Neighbor Dearest

Wearing his beanie, he looked and smelled so good. He wore a white collared shirt under a fitted black sweater, which was a different look for him. The sweater clung to his muscular chest, and he had the sleeves rolled up, displaying a thick metal watch I’d never seen before. Black jeans and big black cargo boots finished off the look.

He’d gotten all dressed up to stalk me?

“Hi,” he finally said. His voice sent shivers throughout my body. I’d missed hearing it so much.

“What are you doing?”

“You never gave me his information to check him out.”

“I didn’t even realize we were still speaking. How did you know I was here and planning to see the James Bond movie?” I snapped my finger. “Oh, that’s right. You hack into my account.”

“You never changed your password.”

“I shouldn’t have to. That doesn’t give you the right to do this.”

“I’m just making sure you’re safe.”

“You’re a stalker.”

“I don’t give two fucks if that’s what you think. I already told you I had a bad feeling about that guy. If I need to swallow my pride and make a fool of myself to make sure you get home safe, I will.”

“Why are you getting involved in my life? You dropped off the face of the Earth—not one word since you moved me out.”

“That doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you. Staying away from you these past few weeks has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Why don’t you spend Friday night picking up one of your whores and stay out of my business?”

“If you’d choose men who weren’t creepy, maybe I wouldn’t have to get involved.”

“You don’t have a right to tell me who to date.” Anger and bitterness rose like bile through me as I said, “I’m only out with him because I didn’t matter enough to you.”

“You have no idea how much you fucking matter to me,” he spat out.

“This time away has taught me a lot. I couldn’t ever really be your friend because I couldn’t limit my feelings for you. I didn’t know how to do that. You were right in keeping your distance. You should have kept it that way.”

Just then, a tall brunette seemed to come out of nowhere. Her lips were painted bright red. “There you are,” she said. “I thought maybe you ditched me.”

I looked her up and down then turned to him. “You’re on a date?” Raising my voice, I repeated, “You brought a date to stalk me on mine?”

“No. That’s not how it happened.”

Jealousy was pumping through my veins. I turned to her. “Do you know you’re dating a stalker?”

“Is this your sister or something?” she asked.

“It would seem that way, wouldn’t it?” I huffed.

“I’ll be there in a minute, okay?” he told her. “Go watch the movie. It’s gonna start.”

When she was gone, I shook my head. “I can’t believe this.”

“I didn’t mean for you to see her.”

“Whatever,” I said under my breath.

As he approached me, I backed away, refusing to allow myself any reaction to the nearness of his body.

“Look, I was out to dinner nearby, and I happened to log into the site on my phone. I saw you were gonna be here. I thought maybe I would catch you coming out of that dude’s car, so I could run his plate to get info and check him out. You ended up getting here late, fucked up my plan. I don’t want you getting in his car again until I’ve checked him out.”

“If I want to get in his car…if I want to let him fuck me tonight…that’s my decision.”

A vein popped out of his neck. “Don’t say that.”

“You can’t handle even a little of your own medicine? You mean to tell me you’re not gonna take her back to your apartment tonight?”

“Actually, no. I don’t even like her.”

“Isn’t that the point?”

“It used to be. It doesn’t feel right anymore. This was the first time I’d gone out in a very long time. I forced myself because I desperately needed a distraction, since I’ve been trying like hell to stay away from you.”

“You really shouldn’t have followed me here.”

“I swear to God, it wasn’t my intention to let you see me. And it definitely wasn’t my intention to let you see me with her.”

“I bet,” I said, crossing my arms.

“I just wanted to check things out. When I saw the way you let him touch you, I fucking lost it.”

“Do you have any idea how badly it hurts me to see you with that fucking bimbo? You didn’t need to follow me here with her.” I muttered, “Stop hurting me.”

Again, he started to move in close to me, prompting me to back away.

“I’m sorry, Chelsea. I know I fucked up. I didn’t handle this well, but I don’t want you getting in his car again.”