Page 6 of The Crush Next Door

There was a light in those bright blue eyes of his, not that I was paying attention or anything. "Just, you know..." He leaned forward a little and dropped his voice to a whisper. "...superstitious."

Snorting myself, I laughed out loud. "About food?"

"Hey, you can't make fun of me. I'm betting you wear that same shirt every game."

I looked away from his teasing eyes because he was one-hundred percent correct about that. Under my breath, I called him a not-so-nice name.

"I heard that," he surprised me by saying. "All right. Game starts at five. Don't be late. And don't bring anything but yourself."

"Okay then," I said, but he was already going inside.

Thank goodness. Now, I just had to scramble over this other wall. I gave him a good ten seconds before I attempted it. And this time, I got it on the first try.

Success!

As I went inside, locking the door behind me, I let out a huge sigh of relief. What on earth had possessed me to go inside Josh's apartment like that? I hadn't even thought about it beforehand. But hadn't I committed a crime?

What an idiot I'd been! The only excuse I could think of was sleep deprivation. Since I started living on my own, I'd been having more nightmares than ever before, more so than right after my dad disappeared. Something about the nighttime triggered them. I hated it. Every awful dream took me right back to three years ago and the heartache we'd all endured.

I hadn't had a proper night of sleep in weeks, since Devon had moved away.

Settling in on my couch for a good read and possible nap, I realized I couldn't let the lack of sleep affect me like that. I had to be smarter. I had to be the woman I knew I was inside.

My short life of crime was over. No way was I going to sneak back into Josh's to fix his headboard. I'd just have to find another way or learn to live with it.

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