Love Thy Neighbour (Friend-Zoned 2)

Looking up, I find Nat biting her lip and wearing a shy smile. One I haven’t seen before. It’s cute as hell.

Unable to stop myself, I grip her jaw with my hand and kiss her hard and deep for a minute. When I release her, she whispers, “Best lunch break ever. ”

Chuckling, I use tissue to clean her then we both adjust our clothes. She pecks my lips once more. Unlocks and throws the door open and yells, “God, Ghost! You are such an asshole,” then storms down the hall and out of the building.

I sit back in my chair and think aloud, “I knew she’d rock my world. ”

***

The soft, tan colored leather marshmallow of a sofa calls my name from the doorway. In my mind, I see a golden glow around it and I mentally hear a choir sing “Hallelujah”.

My face brightens slightly.

I blow it a kiss and promise I’ll be right back after my shower.

The hot spray of the shower scorches my skin. I scrub my body, washing my semi-crappy day away. The water begins to warm. I take this as my cue to finish up.

Exhaustion flows through me. I drag my butt to my room and put on a pair of barely-there silky black panties, a black spaghetti strap tank, Minnie Mouse pajama pants and my Minnie Mouse head slippers.

Today really took it out of me.

Shuffling my feet, I somehow make it to the sofa and belly flop. A relieved sigh escapes me.

Just as I start to nod off, I hear the patio door unlock then open. My eye squints open and in strides Asher, dressed in blue pajama pants and a muscle tank, seeming on a mission. He doesn’t even look at me, just walks over to the refrigerator, opens it and removes two sodas and a tub of Ben and Jerry’s cinnamon buns ice cream. Still not even having glanced at me, he walks into the kitchen and although I can’t see it, I hear him remove spoons from the cutlery drawer.

He walks back over to the sofa, and places the ice cream and sodas on the coffee table. I squeak when he lifts me to a standing position and lies down on his back taking my spot. My face is scrunched and my finger is already pointed at him, my mouth open to hurl abuse at my ass of a neighbor. I squeak a second time when he pulls me down onto him. I face plant into his chest and say a muffled, “Well, Howdy-fucking-doo, neighbor. ”

He turns the TV on and I turn my head to see him flicking through the cooking channels. I smirk and ask, “Crappy day?”

He grunts and I feel it through his chest and onto my cheek. I smile big.

Still smiling, I decide now is the time to start a conversation. “Me too. Lunch was great but the rest of the day sucked. Really got me down. Then I thought about coming home to my sofa and TV and my day got a bit better. Little did I know my sofa would be hijacked by my weird neighbor. ”

At this point, he puts a pillow over my head and I hear a muffled, “Sshhhh. ”

Laughter bursts out of me, and I try not to think about how comfortable I am laying with my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

Chapter Sixteen

Tricks and mind games

Thursday night is board-game night.

Well, it used to be poker night before it turned into board-game night, and now it’s really movie night/play with the kid’s night.

I gotta say, I love Thursday nights.

We start it earlier than we used to. Instead of going home and showering, we all just go to Nik and Tina’s straight from work.

A huge smile crosses my face. I can’t wait to see my little angel baby. As soon as Mimi parks her car, I jump out of the passenger side and run to the front door. The door opens and a smiling Tina stands in the doorway holding a wriggling Tatiana.

Without even greeting Tina, I snatch Tatiana from her and coo, “How is my widdle baby. Oh, I missed you. ” Then I plant a million and one kisses on her warm chubby cheeks.

Finally turning to Tina, I ask, “Has she had dinner yet?”

A smiling Tina replies slightly exasperated, “No. She’s teething, so all she wants is rice pudding and milk. ”

I hear Nik talk to Meems while I carry Tatiana through to the kitchen with me. I yell back to Tina, “Rice pudding I can do, but you’re in charge of boobie milk, mama. ”