Page 54 of Love Thy Neighbor

“We…uh…we kind of kissed.”

“Kind ofkissed? Or full-on tongue-fucked each other?”

“River!” Maya scolds, laughing at her crassness. “Can’t you see the poor girl is already dying of embarrassment? Do you have to be so…you?”

River ignores her. “Was it Friday when you two went out?”

Another nod.

“Ha!” She snaps her fingers together. “I knew it! I knew something was brewing there.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Did too. There was something different about you two at the diner, something that wasn’t there before.”

“I’d just seen him naked for the first time—that’s going to change some things.”

She shakes her head, her long red waves bouncing with the movement. “No. It was something else—something more. There was thiselectricity.”

“Man, I am so mad I missed that.”

“Blame that lazy freakin’ kid of yours for sleeping inagainand missing breakfast,” River tells Maya. “All he does is sleep these days.”

“It’s a teenager thing,” Maya says. “Or at least that’s what all my parenting blogs tell me. He’ll outgrow it. Then he’ll get real nasty and mean. Then he’ll move out and be the government’s problem.”

She says it so nonchalantly, but I know she’s not serious.

Maya’s son, Sam, is her lifeline. She loves that kid more than anything. He’s been a bit of a handful lately, in that apathetic teen stage, and he’s driving her nuts. She might joke about wishing away the years until he turns eighteen, but I know she doesn’t want that to happen fast at all.

“There was no ‘electricity,’” I tell River. “You were imagining things.”

“Then tell me, oh wise one: if no sparks were flying about, why’d you two kiss that night, huh?”

“I was drunk.”

“Bull,” she counters quickly. “You’re not the type to get shit-faced in public.”

That’s true. It’s not my style.

In fact, the last time I did get drunk was documented by Cooper in those embarrassing photos he has of me, and that was back in college.

But if I tell myself it was just the alcohol that made me let my guard down and give in to the urges I’ve been having, it’ll make the truth a whole lot less real.

I think I might have feelings for Cooper.

And I don’t think they’re justin the pantsfeelings.

Feelingsfeelings.

I’ve been replaying the events of last week in my head, trying to skip over the sexy bits and focusing on all the other pieces.

The in-between moments.

The one where, after our hallway encounter, Cooper came to my room to make sure I was okay.Hewas the one who was violated, and he wanted to make sureIwas okay.

The moment when he swapped my coffee for his water at The Gravy Train because he knows I try not to drink too much caffeine. When he saw that I was on the verge of a panic attack at the bar and literally held my hand through the whole thing.

And when, after I told him to stop, he stopped instantly. Accepted the boundary I set. Then sat on the couch and watched whatever movie I wanted.

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