Page 3 of Don’t Love the Boy Next Door (Hotties Next Door #2)

Even though I’m not really in the mood for company, I’m glad she’s coming.

I need the distraction. Not that Phoenix is even considered company—she’s family.

And she always makes me feel better, even when she’s not trying.

I don’t know how I’ll get through the hours until I have to see him again, but she’ll definitely make it easier.

Once I finish cleaning up the kitchen, I lounge on the couch with a mindless game on my phone. It helps keep out the memory, though only a little.

The door opens and Phoenix steps in. “I have arrived!” And like she promised, she’s dressed in her pink pajamas splattered with strawberries.

“I can’t believe you actually did that,” I say with a laugh. “You definitely have guts.”

After dumping the leftovers she brought in the fridge, she hops onto the couch. “Some may call it guts, others might call it insanity. Me, I just call it “Another Day in the Life of Phoenix Ellis.’”

“Did you vlog yourself walking like that?”

She grins. “What do you think?” She reaches for the remote and turns on the TV. “So what are we watching today?” She opens Netflix and starts searching through the options. “Ooh, look a new action movie.”

“Eh, not in the mood.”

“Yeah. Hmm…ooh, what about a foreign show? Korean, Japanese?”

I lean back on the couch and stretch. “Not really in the mood to read subtitles.”

“True. Today’s a pajama day. We have to watch the most relaxing show in the world.” She flips through a few more options. “Okay, got it! A high school romance series.”

I’m not really in the mood for a show right now. I don’t think I’m in the mood for anything, really. But I shrug and tell her I’m fine with it.

“Cool. I’ll go microwave some popcorn.”

While she does that, I check my phone. Thankfully, I don’t have any texts.

“Aaaand I’m back!” She hops onto the couch, nearly hurling some popcorn across the room. “Woops.” She picks up the remote and starts the episode. “I hope it’s good. I’m in the mood for a good drama.”

Not me. I think I’ve had enough drama to last me a lifetime.

The show’s pretty interesting so far. About a nerdy girl getting together with a popular guy.

So cliché, I know, but there’s something about the girl’s personality that makes you want to be her best friend.

And the guy is sweet, not a jerk like some jocks are portrayed.

At any other time, this would be right up my ally. But I’m just not into it.

“Oh my gosh, so good,” Phoenix says as she starts the next episode. “You’re so quiet. What do you think?”

“It’s cool,” I say.

“Cool, that’s it?” She pauses the show and turns to me with worried eyes. “You okay?”

“Fine.” I force a smile. “Start the episode.”

Her eyes rove over me like she wants to say more, but then she resumes the show and tosses some popcorn into her mouth.

The nerdy girl and popular guy find themselves in a tiny closet, their bodies pressed so close together they’re practically fused into one person. The guy’s eyes fall to her lips. Hers drops to his. Then their faces move toward each other’s.

Just as the guy is about to close his mouth over hers, the girl stumbles back, causing various cleaning supplies to crash to the floor. It starts a domino effect, knocking over almost every item in the closet.

With a look of horror, the girl yanks the door open and flees.

The image of me fleeing from Eric and rolling down the steps flashes before my eyes. Grabbing the remote, I shut the TV. “Let’s do something else.”

Phoenix shifts over on the couch so she faces me, her gaze scrutinizing mine. “Okay, I wanted to give you some space, you know, because I can be overprotective of you sometimes. But I can’t take it anymore. I know something’s bothering you. Seriously, what happened at rehearsal yesterday?”

“Nothing.” I pluck one of the cushions and pull on a loose thread, my eyes anywhere but on her face.

“Uh uh.” She folds her arms over her chest and lifts her brow like she means business.

I sigh. “It’s no big deal. Just forget about it.”

She keeps her eyes on me for a few seconds before releasing her own sigh and turning the TV back on. Then she shuts it off and faces me again. “No, I can’t. Sorry, Kates, but I need to know what’s going on. You got Belle. Why aren’t you dancing on the roof?”

“I am happy,” I insist, “more than you can ever imagine.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

I fold my arms across my chest. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Holding it in isn’t good. You’ll explode one day.”

I don’t say anything.

“Look. I know it’s been hard for you the last few months. But you don’t have to keep everything bottled up. You don’t have to talk about your mom if you don’t want to, but can you at least tell me if something else is bothering you? I’m worried about you, Katie. I just want you to be happy.”

I sigh again. “I know. And I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to worry about me. You should have fun gaming and doing your live streams.”

“Forget about that. It’s not important. You are.”

I avert my gaze to my knees. “Fine. I made a total fool of myself yesterday at rehearsal.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “Is that all? Phew, I thought something terrible happened.”

“Something terrible did happen!” I moan and cover my face. Then I tell her in exact detail what happened yesterday. I don’t lower my hands from my face because I want to hide in a hole and pretend it never happened.

“I don’t know how I’ll face him,” my muffled voice says. “And we have band practice in a few hours. I’ll text Ethan that I’m sick.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” She tugs on my hands to lower them from my face, but I paste them to my cheeks. “C’mon, Katie!”

“Maybe if I hide away like this, it’ll go away.”

“Ha, sure.” She yanks so hard my hands slip right off my face. “Look, I get that you’re mortified. But these things happen, right? You have an embarrassing story for every musical or play you’ve done. It’s like a classic Katie.”

“But it’s different now.”

“Why?”

I throw my hands up. “I don’t know!”

She studies me for a bit, her eyes growing wide. “Katie…do you like Eric?”

“What? No way. Of course not.”

“You sure? I mean, you freaked out after he kissed you.”

I shake my head resolutely. “I’m one hundred percent sure I do not like Eric Palmer.”

“Hmm.”

“And I don’t know how I’ll face everyone at rehearsal on Monday. Who knows if I even still have the role?”

“Of course you do,” she says. “You’re probably the only one obsessing over it. I doubt anyone else is giving it a second thought.”

“Besides for Eric,” I mutter.

“And if he is? Are you going to let this small blip hold you back from playing one of your dream roles? Katie, you’re Belle. Belle . You’ve wanted this forever.”

“I know.”

“You’re a strong, confident young woman. A strong confident young woman who makes mistakes. Because she’s human and she’s awesome, and she won’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of her dreams. You’ll be the best Belle in the history of Belles. I know it.”

Her words fly right past my ears. Because nothing she or anyone says can make me feel better.

We’re quiet. She stares at the paused show and I gaze out the window, trying not to think about my embarrassing moment.

“You’re not the only one who had an incident yesterday,” she says after a few minutes.

I snap my eyes from the window to her. “What? Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to ask you about your date. I’m so selfish.”

She shakes her head, snorting. “That guy is already filed to the back of my mind.”

I lift a brow.

She snorts again, crossing her arms over her chest. “You know how I thought this guy would actually be decent? Nope, I was wrong. Guy’s a jerk.”

I take her hand, giving her a sympathetic smile. “What happened?”

She twists her nose like she ate something sour. “He called me crazy. Said the only reason he asked me out was because he thought I was hot. So I got out of his car. Late at night. In the middle of nowhere. Seriously. Like there were no houses around and I had no idea where I was.”

My mouth drops open. “That’s terrible. And terrifying.”

She shrugs. “Yeah, I’ll admit I was a little scared. But there was no way I would have stayed a second longer with that jerk.”

“You should have called me.”

“Phone didn’t work in no man’s land. Anyway, I started walking home. I had no idea where I was going, but I figured I’d find my way. Then this guy on a motorcycle started following me.”

My eyes grow as wide as melons.

“It was Ethan.”

I heave a sigh of relief. “What was he doing there? Oh, right. Football party.”

She nods slowly. “Yeah, except he wasn’t going to the party. He left to look for me.”

“What?”

She shrugs. “Thad told him what happened and he came looking for me. Kind of forced me to get on his bike—okay he didn’t force me. I mean, I did not want to get on there, but I didn’t want to walk all alone in the dark, you know. So that’s my story.”

I cover my face. “At least yours isn’t embarrassing.”

She throws her arms around me, yanking me close to her. “It’ll be okay, Kates.”

If only that were true.

“Let’s watch the show before I drive myself crazy with the memory.”

She presses play and we lose ourselves in a fictional world. My thoughts keep drifting to The Incident here and there, but for the most part I do a good job at blocking it out.