Page 2 of Same Thing

Layla was standing on the sidewalk that led to her building, arms crossed over her chest, standing in a power-stance in her fitted pink blazer and dress pants. “You know what you asked me the other week?” Layla asked.

“Yeah?” Nory murmured, coming to a stop beside her.

“The boss declined it, but I’ll ask again.”

“Okay, thank you,” she said softly, then made her way to the stairs that would lead up to her third story apartment. “Oh,” she said, hesitating. “Tell that new guy thanks, will you?”

Layla nodded. “You’ve got it.”

Nory looked behind her, and at the same moment, that tall man cast a glance at her over his shoulder. It looked like he was the one trapping Jackson in the mailbox area now. He looked uncomfortable and tried to get around the giant man but couldn’t. Ha. How did that feel?

She took the stairs two-at-a-time and closed the door to her apartment as fast as she could when she reached the third floor.

Jackson’s apartment was on the first floor, directly beneath her and her downstairs neighbor. Only one apartment separated them. Two weeks ago, Nory had asked if she could either move apartments to the opposite side of the complex away from Jackson or break her lease early without the financial repercussions that came along with that. She couldn’t afford the twelve hundred dollars just to break her lease three months early and had been hoping the complex would have mercy on her and have it waived.

The second she got into her apartment, her phone buzzed with a text message. It was from her best friend in the world, Alese.

Shipwrecks. Tonight. Wear something slutty.

Nory’s mood lifted in an instant. Yes! Shipwrecks was a bar in walking distance that had awesome drink specials on Thursdays. The ‘wear something slutty’ comment was a joke. Nory never dressed like that and Alese knew it. She was an introvert. Dressing immodestly would drag attention to her that she had zero interest in. She did enjoy being out with Alese though and cutting loose. Fridays and Saturdays were her days off from work, so she always felt like getting out on Thursdays.

It would be an excellent way to get rid of this unsettled feeling she always had after talking to Jackson.

Time?Nory typed out. Send.

I’ll be at your place at 8. It’s been a week. We can walk over together. Miss you, ho.

She giggled and texted back,Miss you too. Can’t wait to hear about your week.Send.

Party foul. We are not talking about work tonight. Tonight…we escape.

And that sounded perfect to Nory.

See you at 8. I’ll double-layer a turtleneck. Send.

Perfect. Pair them with booty shorts.

Nory rolled her eyes and tossed her phone onto her couch, shaking her head. Booty shorts were not her style. She would feel exposed all night, and already, she had issues with feeling vulnerable. She always felt like people were looking at her, and the shyness made it difficult to just ‘act normal.’

But…Alese was a phenomenal buffer and always absorbed all the attention in a room, and Nory just got to be around good vibes and good times.

Nory lifted one of her blinds to look outside and at first, she didn’t know why she’d done it. But as she scanned the parking lot, she realized exactly who she was looking for.

The giant gym rat in the sunglasses was carrying a box from the back of a big, jacked up pickup truck. Nory lifted the blinds higher and craned her neck as she tried to see where he was carrying it.

He was headed toward the next building over from hers, and that one was made of one-bedroom apartments. He probably had a lady who was moving in with him too. That would not shock her at all, that man was so hot.

At least, from what she could tell behind his sunglasses and low riding baseball cap, he was hot. He wore a navy-blue t-shirt that hugged his bicep and shoulder muscles, and his jeans fit him like one of those famous movie stars on television. She’d never seen anyone physically put together better than that man.

He disappeared around the corner of the apartment building, and from here, she couldn’t tell if he was on the first floor, or if he went up the stairs.

His truck was really nice, and looked newly washed, and possibly brand new. It had big tires on it and nearly took up two parking spaces. The man returned just a few moments later to the truck and pulled out another box, but right before he shut the tailgate, he looked up, directly at her.

With a gasp, Nory let the blind fall back into place, and she backed up a few paces quickly.

She was so busted.

Barely resisting the urge to go back and watch him unpack the rest, she forced herself to check the beef stew she had simmering in the slow cooker.