Page 119 of Crave Thy Neighbor

I wince. Okay, poor choice of words.

“Sorry!” I shout. “I’m sorry! I’m just looking for—”

A light flicks on next door and the patio door is pulled open.

And my whole world snaps back together.

Maya steps onto the balcony, light illuminating her, making her look like the angel she is.

“Nolan?” She crosses her arms over her chest at the cold, bitter air. “What are you doing out here?”

Did she not get my note?“Did you not get my note?”

“I did. I figured you’d use the door though…”

“Who is that over there?”

Maya turns to her neighbor. “Hi, Ms. June. It’s me, your new neighbor, Maya.”

“The one with the little shithead kid always playing that damn guitar too loudly?”

Maya chuckles. “That’d be the one.”

The old woman grumbles something I don’t catch, then pushes her shoulders back, tipping her chin up. “Well, what are you doing hanging around with some riffraff like this? Throwing stones at people’s windows—he could have broken one!”

“I’m sorry, Ms. June.”

She points a finger. “You should be! I was sleeping and having a lovely dream about Denzel Washington before your little friend went and ruined it.” She crosses her arms over her chest, huffing. “I’m going back to bed.”

She storms into her apartment and slams the door, no doubt waking others up.

“Did she say she called the cops?” Maya asks me. I nod, and she sighs. “She always threatens that, but she never actually does.”

Thank fuck. I’d rather not have to deal with that right now.

“Why are you throwing rocks at my neighbor’s window, Nolan?”

“I was trying the whole Romeo and Juliet thing. You know, getting all romantic on the balcony and whatnot.”

“Should I be reciting Shakespeare? Because I don’t think I know any.”

“Nah. Could never understand anything he was saying anyway.” I glance to her neighbor’s patio, where I see the old bat peeking through her blinds, phone up to her ear. “Fuck. I’m pretty sure your neighbor is calling the cops on me for real this time. Knew I should have gone with the boombox bit.”

She chuckles. “What song would you have played?”

“To get you to come out here? All of them. I’d have stood out here all night to get you to listen to me.”

“It’s freezing.”

“It is. But trust me, life without you is a lot colder than this.”

I see her throat bob, and she rubs at her arms. “What do you want, Nolan?”

My nerves come back full force, and fucking hell is it embarrassing how hard I’m breathing right now.

She stands there, arms crossed, brows raised, waiting patiently on me.

“I…I…”

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