Page 25 of The Cocky Neighbor

Currently, I worked for him. What if he used me again like in the hotel room? Nobody liked being used. He did apologize for it, and I'd believed his apology, but was I willing to let myself potentially get hurt again for a good fuck?

Yes.

My body was more honest than I was.

Sometimes it seemed like my brain was the last to know what was up. I wasn't one to think too deeply on who I slept with. The city was full of beautiful men to choose from, so it had to mean something when Liam was the only man I could think about right now.

Heck, I haven't had a hookup since I'd met Liam. While I told myself it was because the hotel transition had exhausted me to the point where I didn't have the mental capacity to do much after work, I knew that wasn't the only reason. If Liam hooked his finger at me for an after-work fuck, I'd probably go running. Which was a mildly irritating thought. I wasn't some horny dog that could be beckoned at will.

After leaving Liam at the corner, I didn't see him for the rest of the day. Alfred came to bother me a few times with hisI know something you don'texpression. He refused to tell me what it was, of course, so I'd kick him out of my office so that I could quickly finish my work and get out of there.

It was Thursday, which was officially dubbed board-game night with my group of friends. After weeks of long hours at the hotel, I was determined to clock out on time and chill with my friends tonight.

Zack, my best friend from college, met and fell in love with Caleb, his neighbor in the new building he moved into—because of course he would—and that somehow led to me hanging out with Caleb and his group and becoming good friends with all of them in turn.

I'd finished the bulk of what I needed to do that day, so I clocked out and went home for a quick shower. Jason and Will hosted board game night, and they lived in Corio Heights. In fact, that was the very same building Zack had moved into and where everyone else in the friend group, besides me, lived as well. However, there was no way I'd ever live in that building, and when I entered Will and Jason's apartment to see all the couples snuggled up next to each other acting all mushy, I was reminded why.

I swore there was something in the water in this building, because when I'd first met everyone, we were a group of happy, single men. Then one by one, they all caught whatever was going around and fell inlove. They all started coupling up until there were three couples, and I was now the seventh wheel.

Noah, another resident of Corio Heights, was a new member of our group and usually joined us for game night as well, but his partner—who hadn’t moved into the building for even a month before they had fallen in love, I might add—had been traveling recently so they were basically joined at the hip after he came back. I hadn't met Noah's boyfriend yet, but I heard they were childhood friends, and the dude seemed to make Noah happy, so that was all that mattered.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t ecstatic for them, because I was. They were all great men who deserved all the happiness in the world, and I knew they found it with their partners.

It was just that I sometimes felt like a fish out of water. Being the only single man in the group didn’t bother me so much when I was good friends with everyone there, but it sometimes felt like my friends thought I needed exactly what they had, and I didn’t.

I wasn’t interested in love or getting into a relationship with anyone. They were happy, I got that, but healthy relationships like theirs were rare. Most couples had love that burned hard and turned suffocating when the fire burned out. If they were lucky, they would figure out they weren’t meant to be before starting an entire life together. If they weren’t, they’d stay together regardless of how toxic and destructive their relationship was because they valued their so-called vows.

Like my parents.

No thank you. I was not interested in the wholetogether forever through thick and thinthing. I had a good life with amazing friends and a fulfilling job. I was happy being alone, and if I ever felt lonely, it wasn't hard to find someone to warm my bed. A good fuck was all I needed to recharge.

"Okay, okay. We get it, you're all in love and life is beautiful," I said by way of greeting. My friends looked up to me from where they were sitting to smirk at me.

"Aww, are you jealous? Here, let me give you some lovin' as well," Zack said as he stood and walked toward me with his arms wide open. I ducked away from them, avoiding him as he tried to capture me. The others laughed as they watched Zack chase me around the kitchen. When he caught up, I used my height advantage to grab him in a loose chokehold and ruffled his hair.

Zack laughed while in my hold and let me do whatever I wanted. I let him go a few seconds later, and he spun in my arms for the hug he'd originally threatened me with. I returned it this time, making sure to give him firm pats on the back.

"Thought you wouldn’t make it again tonight," Zack said when he pulled back.

"Why? So you can hog all these sweet treats for yourself?" I waved to the plates of desserts that Caleb graciously provided each week. We all told him that he didn't need to, but he insisted. Apparently feeding us made him happy, which matched his character perfectly.

Caleb was a sweetheart who refused to accept our money at his bakery. He always stated that the only form of payment he would accept from us was in the form of labor. We all helped out at the bakery when we could, but Caleb never forced us or threatened to keep his desserts from us if we didn’t—because that would have been a very effective threat.

"The only sweets I need is this one right here," Zack said, walking over to where Caleb sat on the couch and landed a kiss in his hair. Caleb rolled his eyes, and I pretended to gag, causing another round of laughter from the others.

"But if you're scared about all the desserts being gone, you should keep an eye on that one." Zack nodded to Jason, who was sitting on the floor by the coffee table. He had a plate in front of him, brimming full of cupcakes and cookies.

Jason became alert when he noticed our gaze and wrapped his arms around the plate in a protective manner. "These are mine. Caleb made them for me, isn't that right?" he asked, and Caleb nodded in confirmation.

"They're all yours," I said with my hands up. I would never dare even dream of stealing snacks from Jason. He loved food almost as much as he loved his boyfriend. When I'd first met him, there was rarely a moment when I didn't see him munching on something or eating like it was his last meal on Earth. He'd calmed down and didn’t shove everything down his throat anymore, but his love for food still hadn't changed.

"Hey, Ian, Scott. How's everything going?" I turned to the last couple in the room. They were both sitting on the floor by Caleb and Zack, nibbling on cookies as they watched us, as if waiting for a good show to happen.

"Hey, man. It's been good. We just decided what flowers we want to plant for the wedding," Scott said with a bright smile as he grabbed Ian's hand.

Scott and Ian got engaged earlier this year and started planning for their wedding soon after. Apparently Ian's family home had a large garden in the backyard, and they had decided to hold a ceremony with friends and family there next spring.

"That's great. I can't wait to see the final result." I took a seat beside them on the floor. The living room wasn't small, but it got a bit cramped with seven grown men taking over the space. Not that any of us minded getting cozy.

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