad. The entire time she was glancing toward you,” Ace said.

He glanced over at his friend. Brett was putting some pictures up on the walls, giving their home a more personal touch. They’d been living together now for well over ten years, and in all that time, he’d not wanted to leave, not once. He enjoyed living with Brett.

From the moment they met each other in high school, they’d been inseparable.

“You’re still going on about that?” Brett asked. “You made quinoa three days ago. We’re still eating it from the fridge.”

“That’s because I made enough so we had lunch.”

“Yeah, well, I’m getting bored of eating it all the time.”

“I could fry you up some shrimp that you love in some spicy sauce if you’d like.”

“Nope, I’m good. Just sit on your ass while I attempt to make our home, ours.”

Ace glanced down at his magazine. It was getting to a good new exercise that he’d heard about. “Nah, you’re doing such a good job. You know, looking all sexy. I’m quite happy to sit here, do nothing. Relax. It was a long day at work.”

“Suit your lazy ass.”

“Oh, I will. I love it.” He wriggled in his chair and sighed. “This is the life.”

Brett just chuckled. “You ever thought about what that lady said who lived here before us?”

“Wynter.”

“What?”

“The girl that lived here before us. Her name was Wynter, why?”

“How do you remember all these names?”

“Because I’m awesome and it’s polite. How do you not?”

Brett shook his head. “Anyway, that’s not the reason I wanted to talk.”

“It’s not?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Shut up for, like, a second and I’ll tell you.”

Ace smirked. Brett was so easy to rile up. He also got a kick out of it as well.

“You remember what she said about the two houses.”

“About them helping couples fall in love? Yeah, what of it?”

“Have you noticed you think about Meredith a lot? Like, a whole lot.”

Ace paused. The words on the magazine faded away as he thought about Brett’s question. Yes, he thought about Meredith a lot.

Actually, it was more than that. From the moment he first saw her, his obsession had been in place. He wanted her, no doubt about that. That didn’t mean he loved her.

You wake up wondering about her.

You go to sleep thinking about her.

“I don’t think we’re in love with her.” He looked up at Brett to see his friend’s brow raised.

“You’re thinking about her all the time?”

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean much. I think about watching cartoons.”

“Okay, when you think about her, is it just sex?”

Ace gritted his teeth. He’d passed a floral shop on the way home three times this week, and each time he’d seen some red roses that reminded him of Meredith’s hair and also her rose garden. He’d even stopped by her house to give them to her. She’d been so sweet, inviting him in, and he’d watched her plant them. Why buy a bunch of roses when you can buy a rose bush?

“What?” Brett asked.

“When I think about her it’s not always sexual. It’s crazy to think that the houses have any such control over our emotions. We’re guys. We’ve had a stressful year. Moving is pretty chaotic. We’ve not dated, and you know, we’re just, everything is fine,” Ace said.

“All right. Tell me how you feel right now about the thought of going out on a date with anyone other than Meredith?”