Misunderstood (A Neighbor from Hell YA #1) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,40

interested in you.”

For a moment, she simply stood there with her back to him and then slowly, oh so freaking slowly, she turned around and said, “What?” looking truly confused.

Biting back a sigh because this wasn’t going the way that he’d hoped, Cole said, “I’m just not into you, Chloe. I’m sorry.”

Blinking, she said, “Why exactly are you telling me this?”

“Because I don’t want you to get your hopes up,” Cole said with a sympathetic shake of his head as he added another, “Sorry,” because he really didn’t know what else to say.

“Hold on,” Chloe said, raising her hand to stop him. “You actually think that I like you?”

When he shrugged, she slowly shook her head with a mumbled, “Unbelievable,” as she turned back around and headed up the stairs, leaving him sitting there wondering if that was it?

That was…

Easier than he’d thought, Cole mused, sighing in relief only to frown when Chloe calmly said, “Katie, if you open this door right now, I’ll let you throw the expired eggs that I tossed in the trashcan last night at Cole and I’ll even tell Uncle Nick that I’m the one that did it if he finds out.”

Frowning, Cole heard the telltale click of a lock seconds before the basement door was opened and–

“Thank you,” Chloe murmured quietly as she stepped into the kitchen as Cole got to his feet and–

“Damn it!” he snapped when the first egg slammed into him. By the time the second egg hit, he was trying not to gag as the scent of rotten eggs hit him. By the third egg, he was making his way up the stairs, cursing Chloe to hell and back and by the time he made it to the kitchen, he was ready to kill someone.

Chapter 17

“Oh, that can’t be good,” Sebastian said, taking in the empty chair where he’d left Mikey before shifting his attention to the rest of the backyard, noting that none of his brothers or cousins were back here and…

Definitely couldn’t be good.

Trying not to panic, and it was always difficult not to panic when Mikey was involved, Sebastian grabbed her abandoned book and shoved it in his sweatshirt before he headed back inside the house, hoping that he’d somehow missed them when he came out. After a quick search of the kitchen, the living room, and his cousins’ bedrooms, he was biting back a curse as he walked out the front door, praying that he was wrong as he headed toward the park.

When he heard the collective groans a few minutes later, he bit back a curse and moved his ass faster. He cut through the playground and the basketball courts and–

“Damn it!” Braxton gasped in pain as he shoved his baseball glove off so that he could hug his hand, which was already turning an interesting shade of red, against his chest.

“Is something wrong?” Mikey, who looked adorably pissed, asked, blinking innocently at the boy that was glaring in her direction while Sebastian’s brothers and cousins laughed their asses off.

“No,” Braxton bit out, looking like he wanted to throttle Mikey as he leaned over and snatched his glove off the ground and shoved his hand back inside.

“Then let’s see what you got,” Mikey said, gesturing with the baseball glove that one of his cousins must have lent her to throw the ball.

Glaring, Braxton grabbed the ball off the ground, straightened, and with a look that told Sebastian just how pissed the kid was at Mikey, he pulled back his arm and let the ball soar through the air.

With barely a flick of her wrist, Mikey easily caught the ball, further pissing the kid off as Sebastian shot Jonathan a glare as he headed toward Mikey.

“You want to keep going or have you had enough?” Mikey asked, tossing the ball in the air and catching it, looking bored while she waited for an answer.

“Just throw the damn ball,” Braxton bit out, holding up his glove as he struggled not to grimace.

Shrugging, Mikey said, “Okay,” as she pulled back her arm and sent the ball flying. Barely a second later, there was another, “Goddamnit!” as the ball slammed into Braxton’s glove. That was followed by sympathetic groans from their audience, right around the time that Mikey finally noticed him.

“Uh-oh…” she murmured, noticeably swallowing as she shifted, licked her lips nervously, and shifted her feet again as she did her best to discreetly shove her glove off her hand.

“We had a deal,” Sebastian reminded her as he came