Page 18 of The Cocky Neighbor

Lucas had spent the past couple weeks traveling back and forth to close the Roslyn Hotel acquisition. Now that the ink had dried on the contracts, he basically refused to work from the office for the next week unless it was an emergency. His reasoning was that he was just as efficient, if not more, at home where he wasn't spending the entire workday missing his fiancé.

"He's visiting with Grandpa. Apparently they need to discuss something top-secret, which is code for the surprise birthday party they're planning for me," Noah said with a giggle.

Grandfather had been the person most against Noah and Lucas's relationship. Now he was their biggest cheerleader and nagged at them to get married at every family dinner. Noah was definitely the favorite grandchild, made even more evident as the only one permitted to call him "Grandpa."

"Birthday party? I don't know what you're talking about. Is your birthday coming up soon?" I said with nonchalance. It was called asurprisefor a reason. Although, they were planning it super early since there was still over a month until his birthday.

"You know, for being a so-called stoic Wright, you kinda suck at lying," he said with a laugh.

I squinted at him for a minute, wondering if I could bluff my way out of this. I knew I couldn't when he stared back at me with a knowing smile. "How did you find out?" I asked in defeat.

"I overheard Lucas talking on the phone with Grandpa when he thought I was sleeping." He snickered. "He isn't as stealthy as he thinks he is. Besides, you're more expressive when you talk than you think you are. It's only when you're not entirely truthful that your indifferent mask appears."

I gawked at him, shocked by this knowledge. I didn't know I had atell. I was raised to always hide my emotions, and I'd thought I was good at hiding them, but apparently not.

He must have found my expression hilarious since he let out a full-bellied laugh.

"I'm glad my distress is funny to you. Always happy to be of service," I deadpanned. I frowned as I watched him wipe a finger under his eye before finally settling down. He appraised me for a second and turned a bit more solemn.

"You know showing your emotions isn't always a bad thing, Liam. We aren't robots. If we don't express ourselves, others won't know what we're thinking and will misunderstand," he said with a far-off look. I had a feeling he wasn't talking about me anymore, but was remembering how a single misunderstanding had torn him and my brother apart for years.

"Well, apparently I'm as easy to read as an open book," I teased to lighten the mood. It worked since Noah shook off whatever memories were haunting him and laughed at my joke.

"Anyway, we're not here to talk about this super-secret party that I absolutely know nothing about. How's everything going with the hotel? Lucas is very proud of what you've accomplished so far," Noah said, and I groaned. Of course he was going to bring up the one thing I didn't want to talk about. I came here to try and take my mind off of the hotel. Plus, I couldn't let him know that I'd laid hands on the sexy manager who oversaw said hotel.

"Is something wrong?" he asked with a frown.

"What could be wrong? Everything is great! Why would you think otherwise?"

He stared at me, and I could feel the sweat forming under his intense gaze. "You know, you're doing it again. You're obviously hiding something."

Fuck. Was my tell that obvious or was it because he knew me too well? I really needed to work on it.

Sighing, I contemplated how much truth I had to tell without revealing everything to him. Knowing Noah, he wasn't going to let this go until I spilled everything.

"Everything really is fine. It's just…"

"Just?" he prompted when I paused to think of how to tell him what had happened without sounding like a heartless jerk, though I probably deserved that title.

"I may have fooled around with the manager…" I confessed and peered at him to see his reaction.

"Oh, is that all?" he said, looking relieved. "I thought something terrible had happened."

"You don't sound shocked or mad. Aren't you going to berate me for messing around with someone who worked under me?"

He shrugged and shot me a pointed stare. "You're not exactly known for keeping it in your pants. I'd rather it wasn't with the hotel's manager, but I'm an author, and that's the perfect setup for a cute office romance. The two of you find each other so irresistible that you start off as fuck buddies and before you know it, you guys are falling in love."

"Whoa, whoa. Back up there. Who said anything about falling in love?"

Eric may be very fuckable, but I knew nothing about the man. The only emotion between us was lust, and I'd already messed up and made sure even that was out of the equation.

"You're an amazing guy, and you deserve love too," he said, his eyes softening when I let out a sigh. The truth was, I did want love. I wanted a person who belonged only to me. I'd wanted it so badly I'd mistaken my jealousy for the love Lucas and Noah had as unrequited love for my childhood friend.

It took a while for me to figure that one out, but once I did, I'd dated basically everyone in the city trying to find love but had never found the connection I’d craved. And I definitely didn’t want to think about the spark of connection I’d felt for Eric since I’d completely ruined everything between us.

Maybe this was a sign from the world telling me that I didn’t have a right to love? And if I ever had the chance to feel this way with someone else, I’d probably do something stupid to ruin it again.

"We're not all lucky enough to find our soulmate right out of the womb. Maybe love just isn't in the cards for me," I said.

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