Page 29 of The Cocky Neighbor

Scott called time, and we all groaned. Liam gave an apologetic smile as he returned to sit next to me.

"Well, what was it?" I asked. Caleb and Ian leaned in to listen to the answer.

"It was a vampire," he admitted, brushing a strand of hair out of his face.

I gaped at him. "How isthata vampire? Where's the cape or fangs? Heck, you could have drawn a bat or something too."

He stared back at me for a second. "Oh, I didn't think of that. I figured you guys would get it if I made him well dressed since vampires were so stylish."

I groaned and slammed my head on the coffee table. I swore he lacked common sense sometimes. Who else would think of a vampire and the first thing to come to mind was that they were stylish?

A hand landed on my back, and I turned my head to the side to find Liam's head smack next to mine. "I thought you would appreciate my drawing since you were all about the arts," he said with a smirk.

I groaned again and turned my head to the other side so that I didn't have to look at that smug handsome face. Chuckling came from beside me, telling me that he was enjoying this a little too much.

The other team took their turn and scored another point. I was the next to draw, and Liam complained that my pony looked more like a dog. This led to an entire discussion about drawing proportions. I hadn't known Liam had such an interest in art, although I should have guessed since he was so into fashion and fashion was a form of art, even if his fashion sense was a little out there.

The rest of the game continued with minor hiccups. Liam and I would argue over what we thought each drawing was or make snide comments about each other's guesses. It was absolutely infuriating and yet I was having a great time. Liam knew how to push my buttons, but the back and forth was almost…fun.

We played enough rounds so that each person had a chance to draw five times. In the end, the other team won by one point. "We could have won if you'd drawn that dang vampire properly," I muttered to Liam. That wasn't exactly true. It would have ended in a tie, but that wasn't the point.

Liam grinned like he knew what I was thinking. "Open up," he said. Confused by the random order, I did what he'd asked, and he stuffed a cookie in my mouth. I grumbled under my breath but happily ate the cookie.

"They bicker like an old, married couple," Zack whispered to Caleb as they chuckled. I overheard and glared at my best friend.

"We do not," I said with a huff. That only earned me laughter from everyone in the room. I turned to Liam, because he was obviously at fault for all of this.

"Look, now they're all laughing at me because of you," I complained to him.

He leaned into my ear and whispered, “Should I make it up to you?”

His breath tickled my ear, and his seductive voice had me straightening my back in shock. Fuck, he knew how to work me up.

There were definitely multiple ways I could think of to have him make it up to me, but we were in a room full of my friends, and Idid notneed to pop a hard-on in front of all of them.

I leaned away and tried to think aboutanythingbesides the mouthwatering man next to me. I definitely wanted to rediscuss his proposition, but there would be plenty of time for that later.

What I didn't expect, however, was for the man in question to suddenly stand and announce that he had to leave. It wasn't even that late, so why was he rushing off like he had a pumpkin carriage to catch?

TWENTY

LIAM

Eric stiffened when I whispered into his ear. I'd like to think it was because he liked my offering to make it up to him as much as I had, but the more likely answer was that I'd made him uncomfortable again. Which was not what I had wanted at all.

I figured that was my cue to leave, because I knew that if I stayed, I would continue flirting with the man. I wasn't shocked to find that we'd even find things to fight about during the game. In fact, it was kinda reassuring. It was familiar. The man I knew at the hotel was still the same man outside of the place, and I liked that a lot.

However, Eric didn't need the same confusion that followed us at our workplace. This was his night with friends, and I didn't want to ruin that for him. I knew when it was time to go.

"It's getting late. I should go home and prepare for the workday tomorrow. Thank you so much for inviting me tonight. I had a lot of fun," I said, turning to the hosts, Jason and Will.

"Aw, you're leaving already? There's still plenty of time for another game," Jason said with a point. The others agreed, urging me to stay, but I shook my head.

I could see Eric watching me from the corner of my eye, but I forced myself not to look at him. It was best to remove myself from his presence until I got my desires under control.

"Sorry, I have to go. I'd love to join you guys again next time," I said as I went around to give them all hugs. They all returned the hugs and told me to join them again next week.

When I'd finished saying goodbye to everyone in the room besides Eric, I stood in front of him, unsure what to do. It would be weird if he was the only one I didn't hug, right? But I didn't want to make him even more uncomfortable than my earlier comment already had.

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