Page 41 of Moonstruck at Midnight
“I had so much fun getting to know you.” Lily approached me for a hug. I said goodbye to everyone and stepped off the rooftop. Walking down a flight of stairs to the fourteenth floor to take the elevator, I found William arguing with the brunette just beside the elevator buttons. They both stopped talking as soon as they saw me.
I quickly apologized and told them I was about to leave. I tried to walk around William to summon the elevator, but he wouldn’t move.
“Oh, I see now,” she hissed, scanning me with disgust. “Is this your new pet?” She seemed like the kind of person you didn’t want to mess with—furious and territorial.
“She lives here,” William snapped back at her. That deep frown of his that he carried around the day I met him was back in between his eyes. I was beginning to understand the reason behind it.
“Oh, that’s sweet, so she’s moved in?” she asked with a venomous smirk.
Moved in?What is happening?
I was waiting for William to deny it. It wasn’t my place to speak. Besides, she looked so angry, and William was drunk. I didn’t belong anywhere near this conversation.
William took a step forward, and I was finally able to click the elevator’s button.
“That is none of your business,” William told her instead.Oh,come on! “It stopped being your business a few months ago, or do I need to refresh your memory?”
Why isn’t he telling her that I’m just a neighbor?
“Well, I’ve tried to explain myself to you several times, but you’re not returning any of my calls. I know how you like to play hard to get.” She chuckled, closing the distance between them with a teeth-less smile.
Why is the elevator taking so long?
“There’s nothing left to explain, Erin, now get the fuckout.” William fumed as he walked up the stairs back to the rooftop. Luckily, the elevator doors opened, and I fled. Once inside, I swiftly clicked on the close door button, trying to avoid Erin from stepping inside with me.
I walked into my apartment and dropped the flowers and my purse on the foyer table. I changed into my pajamas, washed my face, and brushed my teeth. I was going to grab a glass of water when I heard a knock on my door. I rushed to see who it was and saw William through the peephole, holding my camera bag. He had brought it down for me.
Why him?
I was wearing a long pajama bottom and a tank top without a bra on, so I ran to my bedroom and quickly pulled a hoodie over my head before opening the door.
“9A,” William said with a smile, but it seemed forced. “You forgot your camera.” He scanned my lame pajamas a few times with sleepy eyes. “Did I wake you?”
“No, you didn’t,” I replied, taking the camera bag out of William’s grasp. “Thank you.”
I didn’t wanthimto see me in my pajamas.Thank you…now leave!
“I—sorry about earlier,” he said with lowered brows.
“Why didn’t you just tell her I’m your neighbor? Who is she? She looked pissed.”
“My ex. I guess she did think you were with me.” He looked exhausted. Or was he just drunk? A mix of both states, for sure.
“That’s because you didn’t tell her otherwise.” I was super annoyed by that.
“She assumed you were livingwithme when I told her you lived here. So, I ran with it.” He laughed weakly—his lids heavy. “I know it’s not funny. It just felt good to get to throw a punch back at her after what she did.” I wanted so badly to ask what had happened, but it was not my place.
“Well, I hope she won’t be waiting for me outside one of these days, wanting to punch me next.” I joked. But I also wanted to hear his thoughts on that.
“She won’t. I swear.” He looked over my shoulder and saw the flowers behind me in the foyer. “I see you picked out your seven flowers.”
“Um, yeah,” I replied, looking back at them for a second. “Eric told me it’s a Midsummer tradition for good luck.” He smiled and shook his head, running his fingers through his silky-smooth golden hair. “Did he?”
Stop being sexy!
I felt like a cheater just by looking at him, and it was so unfair that I looked like a hooded-up Care Bear. He needed to leave, and I needed to go back inside.Now.
“They don’t work if you don’t put them under your pillow, you know? I hope they give you lots of good luck,” he added, biting the tip of his tongue.
