Page 37 of Crave Thy Neighbor

Me: I hope this isn’t an indication of how you pay the rent…

Maya: I’ll have you know I’m an excellent tenant.

Me: This isn’t helping your case at all.

Maya: Blame the school drop-off line, not me.

Me: Uh-huh. Likely excuse.

Maya: Shut up.

Maya: OMW

Me: OMW?

Me: Never mind. Google helped me.

I tuck my phone into my pocket, then run a hand through my still wet hair as I lean against the back wall of the elevator.

At the rate this thing moves, I’ll be running five minutes late too.

As I watch the floors tick by at a snail’s pace, I do a mental check of the apartment.

Fuck.I should have done one last sweep, made sure everything is in decent shape since I’ll be bringing Maya back there.

I laugh to myself as the elevator finally stops in the lobby.

Man, if you’d have told me when I met her I’d be bringing her back to my place, I’d have thought it was because I was about to get my dick wet, not for her to inspect it before she moves in.

The thought literally stops me in my tracks, right in the doorway of the apartment building.

“Thanks,” someone chirps as they slide past me, thinking I’m holding the door open for them.

I’m not.

I’m too fucking busy freaking out.

I give myself a shake, shove my hands in my pockets, and keep walking.

I almost bump into a pole, then a person, so lost in my thoughts as I make the short walk to the diner.

What the fuck am I thinking?

She can’t live with me. Her kid sure as fuck can’t live with me either.

I can’t afford to get attached, not even in the slightest—and Maya is the type of person you could get attached to.

I need to tell her this is off.

I can’t do this.

I—

“Hey!”

Her voice hits my ears, and my eyes snap to her as she sashays down the sidewalk toward me.

She’s wearing a smile that takes up her whole face, and her gray eyes are brighter than I’ve seen them yet. She somehow looks years younger, and I know it’s the stress leaving her body that does it.

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