Page 7 of Side Out

Slowly, I push up off the railing, so I’m standing toe-to-toe with him. “And what about when I was unloading groceries?”

He swallows harshly and takes a step back. “I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“Hmmmm.” I take another step closer, and he takes another step back. He could easily sidestep me, but he hasn’t.Yet.“And how about when I came back from my run yesterday morning.”

“I was… cleaning the window. Coincidence.”

I take one more step, except this time when Theo goes to move backward, he’s met with the front of the house.

It’s a miracle nobody has come out here to interrupt us yet, but the beer coolers were moved inside hours ago, and anybody who would have come to this party is already inside. Looks like we have my, now dark, front porch all to ourselves.

I rest my hands on the house on either side of his head and lean down slightly, just to see if he pushes me away. And when he doesn’t, I close the distance between my face and his, leaving only an inch of space. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

Theo exhales a heavy breath as he looks up at me, and I can feel it against my lips. “Yeah, me either.”

His green eyes bounce between mine, and I decide if I’m going to take a chance now is as good a time as any. Slowly, I move my hand from the siding to the nape of his neck. And I don’t know if it was the glasses of whiskey he had before he came over here or not, but he doesn’t move away.

“I should head home,” he whispers, still not moving.

Even slower, I slide my hand to the front of his neck and grip it gently, using the pad of my thumb to keep his head tilted up at me. “Should you?”

“I—” He doesn’t finish his sentence. Instead, the two of us stand there for a moment. Out on my front porch. Covered in darkness.

Theo inhales a shaky breath, and I can’t fucking take it anymore. I crash my lips to his. He freezes for a moment, and when he grips the front of my shirt with both hands, I worry he’s going to push me away. But instead, his body goes limp against the side of the house, and he pulls me closer. He groans against my lips, as I use my tongue to part his. And he groans again when I press my erection against his.

I don’t know who this man is outside of being my new neighbor, and yet every fiber of my being is begging me to get lost in him.

Theo lets me explore his mouth with my tongue, and I savor the way he tastes. The way he feels against me.

My lips pull from his for a moment, and I groan his name, “Theo.”

It’s like the sound of me saying his name again, snaps him out of whatever trance the two of us are under.

He pushes me away from him and sprints down the front steps and across the street without so much as another word or look back. I watch breathlessly as he unlocks his house and relocks it behind him.

“Who was that?” Clay’s sudden appearance next to me breaks my focus, just as Theo closes the curtains of his front window.

I run my hand through my hair, trying to silently catch my breath. Hoping Clay won’t notice me acting… well, however, it is that I’m acting. “My new neighbor I guess.”

And just maybe my new obsession.

Talk Dirty - Daniel Di Angelo

CHAPTER5

AM I STALKING A STUDENT?

THEODORE

Ican’t be doing this.

I shouldn’t be doing this.

FUCK.

I slam the door behind me, close the curtains to the front window, and flop down in the accent chair, throwing my head back against the fluffy blanket draped across the back.

Then I hear her. “Theodore! The music!”

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