Page 3 of By Invitation Only

“Yes! Fuck yes!”

Bam.

Bam.

“Well, son of a bitch,” I muttered to myself. My buzz was definitely wearing off, and my hatred for Sam was rising. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“You like that, Nikki?”

“Yes!” Nikki screamedagain.

I rolled my eyes.Well, I could have answered that question.

Sam started to groan, Nikki started to moan, and I’d had it. Before I knew what I was doing, my butt-ass-naked-self was banging on the wall between our condos. “Stop!” I shouted. “Some of us are trying to sleep!”

I was such a loser. Sure it was late, but it was a Friday night, and I’d just let my hot ass neighbor know I had no life because I was “sleeping” at three in the morning and not getting my brains fucked out like Nikki.

The banging of the headboard stopped, and I sighed. It worked. If only I’d done that years ago, Sam might have realized I could hear him and maybe he’d pick a different place to screw them. Like the couch or the kitchen counter. Hell, maybe even the floor.

I started to walk toward my attached bathroom when there was a knock on my front door. I stopped mid-step and didn’t move hopinghe’dleave. There was only one person it could be, and apparently, I’d pissed him off. More knocks came, and I held my breath. If he couldn’t hear me breathing, he’d assume I was sleeping.

And more knocks.

“Open the door, Peyton.”

He knew my name?I mean, I knew his name because I was a woman and we did that shit. As soon as I’d seen him when he moved in, I wanted to know his name, but of course, I couldn’t ask him. That would be crazy.

I wasn’t shy. I had to present cases in a courtroom, and all eyes would be on me as I spoke. I also met with strangers every day, from new clients to attorneys I’d never worked with before. But this was different. This was Sam. This was the hot neighbor whose name I knew only because I’d heard a chick screaming it. Of course, that was when I had a glass to the wall and my ear pressed against it, trying to hear what was happening in his bedroom.Little had I known I didn’t need the glass.But I had no idea he knew my name.

“Peyton, open the door.”

I sighed and closed my eyes. Sam had said more than two words to me now. Granted it wasn’t face-to-face, but if I opened the door, it would be more than the eight he’d already said.

“I’m not going away until you answer the door.”

I wasn’t sure how our neighbors were feeling about Sam yelling at my door. It was late—or early. However you wanted to look at it.

Sam knocked again. “Damn it, Peyton. Open the fucking door.”

Before he caused more of a scene, I snagged my robe from the back of my bathroom door and threw it on as I made my way to the front door. Thankfully I wasn’t sleeping. My hair and make-up were still intact and gave me a little more confidence when I swung the door open.

“What?” I hissed.

He opened his mouth to speak, and then I watched as his eyes traveled down my body and then back up. “I thought you were sleeping?”

“I said I was trying to,” I clarified.

“You sleep in full makeup?”

I scowled.Who was this guy?“No, I just got home and was getting ready for bed until I heard you—”

“Do you want to join us?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. Sam smiled, and then I remembered why I was infatuated with him. He was tall, dark and handsome: the perfect combination. His white teeth shined against his olive skin, and I swallowed. My gaze then traveled down his bare torso, and my eyes widened. I’d never seen him shirtless,and fuck me, he was perfect. Washboard abs, a trim waist that connected to that V that drove women crazy, and not a lick of hair on his chest. His lower stomach was a different story, and I knew exactly where the light dusting of hair went.

“Do you want to join us?” he asked again.

“How do you know my name?” I blurted.