Page 9 of Crave Thy Neighbor

She can’t be talking about…

“Who knew 7thStreet was such an ideal location for an outdoor sports equipment store?”

Fuck me.

Donny slides two more glasses in front of us, and I could kiss the bastard for his timing.

I swallow down a good gulp, attempting to smash away the guilt pitching a tent in my chest.

The first time I go out in ages…

The first girl I meet in months…

And she lives in the building my boss bought and plans to tear down, meaningI’mpart of the reason she’s struggling right now.

Fucking awesome.

“It’s fine though. I’ll figure it out.” She blows out a breath, picking up her new drink and shaking her head. “I always do.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell her, because I am.

“Not your fault.”

Except it is.

She shrugs, taking a drink. Setting the glass down, she rolls her tongue across her plump lips, flicking away the hair that’s fallen over her shoulder. “So, if you’re not here drowning your sorrows—allegedly—then what brings you in?” She lifts a sculpted brow. “Let me guess, you’re looking for love?”

Given my obvious displeasure with the number of couples here tonight, I know she’s teasing.

I bark out a laugh. “Not a chance.”

“And here I had you pegged for a Romeo.”

“Only if you’ll be my Juliet.”

She cringes at the same time I do, and we laugh.

“That was awful, huh?”

“Very.”

“I promise I have better lines than that.”

She lifts her brows again. “I thought you weren’t looking for love.”

I pull a face at the mention oflove, and she laughs.

“You not a believer in happily ever afters or something?”

Another swallow of scotch because I can’t help the memories barreling through my mind.

I haven’t always been so against the idea of forever with someone. I remember the days when my parents would dance in the kitchen and my mother would smile up at my father with pure adoration. Even then I thought,I want that.

Then, life as I knew it was ripped away one snowy December day.

My mom told my dad she’d met someone else who would love her like she wanted to be loved, packed her bags, and left.

For years, I watched my father nurse his heartbreak. Watched him try to figure out where it all went wrong.

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