Neighbor Dearest

“You called me a little perv.”

“You are a little perv.”

“Thanks for confirming that.”

“It’s not a bad thing. I love that you’re a sexually curious person.”

“You love that I watched your sex tape?”

“No. That I don’t love. But I’m not faulting you for your curiosity. You’re human.” We continued to stare at each other until he said, “You’re wanting to ask me something. Go ahead. Ask me.”

“Who is she?”

“An ex-girlfriend named Everly. We had taken a trip to Jamaica. That video is over five years old. She’s married now with a baby. It’s fucking old news, Chelsea.”

“Is she the reason you’re so fucked-up?”

“Whoa…I didn’t realize I was fucked-up. And you accuse me of name calling?” He chuckled. “No. She has nothing to do with anything. She was just a small chapter of my life. Everly thought it would be fun to record us that day. I threw that disc in a box where I’d always kept random shit. Never even watched it once. Forgot I even had it until you reminded me. End of story.”

“I thought my admission about the video was why you were mad, why you left.”

“God, no. It was never about the video. I don’t give a shit about that. I was pissed because of the message you sent me.”

“I was just messing around. It upset me a little that you still had an active profile. I got jealous.” I shook my head. “Why am I even admitting this?”

“Because you’re honest. I respect that. Since we’re being honest…speaking of the site…I don’t want you going out with that guy Mark until I have a chance to check him out.”

“You can’t dictate who I date.” I paused to ponder how he even knew about that. “How do you know about Mark?”

“You’re not the only one who knows how to snoop, Sherlock.”

“I’m not following. Are you a hacker or something?”

“I created that account. Remember, genius? For Christ’s sake, you never changed the damn user name and password. All I need to do is type in your name and fire3, and I see everything you’re doing.”

“You have no right to spy on me like that.”

“I wasn’t spying on you. I was trying to keep you safe.”

“How is that your business?”

“Because you’re my fucking best friend. That makes you my business.”

His admission made me speechless for a moment.

His best friend?

“I am?”

“Well, you were…until the night you asked me to duck, then stopped talking to me.”

“I didn’t know you felt that strongly about our friendship.”

“Well, now you know.”

“Yeah. I guess I do.”

“Anyway…about that Mark dude. I have a bad feeling about him. Get his last name and let me check him out before you go out with him. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Have you eaten?”

“No.”

“I’m not going to be able to sleep. Need to get my mind off of Drewfus. Why don’t I make us a pizza?” He got up from the couch before I could answer.

“Okay. Only if I can help, though.”

“There’s not much to do. You can entertain me while I make it. How about that?”

Leaning my arms against the counter, I watched as he took out the dough from the refrigerator.

“When did you start making your own pizza?”

“Actually, I used to work in a pizza and sub shop with my brother when we were younger.”

“That explains it.”

“Ty and I used to compete for the affections of this one girl who’d come in. One day, she challenged us. Ordered two pizzas and told each of us to make one. She wanted to see which one she liked better. The maker of the winning pizza got a date with her.”

“Who won?”

“It never got that far. We got into a fight before we even started. Fucking flour and pepperoni everywhere. The owner fired us for making a scene.”

“Wow.”

“Years later, we concluded that the girl was a bitch for ever pinning us against each other. It was a good lesson.”

“So, you and your brother were competitive growing up?”

“Somewhat. After my father passed, we both became the men of the house and had more responsibility than many of the kids we knew. My mother’s depression was pretty bad—still is to this day—although the worst years were the first few after my father died. The stress brought out the worst in us. I love the guy, but we definitely have the same competitive streak.”

“What does he do for a living?”

“He’s a restaurant manager, but he’s thinking of moving to L.A. to pursue acting full-time. He’s had some acting gigs here in the Bay Area. Tyler’s not as practical as me when it comes to building his nest egg. I do what I want with my painting and all, but that’s because I also have this building to fall back on.”

“I can’t believe you never told me your brother is an actor. You know my sister, Jade, is an actress on Broadway.”