To The Rude Guy in Apartment Five - J. S. Cooper Page 0,12
not drinking?
“The two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. One looked like it was half empty. Did your boyfriend drink it or just a friend?” He tilted his head to the side. “I guess they came over before I moved here?”
“You’re such an asshole. Fine, I do drink. I just don’t want to drink with you.”
“You really don’t want to be friends with me, do you?”
“I have enough friends.”
“We can be special friends?”
“Special friends?”
“Friends that bump uglies.” He grinned. “Or should I say, bump pretties.”
“I’m going now, Jagger.” I turned around, and I could hear him chuckling as I walked away.
“I’m taking that as a maybe, then?” he called after me.
I could picture the cocky look on his face in my mind, even though I couldn’t see it. I walked back into my apartment and slammed the door shut behind me, leaning back into the door as it closed. Holy shit! This was going to be hard. I buried my face in my hands and tried not to think about Jagger’s sexy body. He looked like a Roman statue, all chiseled and perfect. And he was so tan, his skin a warm olive color. I found myself wondering if his ass had the same golden hue or if it was as pasty white as it had been when he was younger. Oh yes, I could still picture his ass from before.
I cringed, realizing that Jagger could probably remember the color of my ass as well. I opened my eyes and was about to head to my books when my phone rang. I hurried over to answer it quickly, pleased when I saw Anna’s name on the screen.
“Hey, you!” I answered the phone, a huge smile on my face.
“Magnolia, my darling, how are you?” she gushed into the phone. “I’m so sorry I missed your call. I was in the gym.”
“The gym? Wow.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not trying to get fit. I’m still the same fat old me. I’ve been trying to make contact with a possible client.” She giggled into the phone, and I walked over to the couch to settle in while we chatted. “I heard he’s looking for a ten-million-dollar apartment, and I want to become his realtor.”
“How are you going to get that to happen in the gym?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far.” She sighed heavily. “But how are you? How’s the city by the bay?”
“It’s okay. I started my new job today.”
“Oh, yeah? How’s that going?”
“It’s going.” It was my turn to sigh. “Actually, I have even bigger news. You will not believe who just moved to San Francisco and who my new neighbor is.”
“Who?”
“Are you sitting down?”
“No, why?”
“You need to sit down for this one.”
“Oh my God, do not tell me that Bradley Cooper is your neighbor!” Anna squealed. “Okay, I’m on a plane tomorrow.”
“No, of course he’s not my neighbor.” I laughed. “Be real, Anna. Bradley Cooper isn’t moving into a one-bedroom apartment in the Tendernob.”
“I thought you lived in a studio?”
“I am in a studio, but all the other apartments on the floor are one-bedrooms.”
“Oh, okay.” She paused. “So I’m guessing from your reaction your new neighbor isn’t famous.”
“In his dreams, maybe.”
“Okay, how am I supposed to guess this, Magnolia? I have no clue.”
“Kingston Scott.”
“No way.” Her voice sounded shocked. “The King?”
“Yup, the King. Live and in person.”
“He’s your new neighbor?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, shit.”
“He goes by Jagger now.”
“The King goes by Jagger?”
“Yup.”
“Why?”
“No idea.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Ignore him,” I said. “I just can’t believe this. Why do I always have bad luck?”
“I can’t believe he’s there,” she murmured, and then she cleared her throat. “Have you spoken to Doug?”
“No, no, of course not,” I said quickly.
She seemed to get the hint and didn’t keep talking about Doug. “I’m sorry, Magnolia. That sounds like the absolute worst.”
“It is.”
“How does he look now?”
“Like a fucking god,” I groaned. “He’s even hotter than before.”
“Uh oh.”
“Uh oh what?”
“Don’t let his looks get to you, Magnolia,” she said softly. “He ruined your life once. Don’t let him ruin it again.”
“I know.” I sighed. “He’s making it hard, Anna. He’s still charming. He’s still sexy. And he’s still the cockiest bastard I’ve ever met. I can’t lie to you. I want him. I want him bad.”
“You can’t have him.”
“I know.”
“Remember what happened last time.”
“I will go to my grave remembering, Anna.” I closed my eyes to try and remove the image of Jagger from my mind. “Isn’t life funny? There was a point in my life when I would have died