Chapter 22
Twenty-Two
Zach
The laughter coming from one of the open windows of Lou’s house is loud. It’s the kind of laughter that is infectious. Glancing at the window, the light glowing from inside casting a beam of golden light to bisect the yard in the darkness.
Stepping out of my truck, I shake my head as another round of laughter rings out. Several unfamiliar cars are parked in Lou’s driveway. The girls climb out of the truck behind me.
“No!” I hear one female voice protest amid another roar of laughter. “Do not look up the definition of snowballing, Grandma Jude! We can’t use that!”
I stop in my tracks. What in the world? Snowballing?
“I’m going to pee my pants,” another female voice drifts out between shouts of laughter.
“Ohmygod!” another voice, this one in shock or disgust, and the laughing only gets louder.
Curious, I pull my phone out of my back pocket and open the search engine app, quickly looking up the definition.
My cheeks flame. Holy fuck. What the hell are these women doing talking about that?
“Girls,” I mutter quickly, closing my phone and notching my chin at the door. “Inside.”
“What’s snow—”
“Something to do with winter sports, probably,” Bailey says, shrugging, before following Abigail and Chloe up the two steps to our front porch.
“Yep,” I confirm, ushering them in through the door and closing it quickly. Shaking my head, I can’t help but laugh. What in the hell is Louise doing over there?
“Do we have to go to bed right now?” Chloe asks around a yawn.
I laugh again, nodding. “Oh yeah. We’re already late. We stayed longer at Nonna’s than planned.”
“But it’s not a school day tomorrow,” Chloe whines, sticking her bottom lip out.
“And that’s the only reason you got to stay up this late to start with,” I mutter, ushering my smallest heathen down the hall to the bathroom. Bailey and Abigail are already brushing their teeth.
“Can we see Lou tomorrow? We haven’t seen her in dayshh,” Bailey asks around her toothbrush.
“We’ll see.”
“That means no,” Chloe mutters sullenly, climbing up onto the stepstool and picking up her toothbrush. Abi reaches over and puts toothpaste on the bristles for her.
“It means we’ll see,” I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest. “I haven’t talked to her. She’s been busy.”
That’s a lie.
I’ve avoided her.
To a degree.
I know I shouldn’t be doing what I’m dreaming about doing with my very young, very attractive neighbor. And I fear that the taste I got of her the other day is only making my addiction to her worse.
I want to taste her again. I want to taste all of her. Over and over again.
And now I can’t get the thought of doing what that definition suggested out of my mind.
Fuckkkk. Nope. Don’t think about that right now.
Getting the girls tucked into bed for the night takes longer than usual, and by the time I get Chloe into bed for the third time, I head to the kitchen.
The garbage is full and needs to be taken out to the bins, and then I groan, because I remember that tomorrow is pick up and the bin needs to be wheeled out to the road for the truck to access.
Tying off the bag, I walk it out to the trash bins, hauling it down the driveway.
Rustling in the bushes to the right alerts me to the fact that I’m not alone, and I shine the flashlight on my phone toward the noise.
Glowing orbs and a masked face stare at me, almost indignant at the interruption, and I shift the light away.
“Dammit, Yolanda,” I mutter to the little masked trash panda as she skitters up a nearby tree to watch me. She chatters at me as I start my walk back down the driveway.
I watch Lou’s front door open and several women step out onto the front porch.
Rounds of hugs and ‘See you laters’ go out, and then five women I don’t recognize climb into the vehicles parked in front of Lou’s house.
It’s dark, and I’m not sure any of them have noticed me before I get to Lou’s parking spots.
One by one, the vehicles reverse and then pull out of the driveway. Lou waves from her front porch as the cars disappear. I’m torn between making my presence known or remaining in the shadows.
When she turns to head back inside, I find my feet have moved me forward, and I call out, “Louise.”
I watch as her eyes scan the darkness around us until she finds me. In the glow of the front porch light, I can see that her cheeks are flushed pink. She’s so damn beautiful.
“Hey,” she says, then steps down the two steps, slowly making her way toward me as I do the same. “What are you doing out here in the dark?”
I hitch my thumb over my shoulder and mutter, “I was just taking the bins to the road. Do you want me to take yours down?”
“No, I’ll take it down in the morning before I head to work. Thank you, though. I’m a big girl, but I appreciate the offer.” She winks, and that damn rock in my chest thumps harder.
“You ladies have a good time tonight?”
Her laugh is light and a little hesitant, and she nods as she crosses her arms over her stomach. Only a few feet separate us now, but it still feels like too much. I want her closer.
Fuck that, I want her in my arms.
Still might not be close enough.
“Yeah, we did. We have a girl’s night every week. My grandma, my mom, and my sisters. We play Scrabble and catch up for the week.” She shrugs again, her smile making that damn dimple at the corner of her mouth pop out. I still haven’t put my tongue there like I’ve been wanting to.
Grinning, I shove my hands into the front pockets of my jeans and murmur, “And ‘snowballing’ is a valid Scrabble word?”
Those green eyes go wide and I can’t stop the laugh that bursts from me, my face splitting in a wide grin. Her mouth opens, closes, opens again. She licks her lips and then rolls them between her teeth and shakes her head. “I can’t believe you heard that.”
“Sounds like my kind of game of Scrabble. What other kind of naughty games do you like to play, Louise?” I ask, stepping closer. Fuck it. She tilts her head up to keep her eyes on mine as I move to stand directly in front of her. “Strip Poker?”
She tilts her head to the side, smiling up at me impishly. “Strip Battleship is more fun.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “Goddammit you’re perfect.
” Stepping even closer, I lean down so that I can run my mouth along her jaw, and up toward her ear.
Whispering low, I breathe, “Is that something you want, Louise? Because I would fill up that pretty little pussy so full of my cum. Then I’d go down on you so I can taste both of us.
” Groaning, I revel in the way my cock is throbbing inside my pants.
“And then I’d kiss you. Let you taste us together, too. ”
“I thought you were avoiding me after that kiss.”
Her whisper is barely audible, hesitant. But her head tilts to the side, allowing me better access to the soft flesh of her neck.
“I was,” I admit quietly. I won’t lie to her.
“You… you disarm me in ways I am not entirely prepared to handle. I haven’t kissed another woman in over a decade.
Make me want things I haven’t let myself want in so long.
Make me feel things I didn’t think I’d ever feel again.
And all of it could come crashing down around me, if I’m not careful. ”
Kissing my way down her jaw, I brush my mouth over hers.
“You are impossible to ignore. Avoiding you for two days was fucking torture. I don’t think I can go back to what life was before you came crashing into it like a goddamn wrecking ball.”
“I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended,” she laughs lightly, her mouth moving against mine with her words. Then, she whispers quietly, uncertainly, “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind…”
I kiss her then, briefly, chastely. “I haven’t changed my mind, Princess. Like I said, you’re impossible to ignore. I… I just had to wrap my head around some things.”
“And now you have?” she asks, tilting her lips to mine. Not kissing. Just the briefest pass of lips against lips. Fuck it’s so hot. She drives me absolutely crazy.
“Yes. I already told you, I’m done saying no to you, Louise.”
I kiss her again, pressing my mouth to hers fully and opening. Still keeping my hands to myself, because if I touch her right now I’m going to say fuck waiting for the weekend. And I don’t want to fuck her for the first time standing on her porch. Or up against the wall in her entryway.
No, I want to take my time.
“I have to take the girls over to my mother’s on Friday night. I’ll message you when I’m back home.”
“How are you going to do that without my phone number?” she asks, teasing.
“Guess you should give me your number, then, huh?” I rasp against her mouth. “Unless I should continue to leave post-it notes on your front door…”
She laughs then, and the sound is so fucking beautiful. I could listen to her laugh all fucking day. It wraps around the stone in my chest, softening it a little more.
“It is quite cute,” she says, her green eyes twinkling up at me. “But, I think you should take my number. You know, just in case.”
“Just in case,” I agree.
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I open it. She takes it out of my hand, adding her number to my contacts before handing it back.
Princess.
Typing out a text, I hit send, and I hear her phone buzz in her back pocket. She fishes it out, opening it, and I take it out of her hand. Opening the contact, I type a name into the contact info bar and then hand it back.
“Seriously?” she asks, laughing and shaking her head. “You named yourself with nothing but eggplant emojis?”
I grin, winking.
She opens the contact and erases the three eggplant emojis I’d typed in, then renames my contact before flipping her phone to show me.
I laugh out loud, grinning.
“Grumpy Pants does seem to fit better, does it not?” she teases, and I drop my mouth to taste the impish grin on hers.
“I’ll text you.”
She nods against my mouth.
Backing up, I put much needed space between us. Shoving my hands back into my pockets, it draws her attention, and her eyes drop to what’s quite obvious behind the fly of my jeans.
Grinning coyly, she asks, “Is that a firehose in your pants or are you happy to see me?”
The laugh that erupts from me is loud in the dark. Shaking my head, I remove one hand from my pocket and scrub it over my face. I’m actually blushing.
“Goddammit, Louise. That fucking mouth.”
She winks. “You have no idea.”
My cock twitches. Fucking hell, this woman is pure trouble.
“Good night,” I tell her, instilling a touch of gravel in my tone.
“Don’t dad-voice me.”
She winks again, biting her lower lip, backing up toward the stairs to her front porch.
I’m backing away, too, toward my own house as she climbs the steps. “Oh, Louise?” I call. She stops, turning to look at me. “I’ve been informed I have to bring you to family dinner next week.”
Her blond brows rise in surprise. “Oh. Umm. Okay?”
Backing away another couple steps, I grin at her through the darkness. “Both my brothers will be there. Make sure you behave yourself.”
“Or what?” she calls, grinning. God I love that grin. That fucking dimple that appears with that mischievous grin.
“Or I’ll keep adding to that punishment you’re getting, Brat.”
She laughs, rolling her eyes. “It’s not my fault he’s got those sexy glasses…”
“Louise…” I warn on a growl as I reach my own porch. She’s standing at her front door, half inside.
She kisses her fingers and blows me a kiss from across the yard. I grin back at her, shaking my head.
“Good night, Grumpy Pants.”
“Good night, Princess.”