Page 33 of Loathe Thy Neighbor

“You’re a pain in my ass. Loud and obnoxious. The world’s worst neighbor.” I open my mouth, but she points at me. “Youjusttried to burn the apartment building down, so don’t even try to refute that.” I nod. “We’ve established that I hate you. We arenotfriends. We’re neighbors, and right now, we’re roommates. That’sit. Nothing else. So don’t go getting any notions in your head that I’m going to fall for your charms and we’ll end up buds anytime soon. You do your thing, I’ll do mine.”

I want to argue.

Mostly for the sake of arguing.

But she’s right. The easiest way for us to navigate this without butting heads every five minutes is to just stick to our respective corners.

“Got it?”

I give her a nod. “Understood.”

“Good.” She turns on her heel and makes her way to the front door. Slides her shoes on. “Let’s hit the store.”

“I thought you said we’re supposed to do our own thing.”

She grits her teeth, not liking my smartass comment. “All this excitement for the day has made me hungry.” She pulls open the door. “And you ruined my pie, so you owe me dinner. Let’s go.”

My stomach growls at the mention of food, and I realize I amstarvingbecause I never did get to eat that damn sandwich.

I grab Leo’s hut. “At least let me pick the place.”

She tosses me a look. “It’s cute that you think that’s how this works.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a little short to be this sassy?”

“Just shut up and feed me before I get hangry.”

“This is younormally? Man, it’s going to be a blast living with you, then.”

She grumbles something I can’t quite make out, but whatever it is, it doesn’t sound as grumpy as I expect.

I get the feeling River isn’t going to hate having me as a roommate as much as she thinks she will.

* * *

“Doyou mind if we stop in at the pet store for a minute? I need to grab a few things for Leo’s terrarium.”

One of the perks of the apartment building we live in is the location. It’s a primo spot right in the heart of the city. Nearly everything important is within walking distance, and if it’s not, you can bike. If you’re feeling frisky, you can drive.

After (naturally) stopping by The Gravy Train for dinner—it’s just down the block—we opted to walk to the store since we weren’t doing hefty grocery shopping…or so I thought.

I’m carrying three bags—one on each shoulder and one in my hand—and River has one.

She bought no less than three pints of ice cream, not to mention at least four different kinds of cheese crackers.

I’m beginning to think she doesn’t spend much time at home and doesn’t eat there often either, which would make sense because the woman is always working. It’s a miracle she ever found the time to complain about me when she was hardly home.

“Did you just ask if I was cool with going into the pet store? Where I get to play with the animals?”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Bigyes. Just don’t tell Morris I got excited about it.”

“Won’t he smell it on you?”

“Yes, but I’ll just tell him it’s your fault.”

“And he’ll…believe that?”

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