Page 25 of Meet Me at Midnight

His best friend Henry stands beside him, his eyes unabashedly scanning Avery. I don’t know if he’s actually interested or not, but her outfit is hard not to look at. I had to pull the gold mesh back over her nipples at least three times during dinner.

“June’s being boring,” Avery says matter-of-factly, smashing the elevator call button no fewer than fifteen times. Apparently, she’s given up on talking me into going out—thank everything—and fully focused on getting her ass in the club.

“June? Boring?” Beau questions with a smile I want to kiss right off his lips as he runs a hand through his slightly sweaty hair before slipping a baseball cap over it.

Damn, he looks good in a hat. I’m talking, downright delectable.

I shrug and cross my arms over my chest to cover my suddenly excited nips. This tank top is a lot more sheer than I remember. “Guilty.”

“Beau’s boring too,” Henry teases with a big grin. Out of all of Beau’s closest friends, Henry is the biggest player and thewildest of the bunch. He’s an adrenaline junkie from way back—which is probably why his company is called exactly that. And truth be told, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him leave a club or bar without a random girl on his arm. Which makes sense. He has a James Dean kind of bad-boy dangerous vibe to him. Women flock his way almost as much as they flock to Beau.

“We just ran six miles. I’m fucking tired,” Beau retorts. “There’s a difference.”

Henry ignores him and smiles at my best friend. “The bastard said he’d rathershower and lie lowthan go out because hehas to get to the office early tomorrow.” His voice is mocking, and Avery’s face is delighted.

“Beau and June, sitting in a tree,” she sings, “L-A-M-E-O-L-D!”

Beau guffaws. “Lame old?”

Avery nods, high-fiving Henry as he holds up a hand for her to smack. “Yep. She’s lame. You’re old.” The elevator dings. “And I’m outta here.”

Henry blocks the doors from closing. “Where you heading, Avery?”

“Allure.”

“Funnily enough, that’s exactly where I’m heading too.” He flashes a wink over his shoulder as he steps onto the elevator with her. “Later,” he says to both Beau and me.

“Henry, are you flirting with me?” Avery questions with a hand to her hip, and he just laughs.

“Avery, honey, you’re not really my style.”

“Excuse me?” A scoff escapes her lungs. “I’m everyone’s style.”

Beau and I stand there together as the doors close in front of them, blocking out their flirty but harmless banter that I’ve witnessed a hundred times, and an awkward silence envelops us as soon as they’re on their way.

He shakes his black T-shirt away from his body. “Well…I’m gonna head in to shower. Six miles is a lot harder than it used to be.”

I snort. “Yeah, well, it’s about five point nine miles more than I can do, so good for you.”

Beau’s smile settles into his almost-dimple, and I settle myself deep inside it in turn. He really is the sexiest man alive. Hot, sweaty, casual, dressy, or anything in between—he’s freaking perfect.

“Night, neighbor.”

I push into our door and meet his eyes one final time. I feel the brown all the way to the bottom of my soul. “Night.”

Padding softly, I grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator and head for my room, turning the lights off as I go. I climb into my bed and get under the covers, leaning back into my headboard and pervishly waiting for the sound of Beau’s shower to start. It may not be Avery’s wild time with an Alabama football player, but my little hoochie-coochie will get double the enjoyment out of fantasizing about the man next door with the auditory evidence of his nakedness as a soundtrack.

I close my eyes, ready to wait, but a ping notification from my phone goes off in the silence instead, scaring the living crap outof me. I snag my phone from its spot on the bed and claw my way to sitting straight.

New Message from ThunderStrucksits front and center on the screen.

Beau is messaging me?Holy shit!

When my phone chimes again with the same little chirpy sound andNew Message from ThunderStruckpops up on the screen for a second time, I almost jump all the way to my ceiling.

Beau is messaging me!

With shaky fingers, I fight to slip my phone over and switch off the ringer on the off chance that he pays attention to my side of the wall and gets suspicious, and I ready myself to read what he has to say.

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