Number Neighbors

by Hart, Emma

  I wasn’t so sure a shower was the best option either, but I needed to make like a teenage boy and get rid of this erection.

  Fast.

  Having the reason for it be only thirty seconds away… Well, that was a problem.

  I hit the button for the shower to turn it on. While it heated, I brushed my teeth, staring at myself in the mirror for a ridiculously long time. I was thankful to strip off and get under the hot water.

  Hopefully it would help me sleep. I had no chance in my current state of mind that was nothing more than endless thoughts of kissing Hannah. I might have been a grown ass man, but that woman was going to bring me to my knees before long.

  I didn’t even know why. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was about her that had me so wrapped up. That was part of the allure, though. If I figured it out, I was afraid all this would go away.

  I wasn’t ready for it to go away.

  My cock throbbed, as if it were agreeing with me.

  Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back and let the hot water beat down on my face. It pounded out a rhythm, one I could focus on, and I was grateful for that. I righted my head and grabbed the sponge, lathering it with soap to wash my body.

  I rubbed down every limb, scrubbing a little harder than usual. It was therapeutic in a way. Maybe this would be the thing that would put my cock to sleep.

  Two minutes later, it was painfully obvious that it wasn’t.

  I dropped the sponge to the shower floor and gave in to the inevitable. I wrapped my hand around my cock and closed my eyes, thinking about what it’d felt like earlier to be kissing Hannah.

  I moved my hand up and down, remembering how blood had thundered through my body. How every part of me had tingled with need and lust had gripped every little bit of me.

  My blood pounded now. It was running hot, and my breath hitched as the feeling intensified.

  Hannah. Kissing me. Under me. Her body writhing. Tiny little moans leaving her lips and escaping into mine.

  I thought about the text messages. About everything we’d shared. About her scenario where I left the shower and she’d be waiting to suck my dick.

  I pumped my cock hard and fast, doing my utmost not to think about the fact she wasn’t here. All the scenarios we’d shared together flooded my brain, but it was always that one that stuck out, that one fucking thing I couldn’t shake.

  Her. On her knees. In front of me. Legs open, wet pussy showing, where I can fuck it with my fingers or my tongue or my cock. Her moaning, clenching when I dig my fingers into her hips and hold her in place to fuck her deep.

  Fuck.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  The orgasm tore through my body like wildlife, setting me alight in every way. I came hard, my cum spurting onto the shower wall. Slowly, I pumped my cock until it was as drained as I was.

  I washed myself again, including my hair this time, and directed the flow of water onto the wall to make sure there were no traces of my extra-curricular shower activities.

  Satisfied, I rinsed once more before I turned off the water and stepped out of the steaming cubicle. The entire bathroom was filled with steam, but I could see well enough to grab my towel and wrap it around my waist.

  My house was silent, and my bedroom was no exception. A part of me kinda missed having Lucifer around—he’d given the house some life that it otherwise lacked.

  I sat on the edge of my bed and looked around. Maybe I needed to adopt a cat. Or a dog. Anything but a duck, really.

  It was something to think on.

  Anything that meant I wasn’t thinking about Hannah at this point was a win in my eyes.

  ***

  I tossed the packet of pasta into my cart.

  I had no idea what I was buying. I was going through the motions in the store, putting in things that look vaguely familiar.

  It was never a good day when it ended with losing an animal.

  It didn’t matter if the animal was old or young, healthy or sick, it was plain awful to have to tell somebody their family was about to lose a member.

  Because that was the thing with pets. They were a part of your family, just the same as a human was. In the case of cats and dogs, they were sometimes a part for fifteen years or more.

  That was what had happened today. That poor dog with incurable cancer had no quality of life, and watching two kids say goodbye to the dog who was twice their age had gutted me.

  The only thing I was thankful for was that Sophie was my last patient of the day.

  I stopped in the chocolate aisle. That was my go-to de-stresser, a bit like my mum and sister. The only problem was that I couldn’t find a bloody good chocolate bar in America to save my life, which meant it was time to beg and plead my sister to send me some from home.

  With a sigh, I headed for the next best thing: the ice cream aisle.

  At least chocolate ice-cream tasted the same.

  I grabbed a carton from the freezer and put it in the cart with my mismatched groceries. Absolutely none of these things went together, so I went on another walk around the store to get something that didn’t contain my body weight in carbohydrates or sugar.

  My cart was a lot healthier when I was done.

  Healthy sucked. Especially today. All I wanted was a full English breakfast—with real bacon, not the streaky shit they called bacon here—but it was nowhere to be found.

  Half grumpy but somewhat mollified by my ice cream haul, I took the cart to the register to pay. After handing over an extortionate amount of money, I immediately regretted my life choices, but it was an ice cream for dinner day, so I swallowed my pride when the cashier handed me back my card.

  With a wan smile, I took my stuff out to my car and loaded it all into my truck. It was days like this when all I wanted to do was go out for a beer somewhere, but I hadn’t really made socializing a priority since moving.

  I was regretting that now.

  I put the cart back and was about to get into my car when I caught sight of a familiar face. “Hey,” I said to Mason. “How’s Dolly?”

  He grinned. “Hoarding my shoes, for some weird reason.”

  “That means she loves you.” I laughed, pulling my keys back out of my pocket. “Seriously.”

  “I know she loves me. She doesn’t leave me alone,” he said wryly. “How’s Hannah’s kitten?”

  “You mean the kitten that isn’t hers?”

  “That’s the one!”

  I laughed again. “He’s fine. Tried to bite a chunk out of her ankle last night, so I’m thinking the name she picked is the right one for him.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Ah, right. You had dinner together. How did that go? Immy was going on about it all last night, but she hasn’t updated me.”

  Women.

  “It went well until her kitten went rogue,” I replied. “I think I’m breaking her down.”

  Mason snorted. “The women in that family are hard work, that’s for sure. Have you met Jen yet?”

  “Yep. She asked me to be a model for their nude art class.”

  He shuddered, shaking his head. “Don’t do it. She tricked me into it a week ago by telling me she needed taking to the store, except that store was the class.”

  “You didn’t do it, did you?”

  “Hell fucking no. That’s my girlfriend’s grandmother. She’s a perv enough as it is without willingly giving her something to look at.”

  We both laughed.

  “What are you doing tonight?” he asked. “Maya’s at her mom’s and Immy is working late at the store. Wanna grab a beer?”

  Actually, I did.

  “Sure. I need to get this stuff home, but I can meet you somewhere.”

  “I need to grab some stuff anyway.” He cocked his thumb in the direction of the store. “Say an hour? At Pete’s?”

  “The sports bar just off Main Street?”

  He nodded. “That work?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN – ISAAC
<
br />   Boozy Book Club

  The bar was hopping with people. I didn’t follow much American sport—baseball was about all I understood—so I had no idea what was happening in this hockey game that was on.

  I did, however, like the beer.

  The food was pretty good here, too.

  I already felt better just for having gotten out of the house. Sometimes, it was lonely living here by myself. Friends were in short supply and my family was thousands of miles away, and all today had proven was that I had to make a concerted effort to settle here—properly.

  Not half ass it.

  “So how did you and Immy meet?” I asked.

  Mason chuckled. “We met in college. We were… friends with benefits. I graduated before her and we lost touch because I never called her.”

  “I bet that went down well.”

  “If you like having bricks dropped on your head,” he said wryly. “I happened to move in next door and here we are. I won her over again.”

  “You’re still making up for it, aren’t you?”

  “Look at that. Some things are universal.” He smirked. “How did you end up here?”

  “Here as in America or as in this town?”

  “Either. Both.”

  “My ex-girlfriend’s dad had a vet clinic in New York. We met when she was in England for university, and when she decided to move back home, she asked me if I was interested in going with her.”

  “You did?”

  I shrugged. “I was young, newly qualified, and struggling to find work as a vet where I lived. Her dad helped me sort all the paperwork and I moved over here.”

  “Wow. That took some balls.”

  “I’m still wondering if it was the right thing to do,” I admitted. “I ended up here because we broke up and honestly, I hated New York. I’m not a city person, so it was a big adjustment.”

  “Yeah, but why here? Did you close your eyes and put a finger on a map?”

  I laughed. “You’re not too far off, mate. I applied for jobs all over the country that were in smaller towns and waited to see who’d give me one.”

  “That’s insane.”

  “I know. But it worked out. I’ve been here a couple years now and I like it.”

  “I haven’t been here long. I only moved to be closer to my daughter, but I feel the same. It’s a great place. One of my neighbors needs some work, though.” He grinned and picked up his beer. “Jen is a special one.”

  “You can say that again. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as eccentric as she is, and we have some real characters in the UK.”

  “You better hope you don’t get roped into the book club,” Mason said. “That’s eccentric.”

  “I’ve heard all about it. Is it wrong to say I’m a little scared?”

  “Not at all. Believe me; I’ve met them, and I’m fuckin’ terrified.”

  That wasn’t reassuring. At all.

  “In fact, I think you’re about to meet them,” Mason muttered. “Jesus Christ, what are they doing here?”

  I turned around, following his line of sight, and immediately saw them. They looked out of place, but it was Jen’s sunflower yellow dress that really caught the eye. She was accompanied by three other women; one in leather trousers, one in a plaid skirt, and another in jeans.

  “Is she wearing… leather trousers?”

  “Trousers? Oh, pants,” Mason said. “Yep. That’s Lil.”

  “Right.”

  “The one in the plaid skirt is Evelyn, and the jeans is Kathleen,” he continued. “If we hide, they might not—never mind. They’ve seen us.”

  “Yoohoo!” Lil in the leather trousers waved. “Jen, look! It’s Mason and the hot vet!”

  “Are they drunk?” I asked Mason.

  He grimaced. “I think they might be. Dear God. I need to text Immy to come get them.”

  “Didn’t you say she’s working late?”

  “Shit.”

  “I’ll text Hannah.” I pulled my phone out before he could say anything. The four ladies were making their way over to us, so I tapped out a fast message and sent it over.

  ME: Your grandma and her friends are drunk at the bar.

  “Hello, darlings!” The one in the skirt sat down next to me and batted her eyelashes. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Evelyn.”

  Jen hit her around the back of the head with her bag. “He’s dating Hannah!”

  “You’re dating Hannah?” all three other women said.

  “Technically no,” I replied. “We had a date.”

  “That’s dating to me,” Lil in the leather trousers replied, sipping on a gin. “Where’s Maya?” she directed to Mason.

  “Drinking milk from a brown paper bag under a bridge somewhere unknown,” he replied.

  “Are you sassin’ me, boy?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  I hid a laugh as my phone buzzed. “Excuse me. I have to take this.” I glanced at Mason in the hope he knew it was Hannah calling.

  I edged my way out of the bar and away from the group of smokers at the door. “Hey.”

  “Hey? Freakin’ hey?” she replied. “What do you mean my grandma and her friends are at a bar? Where are you?”

  “I’m at Pete’s with Mason. I ran into him earlier—we came to get something to eat and a beer. Then we saw your grandma and her friends and they look a little drunk.”

  “Goddamn it! Pete’s you said?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’m coming. Are they still able to stand?”

  “Yes, but who knows for how long?”

  “Isaac, this isn’t making me feel better. They’re banned from bars and they know it!”

  “Banned from bars? How do you ban elderly people from bars?”

  “Quite easily. You tell them they can’t go to bars.” There was the sound of a door slamming on her end of the line. “The last time they were drunk in public, they flashed absolutely everyone. Grandma has been inspired to buy weird kinky underwear from eBay, and trust me when I say that absolutely fucking nobody needs to see her in a lace bra with holes for the nipples cut out.”

  Yep.

  I was with her on that.

  “Okay, then. Should we keep them amused until you get here?”

  “Yes. Don’t let them out of your sight. That place has a mechanical bull, and I don’t want to spend all night in the emergency room because one of those crazy old ladies decided to ride it.”

  “Understood. We’ve got it, don’t worry. See you soon.”

  “Yeah, bye.” She hung up quickly, and I tucked my phone into my pocket and headed back inside.

  Thankfully, everyone was still sitting at the table. I slipped back into my chair as the ladies were all trying to convince Mason to propose to Immy.

  “Don’t you think he should?” Kathleen directed at me.

  “I really don’t know enough about their relationship to comment,” I said, immediately hiding behind my beer.

  “You’re smart.” Jen pointed at me. “You can marry my other granddaughter.”

  I blinked at her. “We’ve had one date. But if we decide to get married, I assure you you’ll be the first to know.”

  She nodded. “Acceptable. But you’ll marry her. I know these things.”

  I shared a look with Mason. The one he returned was one that said to just roll with it, so that was exactly what I was going to do.

  “I want to dance!” Evelyn announced, swaying in her seat.

  “This is a sports bar, Evelyn,” Lil replied. “You don’t dance here. You yell profanities at the TV screens.”

  Well, she wasn’t wrong.

  “You don’t watch hockey,” Kathleen said to her.

  “True, but I did once date a hockey player so I know how the rules work,” she replied, staring at the TV. “You no-good motherfucker!” she yelled at it.

  A cheer came up from our surrounding tables.

  “See?” she said smugly. “There’s really nothing to it.”

  S
hit, I hoped Hannah would be here soon. They were getting all kinds of excited, and I wasn’t sure how long we could keep them under control.

  “What are you reading this week?” Mason asked.

  All four women’s eyes lit up.

  Ah-ha.

  Talk about books with them.

  “Seducing the Duke!” Jen answered. “It’s not dirty at all. It was all because of Evelyn’s stupid reading challenge.”

  “Oh, you asshole!” Lil yelled at the TV.

  I peered at her out of the corner of my eye. For someone who apparently didn’t know the rules of hockey, she was really getting into it.

  “It is not a stupid challenge,” Evelyn huffs. “We need to diversify!”

  Kathleen raised her eyebrows. “Well, Bettina at the bingo is Mexican. Think she’d join us?”

  Jen rolled her eyes. “She means diversify our reading, not our friendship group, you plum.”

  “Are they always like this?” I asked Mason quietly.

  With a grimace, he nodded. “And then some.”

  “My challenge is fine,” Evelyn protested. “It’s diverse and inclusive of all genres of romance!”

  “Now you just sound like The Twitter.” Jen sipped her whiskey.

  “It’s just Twitter,” Mason said. “Not The Twitter.”

  “Are you sassin’ me, boy?”

  “I’m gonna if one of you asks me that damn question again.”

  I bit back a laugh right as the door to the bar opened and Hannah stepped in. Her eyes scanned the room back and forth until they landed on our table. They flashed with annoyance as they met mine, but I knew she wasn’t pissed at me.

  I hoped she wasn’t.

  We’d probably saved these four from doing something extra stupid.

  “Uh-oh,” Evelyn said, hiding behind her huge gin glass. “We’re in trouble.”

  Jen narrowed her eyes at us. “Which one of you fuckers called her?”

  “Grandma!” Hannah stomped to the table. “Don’t talk to them like that! You know you’re not supposed to be here.”

  Jen turned and looked at her. “I’m your elder.”

  “You’re my pain in the ass,” she shot back. “There’s a damn good reason you’re not allowed out drinking without supervision. You can’t control yourselves!”