Page 10 of The Brothers Next Door

“Sure.”

Walking into the bedroom, I closed the door and quickly put on a pair of jogging pants and t-shirt. There wasn’t much point in dressing up considering I was doing more packing today. Once dressed, I grabbed the note and rejoined Misty in the living room. Flopping down beside her on the sofa, I handed her the note.

She looked down at it and made a face. “Oh, this is pretty douchey. He seriously left this? Did he leave a fucking twenty along with it?”

“Nah. No twenty, just the note. Guess it wasn’t good enough to pay for.”

“Was he at least good? You weren’t looking for a relationship anyhow, so…”

“The man left a thank you note on my night side table and snuck off sometime in the middle of the night while I was sleeping, Misty.” But she did have a point. I had gone out to get fucked, no relationship required, and that was exactly what he’d done for me.

“So, how was he? Was he at least good in the sack? Does he know where the G-spot is?”

Despite my embarrassment, I laughed. “He definitely knows where the G-spot is. And it was pretty evident that he’s been with a lot of women. I almost think I should be going into the sexual health clinic just to make sure.”

“You did use condoms, didn’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Then, Layla, I think you’re overstating, just a little.”

I wasn’t so sure. Though, I had to admit, last night when his hands were on me I couldn’t have cared less how many women he’d been with. Time to change the topic. “Did you end up hooking up, or did you end up going home?”

“Went home.” She grinned. “Once my mission had been achieved.”

“So, I’m a mission now?”

“You were a mission. You got laid so mission accomplished.”

“Great, because I have another important mission for you.”

“Oh?” Her eyes gleamed as she looked at me.

“I have to repack everything I unpacked over the past month in case I get to move in early. The building owner said he’d call me tomorrow with a definitive yay or nay answer.”

She groaned out load. “I would but…”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “But… Come on and make the excuse good.”

Misty opened her mouth to respond and I raised a manicured finger, stopping her. “When I returned home, you did say anything I needed you’d be there for me. And right now, I need help moving into a decent place before I get murdered in my sleep.”

“Dammit.”

~*~TT~*~

Moving day. And it’d come early. Giddy-up! The relief of getting out of the dive I was living in was well worth having to move a second time in less than two months. While I still blushed a little over my one-night stand, it was already fading from my memory. It was just an experience and in a city with over eight million residents, it wasn’t like I was ever going to see NYPD officer Nate Striker again anyhow.

I’d had a busy morning and afternoon. The movers had already picked up my belongings and delivered them to my new place and I was in the process of moving the final and most important thing, my blue point Siamese cat, Zeus.

As I parked my car in the private garage that belonged to the building, I got out and grabbed his cat carrier from the back seat. Zeus’ wide blue eyes peered out at me from behind the bars and he let out a high-pitched screech. He was a very vocal boy.

“Yes, I know. It sucks in there. We’re almost home—again,” I assured him, closing the door and pressing the lock button on the key fob, locking the car. Owning a car while living in Manhattan was silly considering how amazing the train system here was, but I’d bought it when I moved to Bangor after college, and even though I knew I was going to be moving back to Manhattan, never sold it. At least not yet. Sadly, the car would be stuck in the garage 98% of the time, only coming out if I needed to do something outside the city.

I inserted my card key and waited for the elevator to arrive. Zeus let out another loud cry so I pulled up the crate and peeked in at him. “Good kitty. We’re almost home.” After a moment, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

Giving the elevator a cursory glance, I walked inside as a man stepped out and into the parking garage. Zeus seemed to have a huge dislike for the other person, lunging against the front of the cage and hissing. “Excuse me,” he uttered.

I recognized that voice. My head shot up and I stared at the source of the voice as he brushed past me and began walking away without looking back. But I’d gotten just enough of a look at the man’s face to realize in horror that I knew him, intimately.

Oh fuck me, Nate Striker was my neighbour?

It was a large building, maybe he was just visiting… Yeah, that was it. Just a visit. It was a freak coincidence. Though another thought hit me as the doors slid shut with me yet to make my floor selection. The bastard didn’t even acknowledge he knew me!

Maybe it wasn’t him…

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