Page 20 of The Fault Next Door

“Your neighbor is strange.”

The hair on the back of Ryder’s neck stood on end. “Nolan is a good person. Leave him alone.”

“What? I just said he was strange.”

“Why are you here?”

His father actually gasped and placed his hand over his chest. “Don’t start accusing me of something without inviting me inside.”

“What are you and Mom trying to cook up?”

“Now, you need to treat your mother with respect. She just wants you to be happy.”

"If she wanted me to be happy, she would listen to me. I'm not dating anyone. There isn't a person in this town I'm interested in." The lie felt heavy as it left his mouth, but there was no way in hell he would even contemplate it with his father in front of him. It was bad enough that he got hard just thinking about Nolan. He didn't need his dad knowing that his thoughts were messed up.

"You have to marry someone, and you're not getting any younger."

Anger flashed hot. “I was married. I’m not getting married to someone just to breed them. I’m not cattle.”

“You’ll disappoint your mother, and I can’t have that.”

“You need to make her realize I’m not dating anyone. I’m not interested in any of the women here.”

“How can you say that? You don’t know them.”

His father wasn’t listening, and he doubted he ever would. He almost said something shocking, but he couldn’t reveal that he was having fantasies about Nolan to his father. The man would do something stupid like pull out a gun or something. Maybe not that drastic, but his father wasn’t the most stable man when it came to letting people live their lives.

When he and Amy moved to Atlanta, his father threatened to drive out there and pack his stuff to return them to Texas because his mother was unhappy that they'd moved. His dad was a bully.

“I’m not dating. I’ve told you both that I’m not dating, and I’m not. I need to do some stuff in the barn. I’ll see you later.”

“You will be at church in the morning.”

“Have a nice night.”

Ryder turned to head out to the barn. He didn’t like doing his chores when it was this hot, but the conversation with his father wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t need to keep going round and round the same circle with the man.

Something needed to be done about his parents, but he had no idea what he could do. If another team called him up today, he would probably take the job. Not that he had his resume out there, but he was seriously contemplating leaving for good. The only regret he would have was leaving Nolan behind.

Chapter 15

Nolan shot upfrom a dead sleep, sure someone was in his house. His heart thundered, and his ears buzzed so he couldn't hear anything, but he swore someone was trying to get in.

He forced his breathing to calm and listened, worried that the person had already made it into his house. What would he do if someone was inside? He still didn’t have a gun and didn’t want one. He should buy a baseball bat.

Then he heard it again. The scratching sound sent a chill through him. The alarm equipment had shipped but hadn't arrived.

He grabbed his phone and thought about calling the police but dialed Ryder’s number instead. His neighbor answered on the second ring.

“Hey.” Ryder sounded sleepy.

“I swear someone is trying to break into my house.”

“Fuck. Give me a minute.”

Nolan pulled the phone away from his ear when it clicked. Had Ryder really hung up on him? About thirty seconds later he heard something that sounded like a gunshot. He dropped to thefloor as fear filled him. Then he heard someone knocking on his door as his phone pinged. Ryder had sent him a text.

I’m at your door.Open up.

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