The Boy Next Door: A Standalone Small Town Romance (Soulmates Series Book 3) (15 page)

Chapter 28: Connor

Her flushed face froze.

“Why are you making that face?” I asked. “Happily ever after
isn’t part of your master plan?”

“No,” she said. “That’s not it at all.”

“I’m listening.”

“I don’t have a master plan for one.”

“There’s a shock.”

She turned a palm towards the ceiling. “So what? So I like to go
with the wind.”

I rolled my eyes. “You like to go against the wind.”

“Sometimes it pushes me in the wrong direction.”

I rolled my head towards her. “The wind is not to blame for your
neurosis, Laney.”

“Sorry. I was just startled by how casually you mentioned the
happily ever after phrase.”

I squinted. “The one that was casually mentioned in every book
you read between ages six and twelve?”

She grabbed her hair and held it up with her hands. “Books are
different.”

“There’s only one real difference between books and life.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh? And what’s that?”

“In books the happily ever after is where the story ends.”

“Obviously.”

“But in real life, you have to keep working on your happily ever
after.” I dropped my foot from the glove box and turned towards her. “It’s a
process, a journey. An adventure.”

“A Choose Your Own Adventure?”

I shrugged. “If you’re doing it right.”

“I thought of another difference between books and life.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“In life there are never any spoilers. Because no one knows
what’s going to happen next or how things are going to turn out.”

“True,” I said. “But doesn’t that make life better?”

“Would you want to know the rest of your life?” she asked. “If
it were in a book and you could just read the whole thing?”

“Maybe the next page,” I said. “But I wouldn’t read all the way
to the end. What’s the fun in that?”

“I suppose it would sort of destroy the adventure part.”

“Completely.”

She turned the fan down a notch so it stopped blowing the wisps
of hair around her face. “What about peace of mind, though? Wouldn’t you like
to know the future so you could plan for it?”

I shook my head. “No. What if it’s not all good news? Then you’d
have to waste tons of energy fretting, and I fucking hate fretting.”

“No one likes fretting,” she said. “It’s just one of those
things that has to be done.”

“I’m not convinced that it is.”

“Either way that’s not very optimistic.”

“I disagree,” I said. “If anything, not reading ahead is the
most optimistic approach a person could take.”

“I suppose I see your point.”

“Well cue the marching band,” I said. “This is a day I want to
remember.”

She laughed. “Don’t be a smartass.”

I reached for a bottle of water on the floor but chose not to
drink it when I felt how sickly warm it was.

“So what happens on your next page then?” she asked.

“That’s kind of up to you.”

“I suppose you did pick last time,” she said. “So maybe
sandwiches? I’ve been dying to try the pulled pork from Hanky’s-”

“I wasn’t really talking about lunch.”

“I have to eat, Connor. All I’ve had today is-”

“You’ll get your Hanky’s, okay. I just have something else I
want to ask you.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Sprite?”

“Did you really think the question was going to be about what you
want to drink with lunch?”

“No,” she said. “You’re just making kind of a serious face so I
feel a little nervous.”

“I’m not making a serious face.”

“You are,” she said.

“Well you don’t have to be nervous, okay?”

“Too late,” she said. “Let’s get this over with.”

I opened the glovebox and pulled out a little velvet box.

She turned an ear towards me.

“I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you again, Laney-”

“What are you doing?”

“You make me absolutely crazy in a way so fantastic I don’t know
how I ever lived without you.”

She laid a palm across her forehead. “Oh my god.”

“And I’m sick of coming up with bullshit excuses just so I can
see your face every day.”

She swallowed.

I opened the ring box.

I watched her eyes fall to the gold key wedged in the velvet
flap. “What is that?”

“It’s a key.”

“The key to your heart?”

I laughed. “Do you really think I’m that cheesy?”

“I don’t know what to think.”

I groaned. “It’s the key to my house.”

She narrowed her eyes at me.

“I want you and Neo to move in with me.”

“You what?”

“You heard me.”

She craned her neck back. “Don’t you think this is all happening
a bit fast?”

I shrugged. “No more than I think you could argue that it’s
happening a bit slow.”

“Shit.”

“Exciting right?”

She raised her eyebrows. “You’re serious?”

“Of course I’m serious. I feel guilty about laughing at Neo every
time he runs into that wicker bunny statue.”

She laughed. “Me too.”

“And I know Helly doesn’t like cats in the house.”

“No. She doesn’t.”

“Plus,” I said. “I love you.”

Her lips fell apart.

“I have since the day I saw you in your geek glasses with your
double order of chocolate milk.”

She smiled.

“And I think I’m probably a much easier housemate than Helly.”

“Easier is one of many words that came to my mind.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Along with sexier and more fun?”

“I don’t know. Some of Helly’s negligees from the seventies are
pretty racy-”

“Spare me,” I said, raising a hand between us.

“I think that sounds like fun,” she said. “And it’s incredibly
generous of you-”

“I feel a but coming on.”

“But I can be a huge pain in the ass.”

I laughed.

“What about all my annoying quirks?” she asked.

“Who cares? I have annoying quirks too.”

“No you don’t,” she said. “Tell me one.”

I rolled my eyes towards the roof of the truck. “I don’t like
other people to use my toothbrush.”

“That’s not a quirk,” she said. “That’s just normal human
nature.”

“I don’t like cereal,” I said. “Except for Frosted Flakes.”

“That doesn’t exactly make you difficult to live with.”

I craned my neck forward. “There are only two decent meals I can
make.”

“What are they?” she asked.

“Irish stew and spaghetti Bolognese.”

“That puts you two major players ahead of me.”

“Don’t you think it’ll be fun?” I asked. “It’ll be like when my
parents used to go out of town but all the time.”

She smiled. “I suppose we have had a few trial runs of living
together.”

“Don’t say yes because you don’t have a better offer though.” I
searched her eyes. “Say yes because it’s what you want.”

She reached for the little ring box and pulled out the gold key.
“I think it is what I want.”

I smiled.

“But what if you can’t get rid of me once I move in?”

I furrowed my brow. “I hadn’t really made a plan for that.”

“It could happen,” she said, rubbing the key between her fingers.
“I’m a lot messier than you.”

“That’s a quirk of yours I’m already aware of.”

“Hey,” she said, nudging my shoulder.

“And for the record, I’m not asking you to move in and start
doing my laundry and cleaning my house.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“I’m a grown man. I don’t need any help running my house.”

She cocked her head. “So what are you asking me exactly?”

“To share my space because it’s brighter when you’re in it.”

“That’s sweet.”

“You pushed me.”

“And my body,” she said. “Don’t forget my body.”

I laughed. “As if I could. It’s only my favorite thing about
you.”

Her mouth fell open. “What the heck?!”

“So what do you say?” I asked, nodding towards the key. “Is that
an adventure you can feel good about choosing?”

She scooted towards me and laid a hand on my cheek. “Of course
it is,” she said. “And I love you, too.”

Chapter 29: Laney

I couldn’t wait to tell Helly the good news.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t be too disappointed that I was moving
out, especially because I was only going next door.

If anything, I expected her to be relieved. After all, we could
still hang out, but she wouldn’t feel pressured to think of new ways to tease
me about Connor, which I think even she realized was getting pretty old.

Sure, I was nervous about the move, but I was trying not to
overthink things.

I mean, Connor didn’t have to ask, and I did need a place to
live.

Plus, we’d been spending all our free time together anyway, and
while I wasn’t sure where living together might lead, I had to make progress in
some area of my life.

And with each passing day, I was becoming less connected to the
idea of a future in New York and more attached to the idea of staying in this
quirky little town. I liked waking up to the sound of birds every morning and
the fact that people knew my name.

I was starting to feel more centered than I had in a long time.

Plus, Amber’s mom let me try my hand at teaching a still life
class for her friends, and it went down really well. Sure, it wasn’t exactly an
exhibit at Moma, but it did give me hope that I might actually be able to make
a living from art someday.

And that alone would be a dream come true.

What’s more, thanks to Connor’s encouragement and the much
needed confidence boost I’d gained from doing the mural, I was finally feeling
like I had some semblance of control over my life, finally feeling like things
didn’t have to be so hard, and finally feeling like everything was going to be
okay.

Until I saw her.

She was sitting on the couch with Helly drinking tea, and my
throat closed up when her eyes met mine.

Her face was like worn leather- hard and soft at the same time-
and she looked older than I remembered, older than I ever thought she’d be.

“Laney,” she said, rising to her feet.

I couldn’t speak. It was like I’d been dropped in a bad dream.
My body stayed still but my eyes flitted around the room to the exits, as if I
might be able to hack into a different space and wake myself up. Like Beatrice
in the Divergent Series.

She walked right up to me and spread her arms.

“Don’t,” I said, raising a palm and taking a step backwards.

She looked hurt. It wasn’t a face I remembered her making.

“What’s going on here?” I looked at Helly.

Her crinkled eyes smiled. “Your mom’s just out of rehab.”

I looked back at the woman with the familiar face. She was
wearing a cardigan. A fucking cardigan. And her hair looked like it had been
brushed. “That’s not my mom.”

Her creased lips formed a straight line.

I looked back and forth between her blue eyes. “My mom’s a
hopeless drunk that wants nothing to do with me.”

The woman swallowed. “You have every right to be upset-”

“Don’t speak to me,” I warned.

She took a step forward.

“Stop,” I said, pulling the door open behind me. “You have no
right to even look at me.”

She nodded. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t get to be sorry,” I said. “It’s too late. Your sorrys
don’t mean shit.”

“Don’t speak to your mother like that,” Helly said.

I furrowed my brow. “I’m just following the example she set.”

“She’s been through a lot,” Helly said, walking around the
coffee table. “She’s been through a lot, and she needs our support.”

“Fuck that,” I said, shaking my head as hatred flowed through me.
“And fuck you,” I said, staring into the eyes of a mother I’d presumed dead.
“And fuck you for letting her in here,” I said to Helly before slamming the
door.

Then I threw it back open, walked into the kitchen to grab Neo
from his bed, and stormed out again, refusing to make any more eye contact with
either of them.

I hurried to the end of the driveway, rounded the bushes towards
Connor’s house, and rang the doorbell over and over until he opened it with an
exasperated look on his face.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“It’s my mother,” I said, bursting into tears. “She’s next
door.”

Connor put Neo in a carrier box so we wouldn’t have to watch him
while Sarge got used to his smell. Then he led me to the couch, put a heavy
blanket over me, and boiled the kettle without saying anything.

By the time he brought me some tea, I’d finally cried my shock
out and could speak between hiccups.

“I take it you didn’t tell Helly the good news,” he said, pulling
my legs across his lap.

I shook my head. “She was just there. On the couch. Drinking tea
like everything was hunky dory.”

“Did she say anything?”

“I don’t remember. I think as soon as she said my name I started
screaming.” I took a deep breath. “I even swore at Helly for letting her in.”

“How did she seem?”

“Tired,” I said, wrapping my hands around the steaming mug. “But
sober.”

He nodded.

“Her eyes were sparklier than I remember, and she looked at me
like she could only see one of me.”

“Is she staying there?”

“God I hope not. I really can’t handle sleeping in the same
house as that woman.”

“Well you don’t have to do that anyway,” he said. “Remember?”

“Oh, right.”

“And you don’t need to ring the doorbell either.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I just forgot.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry I don’t know what to say.”

“Say I imagined it and that none of this just happened.”

“Which part?” he asked.

“The part about my mom showing up and acting like the last time
I saw her she didn’t throw a bottle at me and call me a stupid slut.”

He pursed his lips. “Believe me, I really wish I could.”

“Does she think she can just show up and pretend she’s been my
mom all this time?”

“Maybe she wants to make amends.”

“Well, she should’ve tried that before she tried to hug me.”

He raised his eyebrows. “She tried to hug you?”

I rubbed my sore eyes. “I felt cold all over when I realized
that’s what she was going to do. Numb.”

“And how do you feel now?”

“Like puking.”

He tilted an ear towards me. “Are you going to puke? Do you need
me to get you something in case?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m not. I just wish I could, ya know? It
feels like I have all this black hate soaked goop in my guts and it’s poisoning
me from the inside out.”

“Shit,” he said. “What can I do to help?”

I sighed. “I wish I knew.”