over his massive chest as he glared at me. It took a strength I hadn’t realized I even possessed to keep my gaze from traveling to the raging hard-on that was currently tenting the front of his pants. “I might believe that if you hadn’t just admitted you’d gotten off to the thought of that night not even three minutes ago.”
“For the love of Buddha!” I shouted in frustration. “You know what? It doesn’t even matter. If you hadn’t have kissed me, you still wouldn’t have recognized who I was!”
His head tipped to the side, confusion flashing in those icy blue eyes before realization dawned. “Is that why you lied to me all those times I asked if we knew each other?”
And all the reasons why I’d kept that little nugget of info to myself, why everything about Richard Locklaine was wrong for me, came flooding back to the forefront of my mind. “Well excuse me for not wanting to subject myself to the humiliation of having to remind you that we’d had sex! Christ, Richard! You spent the better part of a night inside me and didn’t even realize that it was the same girl sharing a bedroom wall with you!”
He took a step toward me, grabbing hold of my arm as his face softened. “Del, I’m sorry.”
I didn’t want his apology. And I certainly didn’t want his pity. I yanked my arm back and waved him off. “It’s fine. It’s… whatever. I think that we should just forget about it and move on.”
“Forget about it?” he asked with a frown. “I thought I just made it pretty fucking clear that I haven’t been able to forget for three goddamned months.”
His voice was rough, angry, but I pushed on like I hadn’t realized. I needed to nip this… whatever this was… in the bud, get us back to where we were before. “We’re neighbors, Richard. It would be a huge mistake for us to do… each other…” Oh sweet Hell, did I really just say that? “I mean… I think it would be best if we just went on with how things have been. Maybe we…maybe we can even be friends?”
He blinked. Then blinked again. “You want to be friends.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement spoken in disbelief.
I wrung my hands in front of me. “I-I think that would be best.” And because I was me, I laughed awkwardly, followed by a snort. “I mean, if you want to… be friends… that is.”
He just continued to stare. To the point where I couldn’t handle the discomfort that filled the room like an acrid smoke. “Uh… okay, so. I’m going to… I have to…” Still nothing. So this is how I’ll die. From awkward silence and discomfort. Good to know. “I have to get a shower. So… bye.”
With a frantic wave, I bolted from the living room and locked myself in the bathroom. Where I stared at the shower drain, silently begging for it to open up and suck me in.
“SO…”
I cut my eyes over to Devon, still standing in the doorway with a what-the-living-fuck-did-I-just-witness look on her face. “That was… an ill-timed entrance on my part.”
“I’d respond to that,” I grumbled, “but I’m still trying to figure out what the fuck happened just now.”
“Sorry that I interrupted the dry hump sesh, seriously. I just wanted to get home and crash. I didn’t think I was going to walk in on… well… that. I spent the day from Hell at Coney Island with a boyfriend who ate his weight in fried dough before proceeding to spend three hours in the bathroom praying for sweet death. I need to Netflix and chill like nobody’s business. And just in case you haven’t realized yet, I tend to spout out way too much unwanted information when I’m uncomfortable, so I’m really going to need you to say more than just a few words and maybe stop looking all murder-y and stuff.”
I hissed out a long, frustrated breath as I closed my eyes and dropped my head, reaching a hand back to massage my neck. “Shit. Sorry. I’m just… that did not go well.”
“I don’t know.” I looked up just in time to see Devon shrug. “Before the interruption, it seemed to be going pretty well.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, even as I tried to fight a smirk. “Just how long were you watching, you little perv?”
She crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame, the picture of calm.