Bully Next Door

“Now you’re being mean.”

“I’m not being mean. I’m being … you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you’re not falling in love with Verity? Right this second, you’re not wanting to go and see her? It has been four days since you last saw her, and you spent the night. You love her dog as well, and you’ve been holding the stuffed teddy bear you got that dog at odd times of the day.”

“I don’t do love.”

“Maybe not, but you clearly have feelings for Verity.” Sean sighed and put the paper to one side. It wasn’t like he was reading it anyway. “Sit down,” he said.

Hector wanted to argue with him, but he had nothing to say, and so he sat down on his ass, staring at his friend.

“If you’re not in love with Verity, then what are you? Don’t go down to the basics either, of it just being about sex. That’s bullshit. You and I know it. You’re not the kind of guy who likes to double dip, as you once called it.”

He cringed. “I was a dick.”

“Some would say yes, but you never lured women into a false sense of anything,” Sean said. “You were always upfront with them. There isn’t anything more you can do. Now, back to Verity. What do you think about when I say her name?” Sean held his hands up. “I’m being serious. No joking around.”

“I’m not that bad. I can talk about serious things without turning everything into a joke.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.”

He rolled his eyes at his friend. Sean was starting to piss him off.

“I think about her smile. I love making her smile. Her laugh is so infectious. It’s kind of deep and dirty. I like that. I could listen to her laugh for days.”

“This is good,” Sean said. “Now, I want you to think of six months from now. She’s done her cookbook, and the good doctor has given you a clean bill of health. You don’t have to wait around anymore. You can come back to work, in moderation, and you’re never going to see Verity again. In fact, she moves on. Finds another man. They fall in love and she ends up pregna—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Hector said, pushing his chair back. “No one is getting Verity pregnant but me. Just me. No one else.”

Sean sat back, arms folded. “I think you have your answer. If you didn’t have feelings for her, you wouldn’t be acting this way.”

“That doesn’t … ugh…” He ran his fingers through his hair and looked across the room. “I’m in love with Verity Hill.”

“Yep.”

“I can’t live without her.”

“Yep.”

“I want to marry her.”

“Yep.”

“I want her to have my babies.”

“Yep.”

“Will you stop saying yep?” he asked.

“No,” Sean said. “Are we going to keep doing this?”

“You’re infuriating. Why did I ever think you were my friend?”

Sean burst out laughing. “I’m not your problem. Telling Verity how you feel after almost mocking the cursed houses and not coming straight out to her and saying, ‘Hey, Verity, I’m in love with you, like a lot.’”

“Oh, shut up. It’s so easy for you to say that, but it’s a lot harder.”

“Yeah, if you’re used to being a dick, that is.”

“Enough.” He moved toward the front door.

“What are you doing to do?” Sean asked.

“Tell Verity that I’m in love with her.”

“Good luck with that,” Sean said. “I’ll stay here and entertain myself.”

He wanted to throttle his best friend. “Were you always this annoying?”

“Being a smartass does that.”

Hector left his home and stepped over to Verity’s. He raised his hand and knocked on the door.

It had been four days since they last saw each other. He’d been stalking from his spare bedroom window, kicking Sean out so he could try and keep an eye on her.

Nothing. He hadn’t seen her.

She didn’t answer.

He knocked again. Hector did hear movement from the other side.

“I’m not opening the door, Hector. I need to be alone.”

“Verity, I really need to see you. I’ve got to talk to you.”

“Can we do this another time, please? I just … not today. Okay? I can’t.”

He heard the pain in her voice and wanted to argue, so he put his hands on the door. Something wasn’t right. “Verity?”

“Not today. Go away.”

He stared at her door for several seconds and then, he walked back to his home, letting himself in.

Sean was carrying a coffee from the kitchen. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. She’s upset.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing in the last four days. I don’t think this is about me.” Hector rubbed at his temple and glanced toward the calendar, looking at the date, and something just … he knew there was something important happening today.

Grabbing Sean’s laptop, he found Verity’s channel and typed in the date. It brought up a video that was posted a couple of weeks after, and he pressed play.