Love Thy Neighbor (8 page)

Tina once offered to be a surrogate for me.
I love her for that, but until I find someone I’m serious about,
it’s not something I’ll even think about.

I try not to get my hopes up about the
children thing, but it’s something I’ve wanted since I was a little
girl. I’d already planned my family and it would consist of me, a
not-yet-named daddy, two sweet girls and one naughty boy. And two
seriously ugly-cute pug dogs named Pizza and Donut.

That’s my family.

At least, it was.

Tina, Mimi and Lola all know about this.
What they don’t know is just how seriously it cut me. And it cut me
deep. The blade ran right through the heart, down my sternum and
twisted in my gut. Although you can’t die from pain, this
particular brand of pain makes you feel like you’re dying a very
slow, tortured and excruciating death. My chest still aches when I
think about it.

Cole brings me back to reality. “Panties
off, sunshine.” He reaches under my long skirt and runs his hands
up my legs, takes hold of my panties and lowers them. I know I
haven’t waxed, but if it’s what he wants, who am I to deny him?

He leaves a trail of wet kisses up my leg
and whispers against my inner thigh. “I’m gonna rock your world,
sunshine.” He runs his nose gently up my folds and breathes me
in.

Pure sex.

It’s dirty.

I love it.

My stomach and core tighten
simultaneously.

Then Cole proceeds to rock my world.

Chapter
Five
Friends

The next morning I wake with a start.

What the heck? Where is that noise coming
from?

Buzz-buzz, buzz-buzz, buzz-buzz

Is there a goddamn bee in my bed?

The thought of a bee in my bed makes me jump
up like a jack-in-the-box. So, here I stand on my bed, hardly awake
and disorientated, mimicking a wrestling stance to fight a bee that
I’m not one hundred percent sure exists.

A frown forms on my face. Something’s wrong
here. My eyes focus on the flashing light produced by my cell phone
on my nightstand.

I lower my grappling stance and hop off the
bed.

Squinting, I pick up my cell phone and check
the time. It reads 6:24am.

You’re freakin’ kidding me!

The person who just texted me obviously has
a death wish. With a sigh, I open the offending text message and a
surprised smile forms on my face when I see it’s from Cole.

Last night was hot. So hot I thought we’d
burn the sheets. Or, at least, I’d burn the sheets. He did exactly
what he said he would.

He rocked my world.

Cole made sure of that. He licked me, sucked
me and made out with my pussy til I was almost in tears. The ass
wouldn’t let me come and was enjoying it thoroughly. Every time I
hurled sex-induced abuse at him, he would chuckle. Then it finally
happened. And angels sang.

My legs shook, my core convulsed and I was
spent. I fell into a sex coma.

Cole let me be for a little while. I
subconsciously heard shuffling feet and running water, then I was
being wiped with something soft and warm. Still in an
endorphin-filled daze, I could only smile.

He scooped me up and walked me to the lounge
room, placed me on the sofa and brought me the cold pizza. We ate
in silence. Staring at each other and smiling like the idiots we
are.

When we finished eating, we sat wrapped up
in each other, necking like a couple of teenagers. And even though
it was cheesy, it was nice. So nice, I didn’t want him to go.
During the remainder of the night, I mentally argued with myself.
If oral sex was that great with Cole, the real thing would have to
be spectacular.

Maybe it would rival sex with Ghost. I hope
it rivals sex with Ghost.

I mentally sigh.

Nothing rivals sex with Ghost.

Before I knew it, it was close to midnight
and Cole was getting ready to leave. Putting on the shirt I tore
off him, and the shoes he took off to be more comfortable, I walked
him to the door and pulled him down to place a chaste kiss on his
full lips. This was obviously the wrong thing to do because he
growled and pushed me up against the wall where he savagely kissed
the hell out of me for another few minutes. He pulled away from me.
I ran my fingers through his hair, cupped his cheeks and searched
his face. He looked indecisive. So, naturally, I squeaked when he
picked me up, forcing my legs to wrap around his waist, and carried
me back to my room for round two. I smile at the memory. The second
time, he let me come after ten minutes. Ten minutes of sweet
torture. Attempting to leave a second time, I walked him back to
the door but when I went to kiss him, he stopped me with a firm,
“No.”

I am really liking Cole. Cole the caveman.
Cole the sweetheart. I like him both ways.

This brings us to now. I open the text
message. My eyes widen and I flush before bursting into
laughter.

Cole: I figured it out. You taste like my
grandmother’s blueberry pie.

I respond immediately.

Me: Holy shitballs, Cole! You can’t wake me
up like that. You damn near gave me a heart attack.

Cole: I thought I loved my grandmother’s
blueberry pie til I tried yours.

Flushing a bright red, my core begins to
moisten. I’m getting hot and bothered, I type quickly.

Me: You’re welcome to a slice anytime you
like…but I’ll make you work for it.

Cole: Fuck yeah, sunshine. Working for it is
half the fun.

Me: You’re making me hot. That’s not fair
:(

Cole: I’ll make it up to you if you let me
see you tonight ;)

My thoughts immediately drift to Ghost. The
cooking show he likes is on tonight. I thought we’d stay in and
watch. I begin arguing with myself.

Why are you making Ghost a priority?

I’m not making him a priority. He’s my
friend. That’s what friends do.

Think, girl. How much are you getting out of
this friendship? Who’s getting the better end of the deal here?

Fuck you, brain. You’re a bitter bitch.
Ghost may not be great to me, but he isn’t bad to me.

Don’t get hurt.

Yeah, yeah. I’ll make sure of that.

I sigh and text Cole.

Me: Sorry, honey. Got plans with friends
tonight. Maybe tomorrow?

A few minutes pass and I’m suddenly worried
that Cole is pissed with me.

Cole: Sure thing, sunshine. Tomorrow. It’s a
date.

Relief washes over me. It’s not like I lied
to him. I just didn’t tell him which friend I was hanging out with.
Alone. In my apartment. All night.

Hmmm. If the tables were turned and Cole was
hanging out with some hot chick all night in his apartment, I’d be
pissed. I decide that next time I see him I’ll explain that Ghost
and I have a unique friendship and all will be okay.

I hope.

***

Today is dragging so much that I think I
might just poke myself in the eye for fun.

Tina won’t be in today because Tatiana has a
cold. That sucks balls. My heart aches for my little sweetheart. I
hate it when kids get sick, especially young babies because there
isn’t a lot you can do to help. Tina feels helpless which means I’m
right there with her.

So, today I am boss lady of Safira’s
boutique. Luckily, Mimi and Lola are both working today, but it’s
just my luck that things aren’t going well.

Firstly, a shipment of clothes due to be on
racks today has gone AWOL and, as per usual, the cuntish people at
the post office are taking on a
not my problem
kind of
approach. Secondly, I missed my lunch because there were too many
people in the store and I couldn’t leave the girls to handle it on
their own. Thirdly, every second person is throwing attitude my
way, and every time someone speaks to me, my brain translates it to
sound like blah, blah, fucking blah.

It’s only a matter of time before I lose my
shit and give someone a piece of my mind.

I never said I was a good boss lady.

The crowd dies down and my stomach rumbles.
Loudly. Lola looks over at me with wide eyes. “What the heck was
that?”

Mimi answers from across the studio, never
looking up from her clipboard. “She’s hungry. She didn’t have time
to get lunch.”

Lola looks stricken. “What the heck is wrong
with you?” she yells and then slaps my shoulder.

Mimi responds, still not looking over,
“She’s the boss lady today. She can’t leave if there are more than
ten people in the store. She couldn’t go then.” Mimi finally looks
at me and smiles. “But she can leave now.”

I smile my response. Lola grabs my purse and
pushes me across the studio towards the front door. “Go on!
Get!”

I can’t help but laugh. I love these girls.
“You guys want anything from Silvio’s?”

At the same time, they both answer,
“Cookie!” in a Cookie Monster voice.

Chuckling at their silliness, I take my
purse and walk down the street to Silvio’s sub shop. The man makes
a sandwich like no one else. He actually cuts the meat right in
front of you. The turkey is always fresh and moist. A sub by Silvio
is to die for.

Silvio is a sweet, mature Italian man. He’s
balding, round, funny and barely speaks passable English. He spots
me and pretends to have heart troubles by putting his hands on his
chest and stumbling back. He smiles a cheeky smile and greets me
with, “
diavolo rosso dai capelli
.” I’ve since learned this
means Red-haired Devil.

And I have to say, I like it.

I smile my most charming smile and ask him,
“What do you have fit for a Devil?”

Silvio lifts his head to the ceiling and
belly laughs. With dancing eyes he replies, “You no devil. Too
sweet for devil. Maybe angel?”

Still smiling, I shake my head forlornly and
tell him, “Wishful thinking, Silvio. We both know what I am. I
can’t hide it.”

He chuckles through his reply, “Sweet devil,
one day you become angel. You see.” He goes about making my regular
turkey sub and I look around the store. I do a double take when I
see Ghost sitting in the corner booth frowning at his laptop
screen. Silvio hands me my sub and two cookies. Without thinking, I
go over to Ghost and sit right next to him. He scowls as he turns
but as soon as he looks at me, his face softens a little.

A sheepish smile forms on his face. “Sorry.
Didn’t see you there.”

Unwrapping my sub, I reply, “No shit,
Sherlock. Why so glum? Porn not loading quick enough?”

A look of confusion crosses his face. I nod
to his laptop. He smirks and replies, “Sugar, what makes you think
I need porn?” He leans back in the booth, places his hands behind
his head and looks smug. “Club ladies throw themselves at me all
the time.” I roll my eyes and pretend to choke on my sub.
Chuckling, he goes back to his laptop, typing furiously. We sit in
a comfortable silence and I finish up my sub with a moan. It’s a
seriously good sub. If I had a hat, I’d take it off to Silvio.

“I like that,” Ghost murmurs.

Huh?

I open my eyes from my food coma and look
right into Ghost’s soft brown eyes. “Like what?”

“When you-” Cutting himself off, he clears
his throat and looks back to his laptop. “When women eat.”

Laughter bursts out of me and I utter, “Then
you should love me, Ash. There’s nothing better in the world than
food. Why do you think I love Tina so much? The girl can bake!”

Still looking at his laptop, Ghost mutters,
“The girl can seriously bake.”

My voice colored with humor. I take it one
further. “The girl can bake the shit out of a cake.”

Chuckling, Ghost one-ups me. “The girl can
ice the fuck out of a cupcake.”

We look at each other smiling like a couple
of jerks and laugh. I hold my belly and say, “Oh shit. Tina got
served and she doesn’t even know it.”

Ghost’s smile fades and he says deadly
serious, “Don’t tell her I was making fun of her. I love those
cupcakes.”

The thought of Ghost being scared that Tina
would cut him off is hilarious! I laugh again but what Ghost says
next wipes any form of mirth off of my face. “So, I heard moaning
and banging on the walls last night. I take it your date went
well.” He doesn’t even look at me, just types away on his
laptop.

Unsure whether to tell him to mind his own
fucking business or to defend myself, I decide being aloof is best.
“Yeah, I guess you could say it went well.”

Watching him closely, I see what seems to be
anger cross his face, but he covers it quickly. “So, I guess I
should get used to that, huh? Him spending the night?”

Hold the fuck up. Say what now?

Now I’m pissed. I reply heatedly, “First
things first, dickwad, he didn’t spend the night. Secondly,
whatever sexcapades I plan to take on are none of your fucking
business. Thirdly, I wasn’t going to see him tonight so we could
watch the baking show together, but now you can eat a dick.” I
finish on a nod, and move to stand but he catches my hand and pulls
me back into the booth to sit.

He looks confused as he says, “Hey, now. I
didn’t mean to sound rude. I was just making conversation.”

Scoffing, I reply, “Yeah, right. You’re
acting like I owe you an explanation or some shit, Ash.”

Frowning, he murmurs, “You’re right. Sorry,
pretty girl. It won’t happen again.”

I love when he calls me pretty girl. The rat
bastard.

I look into his eyes. He looks upset at
himself and genuinely sorry. I sigh and roll my eyes heavenward.
“Okay. Good.”

Warmth on my hand draws my gaze. I haven’t
even realized he’s still holding my hand from when he pulled me
back into the booth. His thumb softly rubs the back of my hand.
When he sees me look down, he drops my hand like it’s hot and
clears his throat. “So, we still watching TV tonight or did I just
make things weird?”

Try as I might, I can’t stop the grin that
spreads across my face. “You
are
weird, Ash. A fucking
weirdo. But yes, we’re still on tonight.”