Page 5 of Up All Night

“I appreciate your concern and will keep that in mind,” I said. “But I’m keeping my opinion of West. He’s been nothing but rude to me since the day I moved in.” I could feel my annoyance beginning to resurface. “The fact that he came all the way upstairs to tell me to turn down my music so he could sleepat nine o’clockis ridiculous. What thirty-year-old man goes to bed that early?”

Kate shook her head. “It’s a shame someone so hot is so uptight.”

I lightly pushed her shoulder. “Enough with his looks, already,” I laughed.

“What?” she asked, joining in with my laughter. “I can’t help it.”

Shaking my head at her, I veered off topic and asked, “Will you help me with a few parts in this dance I’m working on for the recital? My brain is fried.”

Kate and I worked at Encore Dance together, which was where we’d actually met a couple of years ago. When her previous roommate had moved out a few months ago, she’d insisted we find an apartment and move in together. I had jumped at the opportunity since I’d loved the idea of living with Kate—but also because anything would have been nicer than the studio apartment I had been living in.

“Of course.” She grabbed the hair tie on her wrist and put her dark hair up in a ponytail.

Although she taught ballet and modern dance, getting a new perspective on things could bring out new ideas that I could turn into hip-hop moves, and I was in desperate need of inspiration.

Picking up my portable speaker, I took it out to the living room so we wouldn’t be dancing right above a certain bedroom. I also turned down the volume.

See? I could be civil.

Sometimes.

3

West

My alarm went off at five-thirty like it did every morning, and I practically jumped out of bed in excitement at what I planned to do this morning.

After the disaster of a conversation with Halle last night, I’d returned to bed only to stare up again at the ceiling while her music taunted me. Listening to the repeated rhythm and the bass humming through the walls, my anger had continued to fester. And then that’s when my plan was born. If she wanted to be loud and not let people—me—sleep then I would kindly return the favor.

Grabbing the broom out of the kitchen pantry, I walked back to my room with a spring in my step. Who knew that revenge felt so good in the morning?

Climbing on top of my bed, I took the broomstick and banged it against the ceiling. I found a steady rhythm, similar to the song she had been playing last night on repeat. The banging sounds started to sound like music, and I moved around my bed as if it were a dance. Then I really started to get into it. I swayed my hips side to side, pumping my other hand in time with each bang.

“What are you doing?” Cannon’s voice surprised me.

I stopped, broomstick in mid-swing. “Uh, nothing.” I slowly lowered the broomstick and wondered how long he’d been standing there watching me dance on my bed like a crazy person. “I, uh, was just getting in some extra cardio this morning.”

He didn’t look like he even remotely believed me. “Right. And it doesn’t have anything to do with getting back at Halle as you bang a broom against the ceiling that is her bedroom floor?”

I stepped down from my bed, looking at him likehewas the crazy one. “Of course not.”

“I would have thought you were above such childish antics.”

“It’s her fault,” I said, sounding like a child.

Grr. I hated how she brought out this side of me. I was normally a very mature and level-headed person, but there was something about her that got under my skin. Her disdainful eyes and lips pursed in annoyance irritated me.Iwas the nice neighbor, who was quiet and kept to myself.Shewas the loud and inconsiderate neighbor who acted like she was exempt from common courtesy. But somehow, I was the bad guy.

Cannon walked over to me and took the broom out of my hand. “I’m not saying you should keep up whatever this behavior is, but can you leave me out of it going forward? Halle isn’t the only person you woke up.”

I ran my hand through my hair, feeling bad that I hadn’t thought about how my actions could affect him. Cannon was not a morning person. He went to bed closer to midnight each night, and I hadn’t even considered him in all of this.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about how it would wake you up as well,” I apologized. “I got a little carried away. It won’t happen again. I’m not going to let this woman mess with my head anymore. I got it all out of my system.”

Cannon shook his head at me and walked back to his room, closing the door behind him.

Looking at the clock, I hurried to put my gym clothes on so I could make my trainer appointment at six. I’d been working out with Ben every Monday through Friday morning for the last two years, and it was one of my favorite parts of the day. It was a great stress reliever for me, and I definitely needed something to help me alleviate the pressures of my job—as well as my dad’s expectations. No matter how hard I worked, it never seemed to be enough for him. I’d even broken up with my last girlfriend so I could have more time to work, to prove to my dad how dedicated I was to the company.

Rachel had been great. There had been nothing wrong with our relationship, but there hadn’t been anything amazing about it either. But maybe that had more to do with me than her.

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