Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 80391 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80391 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
“So, you were thinking of me, huh?”
I didn’t like to be teased. Just ask my sister.
Without another word to the rude man, I walked back into my apartment and slammed the door.
Smug bastard.
Luckily, I was already wearing my shirt and skirt, all I had to do was slip into my Converses and braid my hair.
I was a high school chemistry teacher for Benton High School.
On the weekends, I worked in a lab to help supplement my bills. Or I did until I found out they tested on living animals and stole them. Now I didn’t have a job, but at least they couldn’t report me or they’d be doing themselves more harm than good.
It’d be easier for them just to acquire new test subjects; however, I’d destroyed quite a bit of data when I’d left, so it’d take them some time.
“Purse, purse, purse,” I chanted, as I made my way back to the living room.
I found it wedged in between the cushion and the back of the couch, which could very well have had to do with Monty sleeping behind the cushions.
Digging through my purse and looking for my keys, I walked to the door, then slammed it behind myself as I started stomping down the steps.
What I should’ve been doing was watching where I was going, instead of stuffing my head into my purse while I looked for my keys. If I had, I wouldn’t have missed the last two steps and nearly fallen flat on my face.
Luckily, tall, dark and handsome was at the bottom to catch me.
Unluckily, he got sweat all over the front of my shirt.
“Ewww,” I squealed as my linen shirt clung to his sweaty skin.
“Sorry,” he said in his deep velvety voice.
I disentangled myself from him and then bent down to retrieve all of my belongings that were now littering the sidewalk.
He bent down as well and started picking up candy wrappers, a coke that was three days old, and my birth control pills.
“Here, I want those. These,” I said as I shoved the trash into his hands. “You can throw away for me when you get a chance.”
Kettle snorted. “Sure.”
“Do you see my keys anywhere?”
Oh man, I was going to be really late. I was supposed to be there for driver’s ED over thirty minutes ago. Now I was going to have to listen to Jesse Lawn’s mother bitching about how she had to miss yoga class again.
I was habitually late, though. Mrs. Lawn missed her yoga appointments a lot. The school wasn’t going to fire me, however. Nobody else wanted to deal with the little sixteen year olds that thought they knew more than their instructors.
I’d already gotten into four fender benders this year, and it was only four months into the school year.
“Here.” He said standing up and leaving the trash where it was.
“You forgot that.” I pointed to the offensive objects.
He looked down, then back up at me, and laughed. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”
Then I watched in flabbergasted silence as the man walked over one apartment down from my own, walked down the pathway, and entered his ground floor apartment.
The apartment I hadn’t been aware he’d had.
The apartment that was supposed to be mine, but another person had stolen it out from under me.
That thieving bastard!
***
Kettle
Later that night
I watched as my new neighbor, the one I hadn’t seen in my two months of living at this place, stepped out of her car in her fuck me skirt and stupid little tennis shoes.
She was wearing long sleeves, too.
In the middle of October when it was ninety degrees out.
Although, whatever job she had probably didn’t like the fact that she had tattoos.
The tattoos I’d seen the night before, in all their glory.
Most jobs didn’t.
“Evening,” he called.
She stopped and turned, looking at me on my porch.
“What?” She snapped.
My brows rose at her tone, and I couldn’t stop myself from standing to my full height before walking down the walkway and across the sidewalk to her. “Did I do something to piss you off?” I asked curiously.
She was so hot and cold. Last night she was nice, maybe a tad flighty, but mostly nice.
Same with this morning.
Then this.
Her arms crossed, and her breasts pushed together, drawing my eyes to her impressive cleavage.
“Yes, as a matter of fact you did. You were the one who stole my apartment.” She said pointing to my apartment.
I leaned back on my heels and barely contained the need to smile.
“Uhh, I’m sorry?” I apologized. “I only called and asked for an apartment. When I got here, that’s the one they showed me.”
“It was mine. I’d even signed a lease for it. When I came to move in that day, the manager told me she’d double leased it out and offered me that one. Do you have any idea how hard it is to carry groceries up those freaking stairs?”
I didn’t really know what to say. I’d already apologized. What more could I do?
“If I’m home, all you’ve got to do is knock and I’ll carry them up for you.” I offered.
Her eyes narrowed, and then her shoulders seemed to slump. “I’m sorry. It’s just that my sister is disabled, and it scares me when she comes to visit. Which she does a lot.”
“It’s okay. You know where I’m at if you need me.” I said, before turning to go back to my own porch.
“Don’t you ever wear a shirt?” She asked my back.
I turned back around with a smirk on my face.
“Yes,” I said, shrugging. “I just don’t like to wear them when I don’t have to.”
Chapter 3
I love when you talk nerdy to me.
-Text from Kettle to Adeline
Kettle
Two weeks later
I set the weights down with a small clink and stood when I heard the knock on my door.
I wasn’t expecting anybody until about an hour from now, but it wasn’t unheard of for one of my brothers to stop by and shoot the shit with me on my days off.
I was completely thrown off guard when I opened the door to find my little neighbor, the one who’d been avoiding me at every turn for the past two weeks, standing there with her arms crossed against her chest.