My Beautiful Neighbor (The Greene Family #1) - Piper Rayne Page 0,59
month happens, everyone is remembering her. Which is great, but I need some fucking air right now.
As though she’s my saving grace, headlights reflect off the garage. I stand to go meet Presley, but Chevelle stands faster.
“Oh, I haven’t officially met her yet. Is that her?” She beelines past me, out the back door, and ambushes Presley the minute she parks her small rental SUV.
This is one of those times when big families suck.
I exit my rental SUV as a slender woman with long blonde hair shoots out of the main house.
“Presley,” she says.
Please tell me she’s not another ex of Cade’s. The first one has thrown me into a spiral I just managed to talk myself out of. I had to remind myself that he and I aren’t anything special. We’re fuck buddies, if I want to classify us as anything, even though we’ve yet to actually have sex. Something I’m unsure will ever happen now with Reese’s appearance.
I freeze when she throws herself at me, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing tightly.
“Hi,” I say, lengthening the word and standing like a statue.
“Presley, this is my sister, Chevelle.” Cade’s voice comes out of the darkness until he appears as a shadowy persona on the porch.
I notice the beer in his hand. Seeing Reese has stressed him out. Not a good sign for me.
Chevelle finally removes herself like a blanket from me. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
I nod. “You too.” I reach in and grab my grocery bags, along with the bags from the retail store where I bought some trash cans and bedding.
“I love that you’re staying up in the apartment. I used to have sleepovers up there when I was little.”
Another Greene admission of how the space above the garage was used. It makes me wonder what Cade’s memories up there might be.
She follows me up the stairs, as does Cade, both loaded with bags from my car.
“I can get it all,” I say.
“Nonsense. We’re right here.” She steps in and places the bags on the counter. “Oh, you cleaned it up nice.”
I put away the groceries while Cade stands there, drinking his beer.
“I should go. I just had to stop by to talk to Cade.” Chevelle’s gaze finds his, and he manages a smile for his younger sister. They obviously share a bond. She hugs me again on my way back from the fridge to grab more items. “Welcome to Sunrise Bay.”
“Thanks.” I can’t help but smile at her, despite my mood.
“And don’t go into the main house. Fisher is in there in his boxers.”
“Consider me warned.”
She hugs Cade and he pats her back, his gaze on me the entire time. Then she’s gone and the door shuts, leaving a deafening silence in her wake.
I continue to put away the items, unsure where we stand after I gave him rent as though I was making the point that he was free to do what he wanted. If that means he wants to do Reese again, so be it. I’m fully aware of how ridiculously needy I was being. I might as well have given him an ultimatum right there.
He sets down the beer and comes up behind me when I struggle to get a box on a high shelf. His hand lands on my hip and he eases the box out of my hand, setting it up on the shelf.
“Thanks,” I say.
He doesn’t move and I don’t turn around. My breath feels heavy in my lungs.
“I feel like I need to apologize,” he says in a low voice.
I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head. “You did nothing wrong.”
He slides my hair over to one side and goose bumps chase after his finger, my body betraying me again. I feel his breath before his lips touch my shoulder.
“I would have done all this with you,” he says.
“That’s not part of the agreement.”
I turn around to try to leave, but his hand winds through my hair at the back of my head. His lips fall to mine and I sink into his hold. His kisses are like a glass of wine after a long day. I’m thankful the counter is behind me because just like with wine, I want to sigh and collapse into a comfy chair with a good book. Okay, well, I actually want to sink into a comfy chair and spread my legs for him.
When his lips are on mine, there’s no fight in me to remember what this is and keep