Page 60 of Never Kiss Your Neighbors

“Absolutely mind-blowing.” I lower my voice. Jessie’s still in bed, but she could wander out anytime. “But it’s not just the sex. I’m afraid I’m really falling for them. I already was, and then after last night—I’m a goner.”

“What’s wrong with falling for them? Is it because there’s two of them?”

“No. I mean, maybe I should worry about how that would look, but after seeing Ana with her men, that part seems kind of normal.”

“Then, what is it?”

“There’s just so much potential for things to go wrong, and then I’ll be worse off than before I was involved with them.”

As she stirs cream into her cup, Marissa says, “I suppose, but that’s a pessimistic way of looking at it. What if things go incredibly right, and you end up much better off than if you didn’t take a chance?”

I shrug. “Somehow, that possibility seems less likely. I don’t know.”

“I think you should just have fun and try to stay open.”

Seeing me frown, Marissa asks, “Is there something specific you’re worried about?”

Goldfish wanders into the kitchen then, and I hear Jessie go into the hall bathroom.

Quickly and quietly, I say, “The woman who edits their videos, Trish, told me that the guys are players. That they sleep with their fans. Lots of them. I don’t want to just be one of their numbers, and now that we’ve … done what we did … I don’t want to share them with anyone else.”

“Have you talked to them about it?”

“I did. They said it wasn’t like that, but they literally have thousands of women lusting after them online. I just can’t help but worry that I’m being reckless with my heart.”

Marissa’s quiet for a moment, thinking. “From what I’ve seen, they seem like good guys. If it were me, I guess I’d be inclined to trust them until they give me a reason not to.”

As I wash blueberries for Jessie’s breakfast, I take that in. It makes sense. The men gave me assurances, and they don’t seem like the types to take my heart for granted. I don’t think they’ll hurt me, at least not intentionally.

* * *

Just after breakfast, my phone pings with a text, then another, before I can even check the screen.

Wyatt: “Been thinking about you all morning.”

Cam: “Wish you could’ve stayed all night.”

“Me too,” I tell them both.

It’s sweet torture, knowing they’re just a few steps away, off my back patio. Assuming I could scale the back fence, that is.

If they were in their yard naked and waiting for me, I think I probably could.

“We know you’re a busy woman,” Wyatt says, “but let us know when we can get together again. We have a lot of date ideas.”

“And a lot of other ideas, if you know what I mean,” Cam sends. The silly disguised face emoji he adds to his message cracks me up.

Jessie looks up from her coloring book. “What’s funny, Mommy?”

“Oh, nothing.”

To the men, I say, “I look forward to all of that, but unfortunately things are busy right now. I’m starting that college course this week that I told you about, and my mom and stepdad are planning to come next weekend.”

“Can we meet your mom?” Cam asks. “I’d like to thank her.”

“Thank her?”

“For having such a wonderful daughter.”

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