Love Thy Neighbour (Friend-Zoned 2)

She gasps and steps back from me. Wearing a genuinely shocked expression, she asks quietly, “Did- did you just make a joke?”

All too pleased with myself, I rub my nails on the front of my shirt and reply a smug, “It’s been known to happen, girl. ”

Smiling she says, “No way. ” Her face falls as she asks, “Where did you crash last night? I told you not to let me fall asleep. ”

For no reason whatsoever, I’m nervous about telling her. I don’t want her to get freaked out, but it’s not in me to lie, so I tell her vaguely, “I slept where you slept. ”

Leaning her hip on the counter, she confirms, “We slept in the same bed?”

Without looking at her, I nod my reply. She doesn’t say a thing for a long time. I look over to her and with narrowed eyes she goes on, “We slept in the same bed. ”

Pursing my lips, I nod again. She’s not letting this go. Nat asks, “You didn’t have a memory attack?” I nod once more and she continues, “We slept in the same bed. All night. And you didn’t have a nightmare. ” A huge smile forms on her face and she runs over to me, jumping and circling her arms around my neck. I hold her ass to stop her from falling and she wraps her legs around me. Planting kisses on my face, I make out as if I’m annoyed but it feels good. She says happily, “Don’t you see what this means?”

Trying to speak around her assaulting kisses, I tell her, “No. Not really. What does this mean?”

Pulling back from me wearing a shit-eating grin, she boasts, “I cured you!”

The laughter bubbles low in my throat before bursting out full force. Her face falls and I laugh harder. She slips out of my laughter-weakened hold and leans against the counter.

Oh, this woman. I knew she’d rock my world.

Unable to stop, I hold my side and speak through my laughter, “You really don’t fuck around, do you?”

Placing her hands on her hips and wearing an annoyed expression, she snaps, “Well, it’s true!”

My laughter finally settles and I tell her, “We don’t know if this was a one-off thing. Maybe my mind was too tired to give a shit about anything but sleep after all the stuff that went down with Trick and Lola. ”

Looking deflated, she mutters, “You’re right. Unless…” Her eyes widen and she grins, “Unless we try again tonight!”

Shaking my head at her in disapproval, she nods her head vigorously and shouts, “Pajama party!”

And I know I’m fucked. Hardcore fucked. Fucked up the ass, kind of fucked. If this works, it means big problems for me.

Nat walks forward and looks me in the eye. She smiles a soft smile, “Hey, we can only try, right?”

Curiosity makes me give in, not that it was a hard battle to win. I nod and sigh. “Yeah. Okay. ”

She squeaks and punches me in the gut lightly. Walking back into my room, she lifts her arms in the air and yells, “I’m so excited!”

***

“I cannot believe you’re making me do this!” Nat squawks.

Looking over at her, I try my hardest not to laugh, but she looks so cute and so damn funny at the same time that I start to laugh but turn it into a cough. I’m a little too late. She narrows her eyes at me muttering, “Laugh it up, assface. ”

Looking away from her and back to the TV for fear of losing it again, I reply, “Safety first. ”

“I can’t sleep like this!” she says heatedly.

Lying back on her soft sofa and trying to concentrate on the cooking show, I tell her distractedly, “Either we do this my way, or no way. ”

As soon as it slips out of my mouth, I want to take it back. I hope she doesn’t tell me to go home. Knowing Nat, her curiosity will win. And I breathe a sigh of relief when she responds, “Okay. But just this once. If this works, I’m never doing this again!” Then she stalks off rattling and clanking all the way. I shake my head and chuckle.

This afternoon I told Max to man the security room while I made a quick stop at my storage unit. There’s a whole lot of junk in there, but I was only after one thing in particular. It took some digging and bringing up some really shitty memories, but if this works, it’ll be worth it.

The clanking comes back down the hall and I look up to see Nat wearing my old football uniform. Padded shorts, shoulder pads and helmet included. It’s not so funny anymore, now it’s turning me on.

Looking bothered as hell, she sneers, “Can I take this shit off for now?”