Page 76 of Loathe Thy Neighbor

I have a crush on Dean.

* * *

I’m notgood at not working. It’s just not in my blood.

But tonight, I didn’t bat a lash when the clock struck seven and I clicked the sign toClosed.

For the first time in I don’t even know how long, I’m riding the elevator up to my floor at seven thirty.

I don’t want to be at work. I want to be at home.

I’m trying not to analyze what that could possibly mean as I step out of the car.

I pause when I see Dean standing in the hallway.

The last time he was standing out here, it ended in a kiss.

Is it wrong to hope that will happen again?

We haven’t talked about the kiss from three nights ago. We’re not actively avoiding one another, but neither of us has made a move to talk…or kiss again. We’re just co-existing. It feels like some sort of barrier has been broken down, but we’re both too afraid to truly cross it.

Slowly, I make my way toward him.

He’s leaning against the wall opposite his apartment, arms crossed over his chest, not paying any attention to me.

He’s ditched his tie for summer school, but I’m surprised to see he’s still wearing his work attire since I finally had a key made for him yesterday. Surely he hasn’t lost it already.

Then again, if he had it, I’d miss this view.

He looks good…too damn good.

The evening sunlight is filtering in at the end of the hall, and it’s casting a soft glow that makes it look like he’s in one of those cologne commercials that are overly sexual and make zero sense.

Gorgeous. Poster-worthy.

I take another step toward him—then freeze when I hear it.

A giggle.

It’s coming from inside his apartment.

A girl with dark hair bends under the caution tape that’s been put up.

Dean smiles at her. “Enjoy yourself?”

“Immensely.”

He shakes his head. “You’re never going to stop teasing me, are you?”

“Not a chance.”

“Shit.”

She laughs again, shoving at him playfully. She looks vaguely familiar, and I think it’s one of the girls Dean’s had over in the past.

She’s gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. Tall and slender. She looks like she could be in one of those perfume commercials too.

I’m reminded why something between Dean and me could never work—he’s a grade-A dick.