Page 4

CHAPTER 4

MARG IS COOLER THAN YOU

JACKSON

H e can’t be serious.

After a week of catching him staring at me through his front window, which has been both creepy and flattering at the same time, this is the first thing he decides to say to me.

He’s lucky I’m a nice guy.

And slightly buzzed.

I inhale a deep breath and do my best to maintain my composure. With a smile, I ignore his request and continue with the one-sided introductions. “You must be Theo. Young, right?”

“Right,” he answers impassively.

Okay. Hard nut. “Emerson told me he and Dominic helped you move in. I apologize on their behalf for whatever they said.”

I see the corners of his lips twitch. “They weren’t that bad.”

I huff a laugh. “The fact that you have to say they weren’t ‘that bad’ means they were that bad.”

Finally, his lips curl into a reluctant smile. “I’m just glad they were willing to help.”

“Would you like a drink?” I point my thumb over my shoulder to where there’s a variety of drinks in the kitchen.

“No,” he snaps a little too quickly. “I mean, no thank you. I already had a couple of glasses of whiskey at home. Best not push my luck.”

“Whiskey, huh?” I ask. “One of those days?” I know the answer before he even responds. I can see it all over his face. He looks… defeated.

“You have no idea.” His smile remains, but it’s weaker now. Reaching up, he rubs the back of his neck and pulls his stare from me. “Anyway… I just really need—” he sighs heavily. “If you guys could turn it down a little I would really appreciate it.”

It’s clear to anyone who has eyes that this guy has had an absolute shit day. And sure, it may be our last party before school kicks off on Monday, but I’m not a monster. Plus, considering the fact that people were running naked through our front lawn, I think it’s alright if we start winding things down a bit.

I turn my head back toward Emerson and whistle. “Hey! Em! Let’s turn the music down a bit, yeah?”

Emerson walks toward the DJ, and a moment later the volume of the music lowers. Not a single person notices… except for the man in front of me.

“Thank you,” Theo says.

Despite his uncomfortable demeanor, I pause a moment to take him in. He’s clearly older than me, but I’m not sure by how much. He’s shorter than me, which, considering my height, most people are, but he looks like he stays in decent shape. My eyes linger on the way his biceps snuggly fill out his white cotton tee as he crosses his arms over his chest.

“Well.” He clears his throat, bringing my attention back up to his face. He one hundred percent just caught me, and I can’t find it in me to care. “I’m gonna head out.”

“Let me walk you out,” I interject before he can so much as move a muscle.

“It’s fine, I?—”

“Theo.” His eyes widen at the use of his name. “Let me walk you out.” My smile may be gentle but it’s clear I’m not asking.

Theo nods and spins on his heel as we walk out the front door onto the porch. Almost immediately I realize it’s darker out here than it should be. I look behind me to find the two lights on either side of the front door are missing their light bulbs. Ones that were definitely there before the start of the party.

“Fucking children,” I mumble under my breath.

But apparently not quiet enough, because Theo asks, “What was that?”

“Those had lightbulbs in them a few hours ago,” I answer with a half-hearted eye roll.

Theo chuckles and the sound washes over me. “College students do the weirdest shit.”

“You’re telling me,” I laugh. “You know”—I lean against the porch railing in front of Theo, silently telling him I’m not in a hurry for him to leave—“Marg over there has never once complained about our music. You’re officially less cool than an eighty-year-old.”

“Probably has something to do with the fact she doesn’t want to risk being on bad terms with the men that mow her lawn shirtless.”

I fucking knew it. He has been watching.

? * I tilt my head inquisitively. “And how is it you know we’ve been mowing her lawn with our shirts off? Have you been watching me, Mr. Young?”

Suddenly, Theo’s eyes are the size of saucers, and it takes everything in me not to laugh.

“It’s hard to not hear her whistling at you,” he answers confidently.

Slowly, I push up off the railing, so I’m standing toe-to-toe with him. “And what about when I was unloading groceries?”

He swallows harshly and takes a step back. “I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“Hmmmm.” I take another step closer, and he takes another step back. He could easily sidestep me, but he hasn’t. Yet. “And how about when I came back from my run yesterday morning.”

“I was… cleaning the window. Coincidence.”

I take one more step, except this time when Theo goes to move backward, he’s met with the front of the house.

It’s a miracle nobody has come out here to interrupt us yet, but the beer coolers were moved inside hours ago, and anybody who would have come to this party is already inside. Looks like we have my, now dark, front porch all to ourselves.

I rest my hands on the house on either side of his head and lean down slightly, just to see if he pushes me away. And when he doesn’t, I close the distance between my face and his, leaving only an inch of space. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

Theo exhales a heavy breath as he looks up at me, and I can feel it against my lips. “Yeah, me either.”

His green eyes bounce between mine, and I decide if I’m going to take a chance now is as good a time as any. Slowly, I move my hand from the siding to the nape of his neck. And I don’t know if it was the glasses of whiskey he had before he came over here or not, but he doesn’t move away.

“I should head home,” he whispers, still not moving.

Even slower, I slide my hand to the front of his neck and grip it gently, using the pad of my thumb to keep his head tilted up at me. “Should you?”

“I—” He doesn’t finish his sentence. Instead, the two of us stand there for a moment. Out on my front porch. Covered in darkness.

Theo inhales a shaky breath, and I can’t fucking take it anymore. I crash my lips to his. He freezes for a moment, and when he grips the front of my shirt with both hands, I worry he’s going to push me away. But instead, his body goes limp against the side of the house, and he pulls me closer. He groans against my lips, as I use my tongue to part his. And he groans again when I press my erection against his.

I don’t know who this man is outside of being my new neighbor, and yet every fiber of my being is begging me to get lost in him.

Theo lets me explore his mouth with my tongue, and I savor the way he tastes. The way he feels against me.

My lips pull from his for a moment, and I groan his name, “Theo.”

It’s like the sound of me saying his name again, snaps him out of whatever trance the two of us are under.

He pushes me away from him and sprints down the front steps and across the street without so much as another word or look back. I watch breathlessly as he unlocks his house and relocks it behind him.

“Who was that?” Clay’s sudden appearance next to me breaks my focus, just as Theo closes the curtains of his front window.

I run my hand through my hair, trying to silently catch my breath. Hoping Clay won’t notice me acting… well, however, it is that I’m acting. “My new neighbor I guess.”

And just maybe my new obsession.

* ? Talk Dirty - Daniel Di Angelo