The New Neighbor Exerpt
Eric looked back at me, waggling his eyebrows. “You better hope that the walls aren’t thin here. You’ll be keeping your neighbors up with all your hookups.”
“You’re one to talk. Who was it again that overslept today because they had a sex marathon last night?
I mean seriously, it’s long past our college days.
Are you part bunny or something?” I liked sex as much as the next guy, but I was usually a one and done for the night.
I had never had much interest in going multiple rounds in a night, at least not with the same guy.
“Oh, right. I forgot who I was talking to. I guess they didn’t cure you when you got it checked out in college. Tough, bro. It’s been years,” he snickered.
I threw a sock at him. I hoped it came from the pile of dirty laundry I hadn’t had the chance to wash before shoving into a random box. That was what he deserved for bringing up the dark days before I had figured out my sexuality and had thought I had an actual problem with my dick.
“Not funny, man! You know how worried I was about having erectile dysfunction. And you know that my nuts—”
A knock came from the door. The open door I forgot to close from our last run down to the car. A cute man stood at the doorway holding a plate of cookies. A deep blush crept up his neck. His eyes flitted around under his glasses as if he was looking for an escape route.
“Hi,” he squeaked. “I’m your next-door neighbor. I brought you white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.” His eyes widened when he realized what he said.
“I mean I brought you cookies. But they do have macadamia nuts in them, so I should probably tell you in case you have a nut allergy, and oh my God, I need to stop saying nut.” His eyes were still shifting around, looking anywhere but at me.
“Sorry, I think I came at a bad time. I’ll come back later. ”
“Wait a second,” I called as he turned to leave. This was just my luck. I got a cute guy for a neighbor, and now he thought I had ED and a problem with my balls. I couldn’t let him leave like this.
I hurried to the door in case he actually made a run for it. “My name’s Zack. Nice to meet you.” I offered my hand up for a handshake. He stared at it like it was going to bite him. An awkward beat passed before he worked up the courage to accept it. I didn’t let go of his hand.
“I’m Eric, this idiot’s best friend,” Eric called from the kitchen, not to be left out.
“Hey! I’m not an idiot, you dickhead!” Eric rolled his eyes and continued unpacking the box he was currently working on.
“Caleb,” my new neighbor said, the corners of his mouth tilted slightly upwards in amusement.
“Sorry you had to hear that. We were just joking around. I don’t actually have ED.” I had to make sure he knew that. There was nothing more important in the world right now than making sure my new, cute neighbor understood that I did not have ED.
“What?” he asked, looking genuinely confused.
“You know, erectile dysfunction. Also, there’s nothing wrong with my balls either.
I have perfectly normal balls.” Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.
Eric laughing hysterically in the background like the jerk he was made it even more apparent that I’d put my foot in my mouth in front of the new neighbor yet again.
“Sorry, I’m not normally this weird. I promise. ”
“Yes, he is.”
I shot Eric a death glare. I didn’t know why I considered that traitor my best friend. He obviously thrived on my misery.
“Um…” Caleb glanced down at the handshake I refused to release him from.
“Oh, my bad.” I reluctantly let go of his warm hand. They weren’t soft like I imagined a clean-cut guy like him to have. No, they were callused from burns that were common in hands that toiled in the kitchen.
He shifted his feet and thrust the plate between us.
“Here,” he said. “A ‘welcome to the building’ gift.”
“Thanks, I love sweets.” I accepted the plate and grabbed a cookie.
He shot forward and placed a hand on mine to stop me. “I wasn’t kidding about the macadamia nuts. You don’t have a nut allergy or anything, do you?”
“No, I don’t. I don’t have a problem with any kind of nuts.”
His eyes widened at my innuendo, and the pink that was finally starting to disappear from his cheeks crept up again. I winked at him. I couldn’t help it. He looked so cute when he blushed.
I took a bite of the sweet-smelling cookie and groaned.
“Oh my god, these are orgasms in my mouth. You baked these? Are you a baker?” I threw the rest of the cookie in my mouth and reached for another one. I could probably gobble down this whole plate today.
He nodded shyly. “I’m glad you like them. And I do bake, but I’m not a professional baker. It’s just for fun.”
“Well, these are amazing. If you had a bakery, I’d visit every day,” I said, no lie in my words. The cookies were worth killing for.
“Gimme, gimme. I want some too.” Eric stalked his way toward me, eyes focused solely on the plate. He made a grab for a cookie. I swerved out of his reach. While we were both pretty bulky guys, Eric was half a head taller than me, but I was faster.
“Nuh-uh, you heard Caleb. These are to welcome me to the building. You’re not getting any.” I wasn’t going to share the gift my terribly shy but adorable new neighbor had gotten me, especially after Eric had made it his personal mission to embarrass me in front of Caleb.
“Don’t be like that. Come on! Just one!” He lunged for the plate again.
I dodged out of the way, using my other hand to protect the cookies. “Hey! You’re gonna make me spill them.”
Caleb stood there chuckling behind his hand.
He looked younger when he smiled. He wasn’t old—probably younger than my twenty-eight years—but you could see the stress of life in his eyes.
They seemed to carry the weight of something no twenty-year-old should be carrying.
But when he smiled, his whole face lifted, and his burdens disappeared, leaving behind a charming youthfulness that I could get addicted to staring at.
“Well, I better let you finish settling in. Welcome to the building.” He walked back to the entrance and paused. “I’ll, uh, close the door for you as well.”
“Thanks again for these.” I lifted the plate. “I’ll return the plate to you later.”
He waved his hand, and with a click of the door, he was gone.
“Someone’s got a little crush,” Eric singsonged behind me.
Want to read more of Zack and Caleb? Read their story in The New Neighbor.