Page 98 of Crave Thy Neighbor

I sigh. “In all fairness, the night we met, it was nothing then.”

I tell him what happened while he and River were running late. How I had no idea who she was. How offering her a place to live was based on pure, innocent intentions.

How I never meant to fall into bed with her, and it’s the truth.

Maya was firmly put into theoff limitscategory in my mind.

But…then she wasn’t. And I was fucked from that moment on…and not just literally.

Dean blows out a breath, running his hands through his hair.

“Wow.” He laughs. “We’re going to need another shot to celebrate this shit.”

“What? Why? Celebrate what?”

He claps me on the back. “This monumental moment.”

I shrug his touch off, scowling at him. “Just fucking out with it already.”

“You’re in love with her.”

“The fuck I am,” I say at once.

And the asshole’s grin grows.

“What?” I bark, and he laughs.

He fuckinglaughs.

“Swear to god…I’m leaving.”

I push myself up off the stool, reaching into my back pocket, ready to throw some cash down and bail.

“Oh, shut up, you big baby.” Dean shoves me back down. “Quit being so dramatic.”

“I’m not being dramatic.”

“I say the word love and you’re ready to literally run away? That’s not dramatic?” He raises a sharp brow. “That’s what I thought,” he says when I don’t respond. “Now, how about we react to this like rational adults, huh?”

I scrub a hand over my face, sighing loudly as I drop my head to the counter, banging it a few times, not giving a shit how sticky it is. “There’s nothing to fucking talk about. I’m not in love with her.”

I’m not.

I can’t be.

If I’m in love with her, that gives her power over me—power like my mom had over my dad. And I don’t want anyone to have that sort of hold on me.

“You poor, poor delusional man.” He pats my back. “It’s okay, you know. You can love her. It’s not the end of the world. In fact, I knew this day would come eventually.”

“You didn’t know shit.”

He shakes with laughter. “Cheer up. At least you didn’t fall for a girl who sometimes makes you question if she could murder you and not lose an ounce of sleep over it.”

That elicits a small chuckle from me.

“Dumbass,” I mutter, lifting my head. “River’s fucking scary as hell sometimes.”

“Oh, you don’t even know.” He takes a pull off his beer. “But it’s kind of exhilarating never knowing how she’s going to react to something. Keeps shit fun, you know?”

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