by T. J. LONG
When we step into the office, Sarah is all business. She pulls a stack of papers from her bag and places them to the right of her. Sticky notes show the designated spots for me to sign. She barely makes eye contact throughout the closing process, which actually bums me out. She was so upbeat and friendly. It’s odd that me turning her down would cause so much coldness. My guess is that she is used to getting her way.
After everything is signed, she hands me the golden key, which I gladly accept.
“I have something for you,” I hesitantly say, remembering the gift I mistakenly forgot in the car earlier and wondering if it is still a good idea to give it to her.
She cocks her head and brings her left hand to her exposed breasts. “For me?” A smile starts to form on her mouth again.
“Just a little something to express my gratitude for all your hard work.”
She straightens up in her seat and raises her brows. “That’s thoughtful of you.”
“I left it in the car, so we can walk out together or I can grab it and bring it in. Your choice.”
“I’ll follow you down.” She eyes me in an odd way and I wonder if she thinks I changed my mind and I’m just trying to get her alone.
I open my car door and feel her close behind me. I grab the envelope, which contains a gift card to Nordstrom. These past weeks I have learned how much her shoe collection means to her, and since she helped me out so much with the move, I thought a new pair of shoes would be the perfect thank you. I also included a note telling her to send me a picture of what she picks out, but now that things have turned awkward, I doubt we’ll stay on friendly enough terms for me to see them. Not that I should want that.
I turn around and hand her the card. “Again, it’s nothing major, just a small thank you.”
She grasps the envelope, but despite a forced smile, she looks let down. I sigh. She thought this was going to be more.
“You have been a dream client, Josh. Thanks for being so professional.”
I wonder if she’s taking a dig at me, but the smile she’s wearing makes me unsure.
“You’ve been a dream realtor,” I say assuringly.
I shake her hand and we say our goodbyes, but as I’m making my way to my car, she calls to me and says, “If you ever feel lonely, you have my number.”
I deadpan, feeling once again grateful I didn’t give in and fuck her at the house.
Taylor - July
The sun’s beating down on me and I’m pretty sure I’m minutes from suffocating. I barely lift my head off the lounger and wildly smack around with closed eyes until I feel my fingers connect to skin. “Spray me, please. I’m sweating my ass off.”
Summer break started almost two months ago and we have sufficiently taken over the front yard. We had my dad pull the pool loungers to the driveway after we tried multiple days to tan unsuccessfully in the backyard. The afternoon rays were the strongest and hit best in the driveway, so that has become our tanning destination.
Ann huffs. “Can’t you spray yourself? I literally just flipped over.”
“Come on. If I die from sun poisoning, you know you’ll miss me.”
I hear the creaking of her chair as she moves off of the lounger, so I know she’s coming to my rescue. I smile. “Thank you,” I sing-song to her.
“For the record, you’re really damn dramatic with the whole sun poisoning thing.”
Suddenly, I’m being spritzed by liquid gold. The particles of water hitting my skin make me dance with happiness. I let out a relieved moan. “Oh, that feels so good.”
“Yeah, you like that, baby?” she says.
I lift my head to give her my best unimpressed side eye.
“What?” She laughs innocently.
“Anyway,” I roll my eyes and say, “how are things with Todd? Still enjoying sucking the same dick everyday?”
I have to bite my inner cheek so I don’t burst out laughing. Ann is usually the one with the inappropriate mouth, but sometimes I like to surprise her and give her a dose of her own medicine.
She reaches up and her hand comes down on my ass, hard. I yelp in pain. “Do you know what you are?” She looks me in my eyes, which isn’t an easy task given the sun is pissing in them at every turn. “You're a prude slut!”
I laugh so hard I struggle to breathe. “What the hell is a prude slut? How can that even be a thing?”
“You like all the dirty things I do. In fact, I think you’re even more fucked up in the head than I am, but you don’t act on any of it.”
I have a quizzical look on my face; though the more I think about it, the truer it seems. Ann knows all about my dirty book obsession. And I do enjoy hearing about all of her hookups. “Oh, my gosh... I am a prude slut,” I say, way louder than I should.
A car door opens and closes a short distance from us, capturing my attention. Since the Conners put their house on the market, there’s been a lot of traffic in and out of there. I don’t hide the fact that I’m a nosy neighbor.
The brightness of the sun makes it difficult to make out who just exited the car, but it’s clearly a womanly shape. Ann and I both lift onto our elbows and use our hands as shields from the sun so we can see who it is.
When we found out they were putting their house on the market, we were both hopeful for a hot guy to move in. But now that Ann has Todd, it’s just me that wants some eye candy.
The past couple of months have dulled my feelings for Tristan. While tanning my skin under the rays of the sun, I’ve also managed to lighten the scars he left on the inside. I don't know if I took the breakup so hard in the beginning because he was my first boyfriend or because he was the one who dumped me, but the summer has me realizing a lot of things.
Tristan wasn’t as interested in me as I was in him; he couldn’t have been. I don’t know much about relationships, but I’m sure the one golden rule that everyone can agree on is if you like someone, you don’t cheat.
I had to come to terms with the hurt that the realization caused, and it took time, but now I am getting to a place where I am okay. I have learned my lesson. I will never be with anyone who isn’t into me again. I need passion, someone who can’t keep their hands off of me and who makes me feel desired and wanted.
Tristan never made me feel any of those things. I was anxious and always second guessing everything, living in my head, instead of in the real world. I never had the confidence to tell him what I wanted. The guy I date next, if he’s right for me, will make those things come easily.
“I wonder who’s looking at the house today,” Ann says.
My eyes squint to make out the woman, who is now leaning against her car with a folder in her hands. “Dang, she’s a hottie,” I whisper to Ann. I assume she's the realtor, but I've never seen one dressed in fuck me heels and a sexy dress for a showing.
Another car pulls into the driveway and her face lights up. She puts the folder she’s been holding on the hood of her car and smoothes her dress, resting her hands on her generous hips. She sticks her large chest high in the air. I’m enthralled; I can’t stop watching. She’s clearly trying hard to impress someone, but who?
A car door opens and her smile gets so wide I’m sure if I were standing in front of her I’d be able to see her molars. She picks up the folder and takes a few steps forward to greet whoever is coming. My gaze falls to the man that is now shaking hands with her. My mouth falls agape.
I get it now, girl, I think to myself as I take in the most gorgeous human I’ve ever seen, and I’m working with half my eyesight here. But, despite the sun, I can tell he’s one fine, fine man. He’s tall, definitely in the six foot club, with muscles that seem to be struggling to stay inside his shirt and hair as dark as a raven, shorter on the sides and longer on top. I wish I could see his eyes. I imagine they are just as dreamy as he is.
“Ann, are you seeing this right now?” She’s been so quiet over there. When I smack her arm to get her attention, I realize she's been quiet because she’s also staring
at the man like she’s going to eat him for lunch.
“Shush. Let’s just watch him,” she says in a whisper. It sounds creepy, but yes, good call, Ann.
The white of his shirt accentuates the golden color of his skin and darkness of his five o’clock shadow. My mind goes to all the romance novels I've read and I wonder if he’s an Italian model or a Greek God.
How lucky am I that he might be my new neighbor?
“Where the hell did he come from and do you think there are two of him?” Ann whispers so we aren’t spotted gawking at this fine specimen of a man and the eager agent. She squeezes my thigh.
“You have Todd. He's mine!” I say aggressively, and only half joking. I bite my bottom lip, enjoying the idea that he very well may be my fantasy man come to life.
The sheer unexpectedness of my comment must take Ann by surprise because she laughs loudly. She isn’t used to me being guy-crazy. “Oh yeah, he’s yours? Do you want to…” she gets close to my face, “…fuck him?” she asks seductively with a moan.
She says it loud, too damn loud. Then she falls back onto my lap and holds her chest with one hand and smacks her thigh with the other. My face turns a scarlet hue and I nibble at my lip, scared that Ann’s loudness has drawn attention to us. I look up to see the mystery man and his territorial agent looking right at us.
He meets my eyes, but we’re too far apart for me to see what color they are. That doesn’t stop me from imagining green eyes staring into my soul. Ann stops laughing long enough to pull it together and sit back up.
He smiles, showing us a gorgeous set of pearly whites, and my left hand naturally goes to my heart like I’ve just seen the sweetest thing.
“Good afternoon, ladies.” His voice is pure sex, a deep baritone that screams he’s a man and not a boy, like I’m used to.
I can’t help but drool over him. The woman doesn’t seem pleased that his attention is on me and Ann, and I can’t blame her. She is clearly trying to get his attention with that revealing dress. And here we are looking like the double mint twins in matching tiny black bikinis, showing off our perfectly tanned and toned bodies. She draws his attention back to her by handing him a paper and leading him to the front door of the house.
“If he buys the house, we have to talk your parents into letting me live here full-time.”
I let out a laugh. “Sure thing.”
I look to the driveway next door and allow my mind to drift to the mystery man I saw. A dirty thought invades my brain, and I don’t fight it to go away. What if all I need is a real man, someone who knows what he’s doing? I had been fighting with myself to take the reins with Tristan because he made no attempt to take things further than kissing when my body was craving more.
With a man... I bet I wouldn’t have to attempt to give him any hints or signs. He’d know exactly what to do. My first time shouldn’t be with a high school boy, anyway. Ann had told me stories and I’ve definitely heard enough to know that most high school boys were selfish and just wanted to find their own pleasure. A man could give me everything, even things I didn’t know I wanted.
A smile spreads over my face. But I was getting ahead of myself. He wasn’t even my neighbor yet and I needed to get back to reality. I turn to Ann. “Let’s go inside and eat lunch. We can order pizza or something.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Good call. I’m starving, especially after seeing that delicious snack of a man.”
I roll my eyes. Ann is something else, but I must agree. And I needed to get away from that snack ASAP.
***
“Taylor, can you take the trash out?”
I get up from my comfy seat on the couch, which by now has been fully imprinted with my body shape. “Sure thing, Daddy.”
Since Ann has Todd to bone everyday, I’ve been spending more and more time by myself as the summer progresses. But I don’t mind. My girl deserves a good guy who only wants her, and I am content occupying myself.
As I’m pulling the can to the curb, I notice the FOR SALE sign next door has been taken down. I wonder when that changed. I haven’t left the house in a few days. I got sucked into a foreign Netflix murder series and it was so good I binge watched all available seasons.
I wonder if the hot guy bought the house. Though, there’s no way my luck is that good.
As I’m making my way to the back gate, I notice a light is on next door. That’s odd, I think, as I didn’t see a car in the driveway. There aren’t any curtains, so whoever bought the house clearly is okay with me taking a peek. I laugh at my ridiculous logic.
Nevertheless, standing on my tippy toes, I try my hardest to gaze into the window, but I’m too short. I need a boost. I look around for something to stand on. My eyes land on a large stone. I attempt to pick it up, but it’s way too heavy, so I bend down and drag it down the cement pathway. It makes a loud screeching noise and I pause to make sure I’m not drawing attention to myself. There’s still silence a few moments later, so I continue dragging it until it’s in the perfect position. I grab onto the window sill and hoist myself up, trying my best to steady myself so I don’t fall.
Success.
I slowly peak my head up, just in case someone is in there. I don’t want to be seen; that would be mortifying. I’m annoyed that, after all the work I’ve gone through, there’s nothing even remotely interesting or telling of who the person is that bought it. All I see are boxes, and not even a lot of them. There isn’t even any furniture. That’s odd.
“Well, that was a bust.” My feet are sliding off the stone when I hear footsteps approaching. I look over my shoulder and see the gorgeous guy from days ago, arms crossed over his solid chest, grinning at me.
I freeze. My eyes roll to the back of my head and my mouth opens in a silent scream. “Why?” I belt out internally. I look up to the sky to ask God what I did to deserve such embarrassment.
I think about my options. I could run away without saying anything, but he already knows where I live. I could lie about what I’m doing, but could I actually come up with a believable reason to be standing on a stone peeping in his house? No, no I can’t. I guess I could tell the truth. That I’m just a nosy, nosy girl and that I’m so very sorry.
Shit, I realize I’m still standing completely silent as my brain shoots off ten thousand possibilities.
Joshua
“Find anything interesting?” I can’t help but laugh. She looks like a deer in headlights, like she wants to run but doesn’t remember how to get her legs to work.
All she lets out is an, “Umm.”
“Cat got your tongue?” I say to her. I may be trying to make her a little uncomfortable. After all, she is on my property, looking through my window. Who does something like that?
I take a good look at her. She has long, tanned, toned legs that lead me to the smallest pair of black shorts I think I have ever seen. Blonde hair falls to the top of her ass, and what an ass it is. Even with her sinfully hot body she still gives off a girl next door vibe. I mean, technically, she is the girl next door, but you know what I mean.
I look back up to her tense face. She’s gazing off into the distance, probably trying to figure out what to say about the compromising position I’ve found her in. Her feet shift on the jagged rock and she lets out a small gasp. I’m fearful that she’s going to slip and fall since she’s so flustered. All I need is for her to fall and hurt herself on my watch. I step closer as she timidly looks around.
“I was... umm...” Her eyes look everywhere but at me. “I was curious to see who bought the place,” she finally says with her head down and finger pointing at my house.
I can’t help but smile at her shyness. It’s not a trait many people have nowadays. I hold out my hand. “At least let me help you down. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself, Miss…?” I definitely need to know this girl's name. I’m already intrigued, which fuck me, isn’t a good thing.
“Taylor,” she says while taking my hand. Her palm feels clammy against mine. She slides
down the stone and lands on the cement safely.
“I’m Joshua... or, uh, Josh.” I hold her hand expecting that, since we are in this position, she’ll finally make eye contact, but nope. She must actually be shy.
The bathing suit her and her friend wore the other day looked anything but shy. I only got a short look, and they were gone by the time I left, but it looked pretty minuscule from what I remember. I tighten my grip on her hand to see if that’ll get her to look at me. I want to see those eyes.
And just like that she meets my gaze. Light brown doe eyes look right into mine. I feel an electric shock run through my fingers and up my arm; it hits me hard in my chest like I’ve been punched.
What the hell.
My breath goes ragged and I struggle to swallow as my throat has gone dry. I clear my throat and attempt to pull myself back together. Her cheeks are red and I wonder if she felt something, too, but that’s not possible.
I take a step back and rub the scruff on my jaw, still confused by the sensation I felt. I am not the type of guy that gets taken aback by a woman, well, not since Julia, and it damn sure didn’t feel like this.
I allow my gaze to fall from her eyes to her neck—it’s long and kissable—then lower to her breast, which looks to be a solid B cup. I’d love to explore her body. My gaze meets hers again. I don’t want to look like a pervert, checking out the shy neighbor girl, but damn, it’s hard to keep my eyes off of her.
I need to get out of here before I do something I shouldn’t, like break my rule and ask her out on a date. I’m not supposed to be focusing on women right now.
“Well, Taylor, next time you’re feeling curious, all you have to do is knock.” I faux knock in the air and give her a smile and force myself to walk away.
All you have to do is knock? I grimace. Why did I say that? Did I just invite her to come over whenever she wants?
I scratch my head, confused by the events that just transpired. Well, I’m screwed, I think. I can't have feelings for the girl next door. First of all, that’s too much of a damn cliche, and secondly, imagine if it went left. I’d have to live next door to an ex... or move again, and dammit, I’m tired of running away.
