Love Next Door

by Jerry Cole

  “That doesn’t sound fair.”

  “Since when has life been fair?” Reese paused. “Do you want some company?”

  He was expecting David to say no, and then Reese would take his leave. But David nodded, and Reese’s pulse skittered. He stilled. What had just happened there? Why was he suddenly excited about David allowing him to stay? His body was reacting as if David was agreeing to a date. This wasn’t a date.

  Reese cleared his throat and shrugged off his coat. Hopefully, if he sat in the armchair instead of next to David, he would be able to hide the fact that his cock had decided to wake up. His erection would be very noticeable if he sat next to David, and Reese didn’t think having sex on his mind was a good idea after what had happened.

  It wasn’t the first time David had made him aroused just by being in the same room. But not at this intensity.

  “I ordered take out.” David nodded towards the kitchen. “Thankfully, I didn’t get glass in it, but I ordered a little too much. Will you help me eat it?”

  “What is it?”

  “Chinese.”

  Reese grinned and sat in the armchair, stretching out his legs. Even though he had just eaten with Annie, he was still hungry.

  “Count me in.”

  Chapter Four

  “David?”

  David looked up. One of his guards was in the doorway, his radio in his hand. He was watching David warily.

  “What?”

  “Tony’s just radioed through. There’s an Officer Weaver here to see you. She says it’s important.”

  David groaned. Just when he wanted some peace and quiet. The woman had a knack of turning up at the wrong moment. He looked back at his paperwork. It had been piling up all week and David needed it done by the end of the day.

  “You deal with her, Adam. I’ve got this to finish off.”

  “She won’t talk to anyone else but you.”

  “Did you tell her I was here?”

  “Of course I did.” Adam raised his hands as David shot him a glare. “I’m not going to lie to the cops, am I?”

  David grunted. He couldn’t argue with that. But David knew that this wasn’t police business. It was something else entirely, something that rubbed David the wrong way and he was sick of it. The woman wasn’t going anywhere until David had seen her, once she had said her usual script to him. No way was he going to finish all the paperwork now. More overtime, which made David grimace.

  He put the pen down and stood, reaching for his jacket and his radio.

  “Stay here and monitor the cameras for me. Radio down to Tony and say she’s got two minutes of my time and he had better time it to the second.”

  “Got it.”

  David left the office and made his way down the stairs to the ground floor. Even with her badge, Laura wouldn’t be able to come up to his office. Not unless she had permission from David’s boss or David himself, and she knew she wouldn’t get that permission. That would mean divulging why she was really there instead of on her regular patrol.

  James was an annoyance, but Laura was something else. The woman whom James had cheated with, and she enjoyed rubbing it into David’s face. She kept coming to his place of work, to his home and even to Nicole’s home to tell David that he needed to stay away from James. She was under the impression that David wanted James back, which was far from the truth. David had no idea how a smart girl like Laura Weaver could be so stupid. Or psychotic.

  He still didn’t know how Laura managed to get her police badge. One look at her and the police psychologist would have said she wasn’t stable enough. Chances were Laura had seduced him into the job. David wouldn’t be surprised.

  David could see Laura waiting with Tony in the lobby area. They were having a stand-off, glaring at each other. The shoppers were walking around them nervously, eyeing them up as if they expected a gunfight to break out. David couldn’t blame them. Laura was abrasive and aggressive. He was still trying to figure out how she and James got together when those types of women made James nervous.

  Love and lust were strange things.

  David clipped his radio to his waist and shrugged into his jacket as he approached the cop.

  “Officer Weaver.”

  Laura turned to him. She was a tall woman. At six feet, she was only an inch shorter than David. Her bright red hair was smoothed down and tied back in a simple ponytail, away from her creamy-white complexion and blue eyes. David had been told that Laura had played professional netball when she was younger, and it showed in her build and her gait. The woman was an athlete. She was fit and healthy.

  And a homewrecker. David didn’t know how many married men Laura had set her sights on, but the list was quite extensive. James had complained about Laura unable to find a single man because married men seemed to be her thing, almost like a fetish. He never said that he would become one of those men feeding the fetish.

  “David.” Laura had her hands on her belt. “I need to speak with you.”

  “You can do it here.” David glanced at Tony, who nodded and took a step back. “And you’ve got just under two minutes before I go back to work and you leave here.”

  “You’re willing to discuss our private business out here?”

  David folded his arms. He didn’t want to be made a spectacle in front of the civilians walking around trying to do their shopping – already, he could see people in a nearby cafe openly staring at them - but he knew if they were alone, Laura could become violent and then claim she was acting in self-defense. She had done it before. David wasn’t taking that chance again.

  “Laura, I don’t have any private business with you. We shared a guy for a while, but that doesn’t mean I have anything to discuss. Now, what do you want?”

  “I want you stay away from James.”

  Again? David sighed. It was almost a regular occurrence. Laura would come and find David and tell him to not go anywhere near James. David found it ridiculous; Laura had stolen him away, so it was natural that she would feel threatened, but she should have figured out by now that David wanted nothing to do with his ex-husband. Because of her.

  “You’re beginning to sound like me. Why are you telling me now?”

  “He’s been pulling away from me lately. I’m sure he’s cheating, and he’s cheating with you.”

  “Really? You don’t think it could be one of the several guys or girls he’s been with over the years? Because if he wasn’t faithful in our marriage, I’m sure as hell he hasn’t been faithful with you.”

  “You’re still bitter over that, aren’t you?”

  David gritted his teeth. The woman was infuriating.

  “I would happily put it behind me if James didn’t try to contact me all the time. You know, I can tell whenever you two have had an argument by the amount of calls and texts I get from him. And you’ve been having a lot of fights lately, haven’t you?”

  Laura’s face went almost as red as her hair. She bared her teeth at him. Her work persona was beginning to slip.

  “That is none of your business.”

  “It is if James keeps trying to call me.” David glanced back at Tony. “I don’t want to be the person he goes to when you two are fighting, and I would prefer to have no further contact with him again.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “You never did.” David saw that Tony was tapping his watch and he turned back to Laura. “I’m sorry he’s pulling the same thing on you as he did with me, but I’m not involved and I don’t want to be involved. Tell him to leave me alone and make up his mind if he wants to be with the woman who destroyed his marriage or he wants to be with someone else. But it won’t be with me. Now…”

  He started to turn away - those two minutes had felt incredibly long - but then Laura grabbed his arm. She practically snarled in his face, using her height to her advantage.

  “You stay away from James.” She hissed. “I’ve got him now and you’re not getting him back.”

  “I don’t w
ant him back.” David untangled his arm from her grip. Her nails had dug through his jacket and he could feel the pinpricks on his elbow. “I know you’ve got him now. It’s just a pity that you didn’t wait until he was single before you jumped into bed with him. There’s a word to describe someone like you, but I won’t say it out loud in mixed company.” He turned away again and beckoned Tony over. “Would you escort Officer Weaver out of the mall? I’m sure she’s got to get back on patrol.”

  “I didn’t say I was finished with you!”

  Laura’s voice was louder now, and people were turning to stare at them. David could only imagine what was going on in their heads. They had to see this as entertainment, seeing a beat cop and a security guard having a confrontation. But this was why David wanted witnesses; Laura could restrain herself from going all-out on him.

  “Would you like to say that a little louder, Laura?” David indicated the people around them. “I’m sure everyone here would love to hear what you have to say?”

  From the widening of Laura’s eyes, she had clicked that they weren’t in a private room. She scowled at David; her body tensed up. She still looked ready for a fight. David had never seen anything like it.

  “You need to walk away, Laura. You’re causing a scene.”

  “We haven’t finished talking, David.”

  Tony glanced at David. David held up a hand and approached Laura again, talking over Tony’s shoulder in a loud whisper.

  “If you don’t want me to call your supervisor and say you’re off your nut, harassing your current boyfriend’s ex-husband, the guy you two cheated on, I suggest you do as you’re told.”

  Laura’s jaw tightened. David was sure if Tony wasn’t in the way and they weren’t in public, she would have jumped him by now.

  “You just threatened a cop.”

  “No, I didn’t. I just told a cop who’s abusing her powers to leave me alone or she gets a complaint.” David tapped Tony on the shoulder. “Escort her out, Tony. I don’t want to see her back in here today.”

  “You got it.”

  Laura looked like she was going to fight Tony, but the man was twice her size, both height and width. It would have looked like David and Goliath with David rapidly losing the battle. She allowed Tony to ease her back and walk her away, still glaring at David.

  David didn’t watch her leave. He headed back to the office, still trying to figure out what was going on. The affair had happened years ago, and David had been divorced from James almost as long. Laura knew that, and she had to know that David wasn’t going to take James back. She should have been happy with that and not need to seek David out anymore. Why did she keep coming back, especially when she was clocked in at work, to bother him further? Was she rubbing it in his face? Or was she genuinely scared that James was straying and David was the obvious choice?

  David wouldn’t be surprised that James had strayed from Laura. But he would be surprised that James took a long time before he decided to sleep with someone else.

  He stepped into the office, relief flooding through him as the door shut behind him. Adam looked up.

  “You know, that was quite a show. Plenty of people were watching that.”

  “And I’m sure you guys were as well.” David grumbled.

  “Geoffrey had the camera aimed your way. What could we do?”

  David rolled his eyes. He didn’t believe that for a moment. He headed to his desk.

  “Did Tony manage to get Officer Weaver out?”

  “He did. We saw them having a stand-off in the parking lot before she left.” Adam looked confused. “I thought you had all this out years ago.”

  David had thought so, too. Clearly, Laura had other ideas.

  ***

  Reese knew he should have taken his car to the garage. But when he saw that his tire was practically flat and the tread was gone, he knew the tire wouldn’t last from Harrisburg to Sioux Falls. It had been fine last week when he headed over to Annie’s at the north of the city, but Reese didn’t want to think what would have happened if the cops had pulled him over for a bald tire.

  This was even harder work than simply working out. Reese found himself stripping off his t-shirt and tossing it aside as the sweat stuck to his shirt. The day was far hotter than he expected. A typical Saturday in the summer. Reese was aware that the fifteen-year-old girl who lived opposite had come out onto the front lawn with two of her friends, wearing tiny shorts and t-shirts as they lay about on a picnic blanket. They were sunbathing or reading, but Reese had caught them casting him looks across the street. At one point, he even saw one girl licking her lips.

  He was used to being ogled by the neighbors. But by these girls made Reese feel off. He simply rolled his eyes and got on with changing the tire.

  It didn’t take long, thankfully, and he didn’t embarrass himself in front of the girls. The tire was fixed and Reese fastened the nuts and the hubcap. Then he reached for the bald tire, planning to take it into the garage so he could dump it later on.

  Then he stopped. He hadn’t heard David come home. Now David was leaning against his car, leering at him with a grin. It was then Reese remembered that he was just in a pair of shorts and his sneakers. And the shorts were a little too tight.

  Had they always been that tight, or was it now David was looking at him? Reese cleared his throat and straightened up. Hopefully, the placement of the tire wouldn’t show David how tight his shorts really were.

  “How long have you been standing there?”

  “Not long.”

  “And you never thought to ask if I wanted any help?”

  David shrugged. He was still grinning.

  “I was enjoying the view.”

  Enjoying the view. Had he actually been admiring Reese? Reese’s cock twitched and Reese had to bite back a wince as it pressed against his zipper. He headed into the garage. It was far too hot outside. Reese needed to get into the shower and turn it on to cold. Being around David recently had switched something on in his head, and now Reese was finding himself more and more aroused whenever David was around.

  This wasn’t right. It felt like a betrayal of Henry’s memory. It hadn’t been long since Henry had been murdered. Surely, Reese should be mourning about Henry and not thinking about lying with his neighbor. But since the week before when they spent the rest of the night talking, eating Chinese and trying to ignore the fact the window had been broken a few hours before, Reese’s mindset had changed. David had been handsome before, but never had Reese wanted to touch him more.

  It was confusing, and Reese didn’t know how to work it out.

  “Do you normally go out of your house naked?”

  Reese jumped, dropping the tire. It bounced off his foot and rolled away, bumping into the wall before it fell over. Grimacing as he limped off to his workout bench, Reese frowned at David, who was standing just under the garage door. He was still grinning, looking Reese over like he wanted to lick the sweat off his body. Reese bit back a groan as he sat down, shifting his injured foot onto his other thigh. At least it hid his erection.

  “What do you mean, naked? I’ve got shorts on.”

  “Which leave little to the imagination.” David chuckled. “Those girls across the street have been eyeing you up for a while.”

  “They’ve been doing that all afternoon.”

  “And you haven’t given them a wave, a wink or a smile? They’re going to be having quite a few wet dreams tonight.”

  “Don’t be stupid, David.”

  “I was trying to make you laugh. You normally did before.” David made a face. “Now you’re just grumpy.”

  “I’ve got good reason to be grumpy.” Reese snapped. He looked away. “It’s Henry’s birthday.”

  Henry would have been turning thirty. He had been a talented musician and a gracious, caring person. His parents had seen their son as a shining light, his siblings had adored him. But with their strict religious beliefs, they would have shunned Henry once he came out as gay.
And yet Henry hadn’t cared. He had been planning on telling his family about his sexuality on his birthday. He wasn’t about to treat Reese like a dirty secret. It would have ended badly, but Henry hadn’t cared about that.

  Now that was never going to happen. The only people who knew that Reese and Henry were a couple were Maria and David. Maria had been justifiably angry at the news, and David had been surprised. Reese knew he had done the wrong thing, but it wasn’t easy to fight back feelings for someone when they got incredibly strong.

  Much like they were with him and David. How could he even think about being with someone else when Henry was still strong in his mind? Reese felt awful about it.

  “You know, it’s strange.” He said as he massaged his throbbing foot. “We didn’t celebrate his birthday last time and we weren’t lovers then. But it brings back memories for me.”

  “Good or bad?”

  “A bit of both.”

  That was as close as Reese could admit. It reminded him of that day in Los Angeles. The concert Henry was eager to go to even after the message from his stalker saying he wouldn’t leave the concert alive. Reese had tried to tell Henry that it was safer to cancel the concert, but Henry was adamant about doing it. He had already cancelled two concerts due to the stalker, and he wasn’t about to cancel another. He also refused to wear a bulletproof vest under his shirt, saying it was just hot air.

  It certainly wasn’t hot air after he was shot on stage in front of thousands of people. The shooter was caught pretty quickly, a girl who was obsessed with Henry and didn’t want anyone else to have him, but all Reese could remember was Henry dying in his arms on the stage, in front of everyone. It brought back the cold sweats, the guilt, the pain.

  Reese hated it.

  “Reese.” David was approaching him. He wasn’t smiling anymore. “It’s not your fault Henry died.”

  “It is, David. I was meant to be protecting him.” Reese scowled. “What good am I at my job if I can’t protect my client?”

  “What were you supposed to do? Stand in front of him while he was singing to his fans?” David folded his arms. “And you didn’t see him as a client, did you?”