13. Josie #2
He stares at me for a few seconds longer before turning around and walking back to his house.
I watch him go, his walk slow. He stops when he’s just about out of my line of sight.
He looks over his shoulder, his hands still tucked in his pockets.
I don’t move, too curious to find out if he’s going to say something.
Time seems to stand still as he holds my gaze for a few more moments before he looks ahead once again and walks away.
I stand on my doorstep for a little bit longer before finally heading inside. Mouse greets me at the door immediately. He lets out a meow of disapproval, letting it be known he didn’t like to be left alone.
I crouch to the ground and scratch his favorite spot on his back as an apology. “Sorry, Mouse, I couldn’t turn down the invitation.”
Mouse lets out another meow before the sound of my phone vibrating steals my attention.
“Shit,” I whisper, immediately standing up and rushing to my kitchen. In the haste to get ready and get over to Tyson’s, I completely forgot about my phone. I’d been so swept up in the evening that I hadn’t even realized I’d forgotten it until now.
It stops vibrating just as I get to the counter. My stomach drops when I see the number of calls I’ve missed. What if something happened to Pop? It was stupid of me to leave my phone. I’m the only person he has left.
I let out a sigh of relief when I realize the missed calls are only from Scarlett and that everything with Pop is fine.
I swipe to answer Scarlett’s call without even thinking about it.
“Oh, thank God,” Scarlett gets out the moment the video call connects. She seems to be at home. Or at least, I think she’s home. Either that or she’s wearing a hot pink face mask at work, but I doubt that. “I thought something happened to you.”
I give her a forced smile. “Nope. I’m fine.”
“Then why haven’t you been answering my—” Her words abruptly stop as she stares at me through the phone screen. “Wait, why are you dressed up, and why do you have makeup on? Were you at Pembroke?” Scarlett leans closer to the camera as if that’ll help her figure out why I’m dressed up.
“No,” I rush to get out, wishing I had ignored Scarlett’s call in the first place and given myself time to change and compose myself after having dinner with Tyson.
Scarlett tosses her red hair over her shoulder as she looks away from the camera for a moment. “Are you lying?” she asks, her tone curious.
“No.” I don’t know why she thinks I’d lie about being at the club.
I have no reason to. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I swear there might be a slight sadness to her tone when she asks about Pembroke, but I could be wrong.
She grew up going to Pembroke as a child and even into her teenage years.
She was there far more than I ever was. Her family’s at the club often; she just makes a point not to go there now that she’s famous and busy.
“I wasn’t at the club tonight. I was at my neighbor’s. ”
Her mouth flies open, and I try not to laugh at the sight. Her mouth hangs open so wide that it rips the bottom opening of the face mask at its corners. “Your neighbor’s? Jo…spill.”
I let out a sigh as I roll my eyes. “There’s nothing to spill. I have a neighbor who invited me over for dinner, and I said yes.”
“Bitch, you better not be finding a new best friend. I’ll be pissed. What’s her name? I have to look her up to see my competition.”
I can’t help but laugh. Scarlett knows I’d never replace her, but she’ll use any chance to remind me that she’s irreplaceable. “You’re my one and only best friend for life, Scar. You don’t have any competition when it comes to Tyson.”
She lets out the most dramatic gasp. “Tyson? You were at a guy’s house?” There’s so much shock in her voice, I don’t know if I should be offended.
“Just my neighbor’s,” I offer casually as I begin to walk to my bedroom.
“You’re going to have to give me more details than that.”
“I don’t have any more details to give,” I lie. Sure, I probably could tell Scarlett more, but for right now, I don’t know what there really is to tell. I enjoy spending time with Tyson, and of course I’m attracted to him, but my focus is on this book. Tonight was just dinner. Nothing else.
“Is this neighbor hot?” Scarlett prods.
I fight a smile. He’s more than hot. He might be the most attractive man I’ve ever seen.
His sharp cheekbones and chiseled jaw are what sculptors probably dream of.
His light brown, almost auburn, hair is always perfectly tousled, and I can’t even get started on his light blue eyes that are a shade I’ve never seen before.
He’s so hot that he’s like a book character brought to life, that’s how perfect his looks are.
I try to keep my cool as I shrug, even though I don’t know if Scarlett can even see it through the phone.
“Look him up yourself. It’s Tyson Bishop.”
“Oh my God, I actually know who that is, and holy fuck, Jo, he’s so hot.”
I stay quiet because anything I say to her will be used against me. “Well, he’s my neighbor, and he invited me for dinner, and he’s actually a phenomenal cook.”
I set the phone down so I can get out of my dress and replace it with my pj’s instead.
“So, how was the sex?”
I gasp as I hold the fabric of my dress over my chest while I step in front of the camera to look at Scarlett. “It was dinner, Scar. There wasn’t any sex.”
“You can’t tell me that you just had dinner with a man as hot as Tyson Bishop.”
I roll my eyes as I step out of view and grab a pj set. “Do you have sex with every hot man you spend time with?” I ask, shoving my arms into the sleeves of my shirt.
Scarlett scoffs. “No, not all of them. Some. But for the most part, nope. But that’s because I have to work with them, and they’re all much too full of themselves.”
Now that I’m dressed, I step in front of the camera once again. “It was just dinner, and it won’t be happening again because I need to focus on writing this book.”
It’s Scarlett’s turn to roll her eyes. “You also need to have fun. Maybe some hot sex with your neighbor will give you inspiration.”
I shake my head. “It wouldn’t be inspiration; it’d be a distraction. We had dinner once and won’t again for the next six weeks. Now, I need to get off here and go to bed so I can wake up and get a lot of writing done tomorrow.”
Scarlett clicks her tongue. “God, you’re boring.”
I smile as I pick up the phone and bring it closer to my face. “You love me anyway. Good night, Scar.”
“Bye, love you.” She ends the call, and her hot pink face disappears.
I finish getting ready, not realizing that there’s a smile on my face as I climb into bed, and it’s because of how much I enjoyed my evening with Tyson.