Page 100 of Love Thy Neighbor

“Thank you,” I tell River again. “I’ll—”

“Think about it. Yeah, I know.” She winks. “All right, ladies. Let’s get to work.”

* * *

“What’s wrong?”

His question startles me, and I peek up at him from my position on his chest where I’ve been running my fingers through the hair there for the last ten minutes.

I should be in a blissful state considering Cooper just rocked my worldtwice.

But no matter how hard I try, I can’t relax.

All I can think about is the fact that I’m in love with him.

And how much that absolutely terrifies me, especially since Maya’s words have been circling in my mind all day.

I don’t know what’s going on with me.

Maybe I’m stressed about disappointing River because I plan to tell her I’m not putting my designs in the festival. Maybe it’s my period that’s supposed to start next week.

Or maybe it’s that I’ve never been this wholly in love with someone before and it fucking terrifies me.

I try to play it off.

“What do you mean?”

He tucks a few loose strands of hair behind my ear. “I can hear you thinking. Something’s wrong. What’s going on?”

I sigh.

Of course I can’t hide anything from him. He knows me too well.

“Do you think they’re right?” I ask quietly. “Your moms and Maya, I mean.”

“Maya?”

Crap.

“Uh, yeah,” I say. “I kind of told River and Maya about us today. Well, technically Mailbox Betty told River in the elevator about what happened whenwewere in the elevator. She kind of cornered me about it this morning.”

He chuckles. “Of course Mailbox Betty is telling everyone.” He cups his hands around his mouth, then yells, “The old coot has nothing better to do than gossip!”

I swear I hear something bang against the wall.

“River and Maya know now?”

“Uh, yeah, is that okay?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? If anything, it’s kind of a relief. Now I can totally make out with you at The Gravy Train.” He runs his hands through my hair, playing with it. “Is that what this is about? My moms and your friends knowing?”

“No. Maybe.” I push off his chest, meeting his curious green eyes. “It’s just…she said something similar to what your moms did. About what we’re doing here, putting our friendship and hearts at stake.”

A deep crease forms between his brows. “Okay…so?”

“Do you think we’re making a mistake, Cooper?”

His face falls at my words.

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