Bully Next Door

She shouldn’t have worried because Hector was on the other side of the door. No man should ever look that good in a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi.” She nibbled on her lip, remembering the feel of him around her.

He kept trying to get her to spend the night with him, but she’d imposed that boundary. Every night, she went home, and Hector insisted on walking her next door. It was so incredibly sweet. She did enjoy his company, again, another surprise for her.

She didn’t know where the feelings came from with this man, but throwing drinks at him didn’t appeal, not anymore.

“So, I know you insisted on working today, and I get that is what you want to do, but how about you and I take Cutie for a walk in the park?”

“You want to go out?” They hadn’t left the comfort of their homes since this had begun between them.

“Nah, we can go for a walk.”

“Sure. Er, let me grab Cutie’s lead.” She had it hung up behind the door. The rest of her house was locked up. She grabbed her keys and hooked Cutie up to the lead. Her tiny tail was already going, excited at going for a walk.

Closing the door behind her, she locked it. Another force of habit from being back in the city. The man she bought the house from had said it was a nice neighborhood, safe, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

With the lock in place, she walked beside Hector, a little unsure about this walk.

Other than grocery shopping, she hadn’t been seen out with him.

They passed several of the neighbors who were cleaning their cars or watching their kids play in the front yard. She noticed several women had their eyes on Hector.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she was a little surprised when he suddenly grabbed her hand, locking their fingers together.

“What are you doing?”

“Holding your hand. I’m out with you, no one else.”

“You saw the way women were eating you up?” Verity asked.

“Yep, and you’re going to be the one to save me.”

“Wow, what would teenage Hector say about that?”

“Teenage Hector would tell himself to get his head out of his ass and see the cute little black-haired nerd, who wore thick glasses and torn jeans, and ask her out.”

Verity stopped. “You remembered what I looked like?”

“I remember a lot of things about you, Verity. Stuff I didn’t even think was important. Like, how you rolled your eyes every time one of us gave a dumb answer, but you never put your hand up. I had to wonder if you knew the answers or it was part of your act.”

“I never acted, but yes, I knew the answers.”

“Why didn’t you ever put your hand up?” he asked.

She was shy. It was why it had taken her mother pretty much ordering her around to get her to do anything with her cooking.

“I … I didn’t want to.”

“Yeah, well, you totally should have answered. It probably would have saved you a lot of time in the long run.” He shrugged. “I remember that time you forgot your gym clothes, and they made you wear the shorts and shirts that smelled like someone’s dead feet.”

Verity burst out laughing. “Oh, my God, I had forgotten about that. I ran so fast. I think it was so I outran the smell. I had to go home and like scrub myself clean. I thought the smell lingered way too long.”

They made it to the park and Verity bent down, letting Cutie off the lead. She watched as her dog ran. Cutie loved going on walks. In the city, her dog was terrified. She often had to travel to parks, holding her small Jack Russell before she would feel happy to run anywhere. Back in the city, she couldn’t let her off the lead.

“You know, I don’t think I can go back to the city after all of this,” Verity said.

“You don’t?”

“It’s a great place to commute and all that, but I might stay here a bit, possibly.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know, or find somewhere else. I might go back home, you know. To where we grew up.”

“It’s a great place to raise kids,” Hector said.

“I’m not talking about kids. I’m thinking about Cutie. Living in the city is all well and good, but it doesn’t … it’s not…”

“It’s not home.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Do you want kids?” Hector asked.

“You seem a little obsessed with the idea of kids. Do you want children?” she asked.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Oh. I haven’t really thought about kids.”

“Never? What about marriage?”

“Are you proposing?” she asked.

“I never say never.”

Verity figured he was joking and chuckled, nudging his shoulder. “I guess I want to. After my dad left my mom to go and sow his seeds and all of that, I never really thought about waiting around for a guy. Men hurt you. Nothing is sacred to them.”