This was it, Sebastian realized as the baseball bat fell from his trembling hand and–
“I did it,” Braxton said, taking everyone by surprise.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Mr. Taylor demanded.
“I did it,” Braxton said more firmly.
For a moment, Mr. Taylor stood there, staring at his son and then, “You’re going back to boarding school where you belong.”
After a slight hesitation, Braxton ground his jaw and nodded, once.
“No, he won’t. Not when you promised that I could spend more time with my great-grandson,” Mrs. Blaine said firmly as Cole pushed her up the driveway to see what was going on.
For a moment, Mr. Taylor looked like he wanted to kill Braxton with his bare hands only to have his expression turn calculating as he watched Mrs. Blaine. Clearing is throat, Mr. Taylor said, “If you’ll excuse us, I believe my son and I need to go home and think of an appropriate punishment.”
When Braxton moved to step past him, Sebastian stopped him. “Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Braxton said, shrugging it off as he picked up Hunter’s blankie and handed it to Cole.
“Say goodbye to your great-grandmother,” Mr. Taylor said, clearing his throat as he gestured to Mrs. Blaine, who was watching his every move.
“Goodbye, Great-Grandmo–”
“You may call me Grandma,” Mrs. Blaine said with a sniff, making Sebastian’s lips twitch as he watched her gesture for Cole to bring her back inside.
Braxton looked dazed as he watched her go and Mr. Taylor looked…pleased.
Sebastian threw one last glance over his shoulder as he watched Braxton climb into the backseat and couldn’t help but wonder if he would have been better off being sent back to boarding school. Sighing, Sebastian turned around and found his father watching him.
“Are you okay?”
Nodding, Sebastian said, “I’m fine.”
When his father moved to turn around and head inside, Sebastian said, “Dad?”
“Yeah?” his father said as he turned around and–
“Thanks, Dad,” Sebastian said as he pulled him down for a hug.
“For what?” his father asked, wrapping his arms around Sebastian and held him tight.
“For everything.”
Chapter 46
“I can’t believe you pulled it off,” Jonathan said, shaking his head in amazement.
Chuckling, Sebastian pointed out, “I had help.”
“True,” Jonathan murmured as the sound of their bedroom window opening drew their attention to find Mikey breaking into their room and–
“Stupid window,” she mumbled sadly as they watched in amusement as she climbed through their window only to stumble and fall on her adorable ass before she got back up with a sigh and closed the window.
“I knew you missed me,” Jonathan said, nodding only to duck out of the way of the stapler that Mikey grabbed off their desk.
“What are you doing here?” Sebastian asked as he watched her make her way over to his bed.
“Keeping you out of trouble,” Mikey said with a heartfelt sigh as she dropped down on the bed next to him.
“How do you figure that?” Sebastian asked as he moved over to make room for her.
“Well, by coming here, I’ve saved you from breaking your word to your parents and leaving you with no other choice but to sneak out just to come see me,” Mikey said with a nod as Sebastian couldn’t help but note that she was wearing his sweatshirt again.
“And why would I feel the need to come see you?” Sebastian asked as Mikey snuggled in closer to his side.
“Because you missed me,” she said with a heartfelt sigh.
“He just saw you two hours ago,” Jonathan pointed out.
“And they were two of the most difficult, heart-wrenching hours of his life,” Mikey explained, making his lips twitch.
“They really were,” he readily agreed, knowing that would please her.
“See?” Mikey said as she stole his pillow. “I saved you.”
“Saved me from what exactly?” Sebastian asked, stealing his pillow back.
“From getting in trouble.”
“Is that how you see it?”
“It really is,” Mikey said only to grumble when he refused to let her steal his pillow again.
After a moment, she settled in closer to his side only to sigh. “What do you think will happen to Braxton?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Sebastian said as they stared at his bedroom ceiling.
“Uncle Jason was pissed when he found out what happened. It took Aunt Haley an hour to calm him down and stop him from going after Braxton’s father,” Jonathan said, making them both frown.
“There’s gotta be something we can do,” Mikey said as she moved to pull a ball out of her sweatshirt only to discover that she didn’t have one. With a grumble, she grabbed his right hand and busied herself by inspecting his fingers.
“Aunt Haley said that she was going to come up with excuses so that he can spend more time with them,” Jonathan said, sounding thoughtful.
“Do you think that will work?” Mikey asked, tilting her head back to throw him a questioning look.
“It couldn’t hurt,” Sebastian murmured, watching as her small fingers explored his. “But I doubt that his father would do anything to risk pissing off Mrs. Blaine right now.”
“True,” Mikey said as she returned her attention to his hand.
“Hey, I almost forgot to ask. Was that Coach Dilmore crying at the baseball fields the other day?” Jonathan asked, making Sebastian chuckle.
“He didn’t seem to take it well when he found out that Mikey had managed to break a hundred mile an hour fastball and was now playing for his team’s biggest competition next year,” Sebastian said, taking immense satisfaction at the memory of Coach Dilmore breaking down and begging Mikey to give him another chance.
Mikey had been too stunned to enjoy the moment, but thankfully, Coach Jackson had the presence of mind to pull out his phone and preserve the occasion. He’d already sent Mikey a copy of the video, which she’d watched a few dozen times already with the cutest damn smile on her face.
“I’ve gotta go,” Mikey suddenly announced, not sounding all that happy about it.
“Why?” Sebastian asked as he watched her sit up.
“I told my mom that I was just running downstairs to find my history book,” Mikey said as she headed back to the window.
“And your history book is where exactly?” Jonathan asked.
“I don’t know. Probably at school,” she said, shrugging it off and making them both chuckle as Sebastian climbed off the bed and followed her to the window.
“That’s going to make it difficult to find,” Sebastian said as he reached past her and pushed the window open.
“It really is,” Mikey agreed only to turn around and place her hand on his chest, stopping him. “I’m afraid that’s as far as you go.”
“You really expect me to stay out of trouble?” he asked with a teasing smile.
She seemed to think it over for a moment before she said, “No, but I feel like we should at least pretend that you’re going to behave.”
“You’re probably right,” Sebastian said, nodding in agreement.
“I usually am,” Mikey said with a helpless shrug.
“Goodnight, brat,” he said, chuckling as he watched her climb out the window.
“Goodnight, Sebastian,” Mikey said with a teasing smile.
He started to close the window only to stop when she suddenly turned around. “What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked as he watched her begin toying with the strings on the sweatshirt that he was probably never getting back.
“It’s just that…” she began only to let her words trail off with a heartfelt sigh.
“It’s just that, what?” Sebastian asked, watching as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched her fingers absently wind themselve
s around the strings.
“You know, right?” Mikey asked as she glanced up at him.
“Know what?” he asked only to frown when Mikey reached over and grabbed hold of his shirt. Before he could say anything, she slowly pulled him closer as she leaned in and whispered, “That you’re my favorite,” only to turn her head and kiss his cheek.
With a satisfied sigh, Mikey released his shirt and disappeared out of sight, leaving Sebastian standing there, unable to help but smile as he watched her go.
“You do realize that kiss was meant for me, don’t you?” Jonathan asked as Sebastian reluctantly closed their bedroom window.
“Absolutely,” Sebastian murmured in agreement as he grabbed a book off their desk and–
“Why are you so mean to me?” Jonathan asked with a heartfelt sigh as Sebastian dropped back down on his bed, a slow smile tugging at his lips as he wondered if Mikey had any idea what was in store for her.
Epilogue
“Wait! That’s it?” Jamie asked in disbelief as she sat there, watching helplessly as Sebastian headed to his desk.
“I’m afraid so,” he murmured absently as he sat down behind the large desk and opened his laptop, putting an end to their interview and–
“You’ve gotta tell me what happened with Mikey. And Braxton, what did his family do to him? Was Mrs. Blaine able to save him? Did Mikey end up killing Jonathan? And Cole? Why does your mother’s food send people to the hospital? What happened with Chloe? Please, you can’t leave it like that!” Jamie said, not really caring that she was begging the man that was the key to her future, not when she had so many unanswered questions.
“I’m afraid that I don’t have any choice,” Sebastian said with a heartfelt sigh.
“But…” Jamie said only to let her shoulders sag in defeat when Sebastian shifted his focus to whatever he was doing and it became clear that this interview was over.
Resigning herself to spending the rest of her life wondering what happened, Jamie grabbed her bag and headed for the door. She should probably be concerned that this wasn’t going to be enough to win that job, but…
She wanted to know what happened with Mikey, damn it. Telling herself that she’d forget about them in a few days, she headed for the door and–
“Do you know the pizza shop on the corner of Lexington and Concord?” came the question that stopped Jamie in her tracks.
“Yes,” she lied, but that was neither here nor there since she was pretty sure that she could find it.
“They have a pizza called The Beast. They also have the best steak fries in the city. Grab lunch and come here tomorrow at eleven and we’ll finish this interview,” Sebastian said, making her smile until he added, “But I have a few rules that we need to go over first.”
“Rules?”
“Mmmhmm, rules. If you want to continue with this interview, I’m going to need you to promise that you won’t Google my name or anything about my company. That includes asking around about me. If you do, the deal’s off,” he said, making her frown in confusion.
“Wait. How will you know if I keep my word?” Jamie found herself wondering.
“I’ll know,” he said, and for some reason, she believed him.
Unable to help but smile, Jamie nodded as she headed for the door.
“See you tomorrow, Jamie,” Sebastian said as she let herself out even as she couldn’t help but wonder if this counted as an interview. Probably not, but even knowing that wasn’t going to stop her from coming back tomorrow and finding out how this story ended.
Difficult
The Next Installment in the Neighbor from Hell YA Series
Coming in 2021
The Neighbor from Hell Cheat Sheet
Playing for Keeps
Jason and Haley’s Story
Perfection
Trevor and Zoe’s Story
Checkmate
Rory and Connor’s Story
Truce: A Historic Neighbor from Hell
Robert And Elizabeth’s story
The Game Plan
Danny and Jodi’s Story
Double Dare
Darrin and Marybeth’s story
A Christmas from Hell
Duncan and Necie’s Story
Fire & Brimstone
Lucifer and Rebecca’s story
Delectable
Reese and Kasey’s story
The Promise
Reed and Joey’s story
Irresistible
Aidan and Melanie’s story
Finally
Devin and Charlie’s story
Other titles by R.L. Mathewson:
Adult Series Titles:
The Anger Management Series:
Devastated
Furious
The Pyte/Sentinel Series:
Tall, Dark & Lonely
Without Regret
Tall, Dark & Heartless
Tall, Silent & Lethal
Fated
Tall, Dark & Furious
The Hollywood Hearts Series:
A Humble Heart
A Reclusive Heart
The Neighbor from Hell Series:
Playing for Keeps
Perfection
Checkmate
Truce: The Historic Neighbor from Hell
The Game Plan
Double Dare
Christmas from Hell
Fire & Brimstone
Delectable
The Promise
Irresistible
Finally
The EMS Series:
Sudden Response
The Cursed Hearts Series:
Black Heart
Thank you for purchasing this book and for being there for us every step of the way.
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About the Author
New York Times Bestselling author, R.L. Mathewson was born in Massachusetts. She’s known for her humor, quick wit and ability to write relatable characters. She currently has several paranormal and contemporary romance series published including the Neighbor from Hell series.
Growing up, R.L. Mathewson was a painfully shy bookworm. After high school she attended college, worked as a bellhop, fast food cook, and a museum worker until she decided to take an EMT course. Working as an EMT helped her get over her shyness as well as left her with some fond memories and some rather disturbing ones that from time to time show up in one of her books.
Today, R.L. Mathewson is the single mother of two children that keep her on her toes. She has a bit of a romance novel addiction as well as a major hot chocolate addiction and on a perfect day, she combines the two.
If you’d like more information about this series or any other series by R.L. Mathewson, please visit www.Rlmathewson.com
Thank you,
R.L. Mathewson
Misunderstood: Inspired by the Neighbor from Hell Series (A Neighbor from Hell YA Book 1) Page 28
