Page 27 of The Cocky Neighbor

No way. The name had to be a coincidence.

I turned and watched the door open, and there appeared my Liam.

NINETEEN

ERIC

He wasn'tmyLiam, of course. He didn't belong to me, but he was the very same Liam that had taken up space in my head rent free.

This was the first time seeing him in casual clothes, but a smile popped up knowing that his erratic sense of style was consistent. He wore baggy, pastel pink cargo pants with a white lacy shirt that clung to his skin, and neon yellow suspenders.Nobody in the room seemed shocked by his clothes, so they must have been used to his choice in fashion already.

Liam and Jason hugged, greeting each other before making their way to the living room. Liam stopped in his tracks when he finally noticed me.

"Eric? What are you doing here?" he asked with obvious confusion. It was good to know that I wasn't the only one blindsided by this.

"Am I not allowed to hang out with my friends?" I challenged with a smile.

"Do you two know each other?" Jason asked, looking between the two of us.

"Yep. He's the guy they put in charge of my hotel."

"Wait,he's the one you told me about?" Zack popped in, staring at me with widened eyes.

Liam narrowed his eyes at me. "Talking about me, are you?"

"Nothing but good things, of course," I said with a cheeky smile.

He eyed me suspiciously, obviously not believing my lie."I'm sure," he deadpanned.

"All right, no need to stand around. Let's get this party started!" Jason said before dragging Liam to the coffee table and pushing him to the empty space right next to me. He stuffed snacks and drinks in front of Liam before returning to his seat next to Will.

I couldn't tell if this seating arrangement had been on purpose, but looking at Jason's innocent smile, I had to think that it had to be a coincidence.

Liam greeted the others in the room, acting familiar with everyone in the room as he asked about their week or how their cats were doing. He looked especially close to Ian, close enough that they knew each other's families, apparently.

Something sour settled in my stomach at how intimate they acted together. It was stupid considering I had no right to feel this way, and Ian was very much happy with his fiancé, but the logic didn't help settle this nasty feeling.

I watched him as he interacted with them. He wasn't as stiff as he seemed at the hotel, offering them easy smiles that caused his face to light up and the dimples under his scruff to deepen. I'd only seem this smile a handful of times before, considering he was usually smirking or shooting me cocky smiles. This was a good change of pace.

"Do I have something on my face?" he asked when he saw that I was staring. My gaze flicked to his lips. I wasn’t even ashamed that he caught me in the act.

"Nope," I said, popping the "p" in the word. I offered him a grin and nothing more. He continued to stare back, appraising me as he often did at the hotel.

Jason clapped his hands, and we all turned our attention to him. "Since there's an even number of us, I thought we could play Pictionary."

He and Will brought out a large whiteboard and wooden easel stand from their closet. They set it up on one side of the living room and passed a bowl of folded paper to Liam.

"Everyone, pick a team. No cheating now!" Jason said as we all grabbed a piece of paper.

I opened mine to reveal a number. "I got one," I said to the group.

"Me too." Liam flipped his paper around to show me the number written on it. "It'll be a pleasure to work with you," he said, smirking as he put his hand for me to shake.

"The pleasure is all mine," I said, taking his offered hand and going along with his little play.

Caleb and Ian were the other members of our team with the other side being made up of Zack, Scott, Jason, and Will.

"Yay, we're on the same team," Jason said, jumping in his boyfriend's arms. Will caught him, not even budging from the impact. "We're totally going to win. I've been practicing for this."

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