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I told Noah I was going to work for the rest of the night, but that was a lie. Once he left and I finally showered, my brain and body shut down at the same time, overcome by a lethargy that I hadn’t felt in weeks.

It left me lying diagonally across my bed, staring at the ceiling fan above my head. It was all I could do to let my eyes trace its track round and around while I splayed my arms and leg out like a goldfish.

I’d had enough excitement for one day. Moving in and unpacking was eventful enough without the fear of rabies lurking in the back of my head.

Thankfully, it hadn’t been a fucking bat. But if I hadn’t freaked out, I wouldn’t have run to my neighbor. And if I hadn’t run to my neighbor, I wouldn’t have met the gift that Noah was.

A grin broke across my face at the memory of his easy smile and soft demeanor. How he looked and how he acted were a study in contrast and maybe that’s what I got for judging a book by its cover.

When he’d answered the door, standing a few inches above me and I saw every inch of visible skin up to his neck decorated in beautiful art, I’d assumed I knew exactly who he was. His long, black hair was thick and flowing free around his shoulders. He looked…intimidating. Until he opened his mouth to speak and a part of me relaxed.Severalparts of me relaxed.

His voice was softer than I expected and his smile was brighter than I expected. That was probably helped by the gold adorning his teeth, but still…

I sighed, remembering the way he’d welcomed me into his home without any questions. Yes, I’d been in distress, but plenty of people would have left my scary ass shivering on the side of the house while they went to look for the bat.

It was cute how flustered he got in his room before he left me, then again in the kitchen when he saw me trying to mop.

He was a giant ball of sunshine. Eager to help. Eager toplease.

When my heart rate spiked, I forced my thoughts to take a detour to his roommate, hoping his cool demeanor would get my heart back on track, but now it was spiking for a different reason.

There had to be a word for the way his indifference simultaneously annoyed and intrigued me.

Greyson hadn’t said a word to me and yet, I was overcome with irritation just remembering the way his cool gaze slid over me before he shoved his hands in his pockets. Now that I knewhe and Noah weren’t a thing, I had no idea why his gaze left me feeling like I had a bright red “A” stamped across my forehead.

Unfortunately, what he lacked in manners he made up for in looks.

Noah was undeniably attractive, but Greyson…holy fuck, that man was the type of fine writers created new words to describe. It wasn’t fair someone that pretty had such a sour attitude to match.

As soon as I had the thought, it morphed into guilt.

That wasn’t nice, True.

The whispering voice of reason and compassion tried to tell me that maybe he’d had a bad day. He wasn’t mean to me, per se. But he wasn’t warm, either.

More than anything, I was surprised at howoppositehe and Noah seemed to be. Noah had been dressed down in faded jeans and a T-shirt while Greyson had been wearing brown tweed trousers, a white button up with the sleeves rolled up over his forearms and a pair of suspenders. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen a man rocking suspenders, let alone rocking them well. And his glasses…the way they drew attention to those stunning dark brown irises, and…

Rolling my eyes, I huffed at the mental gymnastics I was doing over a man I’d never had a conversation with.

No. I wasnotfantasizing about that man.

Neither one of them, actually. They were my neighbors. That was it. I needed to drill that reminder into my psyche.

My stomach growled in the silence that lapsed, and not for the first time I wished I had taken Noah up on that offer for dinner. I’d ended up eating a bowl of cereal an hour ago and sleep was the next meal on the menu because I was too tired to make anything else.

I rolled over onto my stomach, stretching my arm until I reached the phone on my nightstand.

Out of habit, I put in my passcode and went to the message thread of the only person I knew wouldn’t text me back.

Biting my lip, I scrolled through all the blue bubbles marked ‘delivered’ and smiled faintly at all the bullshit I’d texted her in the last year.

Then I added another for good measure and sat up to turn off the lamp before getting under the covers. Tomorrow was a new day. I’d try again then.

To: Promise

8:22 PM

Bitch, not my neighbor seeing me naked the first day I’m here.