Page 11 of Don’t Love the Boy Next Door (Hotties Next Door #2)

Chapter Ten

Ethan

Coach is very tough on us during practice, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.

Most of the guys on the team call me a beast on the field, and today I’m really feeling it.

I guess Phoenix being upset with me awakened some anger inside me and I’m using it to completely demolish this practice.

Coach is super happy with me, and from the look on his face, I know he’s telling himself he made a good decision by bringing me all the way from L.A.

to play for his team. And I agree. As much as I miss my friends and team back home, this is the best group of guys I’ve ever played with. We get each other, are like brothers.

I’m still upset with Thad for what he did to Phoenix, but he can be an idiot sometimes.

He, Jeremy, and a few others are only into hot girls.

They don’t care about the layers underneath.

Or maybe they’re not ready for something serious, not like me and Charlotte.

She hasn’t texted me all day and I’m worried she has a boyfriend, but I tell myself not to lose focus.

Nothing and no one, not even fiery-haired girls, should distract me from making something of myself.

Coach gives us some feedback and pointers before telling us to hit the showers. Jeremy, Thad, and some others slap me on the back, telling me I’m going to take them places. I retort with it’s not just me. All of us make up our team and we’re all amazing. But they don’t want to hear it.

“Our last quarterback had a panic attack or something,” Jeremy tells me as we head to the locker room. “Couldn’t handle the pressure and snapped.”

“That sucks,” I say. “What happened?”

Thad shrugs. “Recruiters were coming to see him and his dad put so much pressure on him. He was a football player, too. So the guy completely lost it. But I think he’s okay now.” He shrugs again.

It sucks what happened, but I can’t help feeling a little jealous that he at least had a father who cared enough about him and his future. My dad couldn’t care less if I were dead. Maybe that’s a bit extreme, but it sure feels that way.

I shower, climb onto my bike, and ride home. My thoughts travel to what happened today, specifically with Phoenix. As much as I force them not to, it seems like I don’t have control over them anymore.

She completely ignored me the entire day, didn’t look at me once during lunch. Katie always waves and smiles at me, but her friend pretty much treats me like an ant on the ground.

How are we supposed to get through the presentation when she won’t even acknowledge that I exist? Oh right. According to her, I did something wrong by existing. What the heck does that even mean?

Once I reach home, I slip off my helmet, get off my bike, and park it in the garage. I’m still full of adrenaline from practice, so I hit the gym. I’ll have to take a shower again, but whatever.

I push everything out of my head and focus on releasing all this pent-up energy and frustration.

I don’t care that she hates me. Sure I thought we could be friends, but clearly we can’t.

And maybe that’s for the best, anyway, since I always manage to say or do the wrong thing, even if I don’t understand exactly what I did.

After I’m done my workout, I head up to shower, forcing my thoughts away from Phoenix. Why is it so hard to get her out of my head? Maybe because I don’t like people hating me, especially when I don’t understand why.

I pass Eric’s room on my way back from the bathroom and find him strumming his guitar. A notepad sits before him, with lots of lyrics scribbled there.

“Hey.” I lean against the doorway, flicking some wet bangs out of my eyes. “Looks like the new song is coming along.”

He grins as he glances down at the pad. “Yep. Finally got something decent.”

I remain at the door, listening to him play and sing softly. The guy has a good voice, not like my average one. He’s got this dreamy look on his face, like he’s the happiest guy on the planet.

“You’re in a good mood,” I say.

He stops playing. “Yeah, guess I am.”

I straighten up. “Because of band practice last night?”

“Yeah, guess so.”

Whatever messed him up this past Saturday evaporated into thin air.

He and Katie were fire last night, which only fueled me and Cody.

We had the best practice we’ve ever had, even when Charlotte was our lead singer.

As much as I love Charlotte, Katie is a much better singer than her.

I know I got mad at Cody, but he was just being honest. Now I see for myself just how talented our lead singer is.

And I also couldn’t ignore the sparks flying between my brother and Katie.

Eric glances up from the guitar. “What?”

“What?”

His eyebrows furrow. “You’re looking at me funny.”

Shaking my head, I lean against the wall again. “Nope. Not looking at you funny.” I lift a brow. “I noticed you and Katie had a lot of fun last night at practice.”

His fingers freeze on the chords. “Yeah. I mean, we sounded great together.”

It’s more than that, but I’m going to keep quiet about that. Eric has always been confident with girls, but I’ve never seen him as lost as he is with Katie.

He continues playing and I watch him for a few minutes. Then he stops and looks at me again. “Want to jam?”

“I think I need food first. Did Mom say there are leftovers in the fridge?”

He follows me to the kitchen, where I take out the lasagna and heat it up. Eric’s gaze is on the fridge, though it doesn’t look like his mind is even here. I don’t need to ask who he’s thinking about. The girl next door.

He snaps in, maybe feeling my eyes on him. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

“No reason.”

The microwave beeps and I take out the food.

We don’t say anything to one another as we eat.

This silence, I hate it. Mom’s not here.

She’s working because our jerk of a dad refuses to help out.

So instead of eating dinner like a family, she gobbles something down at work.

And then she comes home dead tired, still manages to make food for tomorrow (though Eric and I tell her we’re fine).

I hate it. I hate him. Yes, it’s a strong word, especially when talking about the man who gave me life, but that’s how I feel.

We finish eating, clean up the kitchen, then return to his room to jam.

We’ve always been in sync, like we share a mind, but it’s a little different now.

Eric thinks I don’t care about the band as much as I used to.

It’s kind of true. As much as I love jamming, I don’t have a passion for it like my brother does.

Still, I try to do everything I can to be there for him, help him follow his dream to be a musician.

Even though it stings, since it reminds me of Dad, I want to support him. Same way he supports my football.

“Great song,” I tell my brother once we’re done and I gently place my bass on the floor. “Definitely as good as the others.”

“You think?”

“Yep.”

I wonder—no, I know—who the source of his inspiration is. My gaze flicks to the window and I find Katie reading a book in her room. Phoenix doesn’t seem to be there.

“What are you looking at?” Eric asks, following my gaze. A small smile forms on his mouth as he watches our neighbor read. Man, I’ve never seen him like this. He’s never been awkward and shy around a girl before.

Getting to my feet, I clap him on the back. Not going to call him out on his feelings for Katie because I don’t want to freak him out or cause any tension in the band again. We’re in a good place and I don’t want anything to mess that up.

I make my way to my room and flop down at my desk. I’ve got lots of homework to do, but I’m not in the mood. I also need to read that report, since Phoenix and I will be presenting tomorrow. I have no idea how we’re going to manage that, but I’ll do whatever I can to make sure I pass this class.

I read the first page, then find my mind wandering.

I can see so much of her personality shining through the pages.

Will Mrs. Holden realize I’m not on the page?

Maybe not. She was so excited to hear we finished already that I think she’ll give us an A on the spot.

Besides, as long as I nail the presentation tomorrow, I should be okay.

I flip through the pages for a little while, only to find myself distracted again. Before I can stop myself, I click on Phoenix’s channel. She’s live streaming a game from her house. That’s why I couldn’t find her at Katie’s.

The chat is exploding like it normally does. I skim the comments, smiling at the ones cheering her on and cursing the haters under my breath. Why can’t everyone appreciate and enjoy the stream? Why are there so many haters out there?

I focus on Phoenix, trying to get some sort of hint on what’s bothering her. Is it me or something else? The bullies? They’re attacking her like they did last night, but would she take out all that anger on me?

No. I must have done something. But what?

I click back to last night’s video and read LiamC protecting her from the haters.

I know it was wrong to make that account, to pretend to be someone else online.

But…I’m not even sure why I did it. Why I have this crazy need to protect her.

First online from the trolls, then when Thad abandoned her on the streets.

She hates me, yet all I want to do is make sure she’s okay. Why?

Clicking back to the current live stream, I notice she keeps glancing at the chat, as if she’s looking for something. Or someone? Maybe LiamC?

It’s wrong to fool her this way, but I can’t just sit here and let her take all this crap from the bullies. Besides it seems she wants Liam to drop by. If I can’t talk to her in real life, the least I could do is be her friend online.