Page 4 of Don't Love the Boy Next Door
“You’re home,” Mom says once the door shuts behind me. She joins me in the kitchen, where I grab a bottle of water and gulp it down. All that walking and that strong wind in my face has left me so parched.
“How was it?” Mom asks with bright eyes. I don’t know why she’s so excited. I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve been on a date and she’s, like, obsessed with my having a boyfriend because she thinks I need a man to make me happy. But nope. I don’t need anyone but me to make me happy. Well Katie for sure. And my family, too, when they’re not driving me insane.
“Was okay,” I lie. The last thing I want to tell her is what a jerk Thad turned out to be. And how his captain came to rescue me like I was some damsel in distress.
Charlie glances up from his phone. “Why does your hair look like it’s been through a tornado?”
I leap toward the hallway mirror and check myself. Ugh, my hair is shooting up on all ends. All because of that jerk and his bike.
I slouch back to the kitchen. “I’m going to bed.”
Mom grabs my hands. “But I want to hear about your date. We hardly talk.”
She’s right. It’s not because I’m over at Katie’s a lot, but because Mom and I are so different. We may look like twins, but we might as well live on two different worlds. She’s girly and likes makeup and all that stuff. She doesn’t understand my gaming and live streaming. She thinks I’m just “playing online” and doesn’t take it seriously. We had a huge argument before Imoved all my gear to Katie’s, and it took her a while to get used to the idea that I’m trying to make a career out of my streaming. But then Katie’s mom died and my mother told me I’m being a good friend by not leaving Katie alone in that house. Mom’s still hurt, but she’s used to the idea now.
“Okay.” I lower myself and tell my mom all about the party that never existed. I hate lying to her, but I don’t want to tell her the truth.
“And how’s the boy? Is he as dreamy as you thought?”
Charlie slams his hands over his ears. “I don’t want to hear this.” He flees from the kitchen.
I shrug. “No. He’s not at all what I thought. I think it’s over between us.”
Mom pats my arm. “I’m so sorry, sweetie.”
I’m not. Not one bit. I’m glad I saw him for the jerk he really was before I got too invested in him.
I give her a wide smile. “I’m tired. Good night, Mom.” I climb to my room and dump myself on the bed. The ceiling is the only thing I want to stare at tonight.
I can’t stop thinking about what happened less than half an hour ago. My arms were wrapped around Ethan’s strong waist as he sped down the street. My nose was buried in his back, inhaling his smell.
He came looking for me.
Why? Since when does he care about anyone but himself?
Chapter Two
Katie
I bury my face in my pillow and groan.
It’s three AM Friday night—or is it Saturday morning?—and I can’t sleep. Because it’s been about twelve hours since The Incident happened.
It keeps playing over and over in my head. And each time, I want to dig myself deeper and deeper in the ground. I wish someone invented a device that could suck out your last few memories, particularly the ones that make you ashamed to even exist.
Or maybe I can find a time machine somewhere? We live in the twenty-first century. Surelysomeonefigured out the secret to time travel by now.
“Ugh!” I moan as I flip over to my back and throw my arm over my eyes. “It didn’t happen. It didn’t happen. It didnothappen.”
Except, it did. And in front of the whole cast and crew.
The memory bangs against the walls of my mind, demanding to be heard, demanding to be accepted with all my other memories. Demanding to becomepartof me. I’ve been battling it all these hours, but the truth is that it’s not going anywhere. So with a sigh, I lower my arm from my face and stare up at the ceiling, allowing it to fully play in my mind for the very first time.
“Please don’t leave me,” I sob as I fall over Eric, my hands desperately clutching his arms. “I love you.”
His beautiful blue eyes flutter open. He gets up from the floor slowly, careful not to hurt me as I slide off him. After spinning around, he holds out his hand and sings a short song, claiming that it’s him, the Beast. I half-lie on the stage floor, staring up at him in total shock and confusion.
Then recognition enters my eyes when I soak in his familiar features. Heismy Beast. My Beast that has been transformed into a man.
