Page 12 of Love Thy Neighbor

Why is the wallwet?

Why does the wall smell like sage and warm summer nights like Cooper’s bodywash which I definitely do not ever use or smell in the shower?

“Don’t move,” he warns, his voice low and quiet in my ear.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

It’s the same voice he uses when there’s something behind me that I don’t want to see.

Fear consumes me, and everything happens at once.

Scared, I jerk backward, and for some reason, Cooper follows, falling into me. His heavy hands land on my shoulder and stay for half a second before he’s shoving me away.

Something brushes against my leg and I panic, sending my sketchpad into the air and landing I don’t even know where.

His towel, which has apparently attached itself to the broken spiral that’s barely holding the pages together, is tangled up with my book that’s sprawled out on the floor down the hall.

Cooper’s standing opposite me.

Naked.

Completely and utterly naked.

Is that his…

Oh my.

It is.

“Fuck.”

His voice is raw. Hoarse. Totally not him.

His hands fly to cover his junk, and the tic in his jaw is unmissable. A storm brews in his usually pale green eyes, and I’m not sure if it’s due to anger, humor, or embarrassment.

I don’t watch them long enough to find out.

Completely unable to be stopped, my eyes travel of their own accord.

Down his straight nose, over his chiseled jaw that’s always lined with at least two days’ worth of stubble, and over his throat that’s bobbing with every thick swallow.

There’s a smattering of hair on his chest, and it surprises me. More so, it shocks me how much I like it.

I’ve always found myself more attracted to smooth chests when scrolling shirtless guys on Instagram, but there’s something about seeing the hair on Cooper’s chest that screamsmature.

My fingers itch to touch it as much as they do the tight, well-defined abs I know he spends a lot of time on.

A knot takes shape in my throat, and a throbbing that I haven’t felt in far too long begins between my legs.

Cooper looks good.Reallygood.

No! No. Stop it!

Slamming my eyes closed, I swallow the lump and ignore the pressure building in the parts of me that haven’t seen action from anything other than my vibrator for a year or more.

Neglect.

That’s all it is.

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