Perfection (Neighbor from Hell #2)(15)

As much as he tried when they were kids he just couldn't hate Jason. He was a funny, laid back guy, who could be an ass**le and embarrass the ever loving shit out of him, but he was always a decent guy and Trevor loved him, not that he would ever admit that. He'd never begrudged his cousin anything in life because he was family and even though the bastard was insanely smart and a Harvard grad to boot he never acted like it, making it easier for Trevor to be around him and not feel like the loser that he knew he was.

After Jason met Haley he'd changed. He became more serious and cut his ass**le ways for good and made Haley the center of his world. As a result Trevor no longer knew how to relate to his cousin. They no longer hung out and Trevor avoided the man at work just so he wouldn't be reminded that the man with the perfect like was slumming so he could save up enough money to build the wife that he loved and adored the perfect house. How the hell could he relate to that?

He couldn't and had absolutely no plans to try. Marriage for him wasn't going to be about love, romance, and fairytales. It was going to be about finding the woman of his dreams and keeping her. His wife was going to be the one thing in his life that everyone envied and she was going to be absolutely perfect.

"Where are you going?" Jason asked.

"To your house?" he meant that as a statement, but truth be told he had absolutely no idea where his cousin lived, which was kind of sad since he'd helped him move.

"Take a left at the next set of lights," Jason said, chuckling softly. "You'd know where I lived if you took us up on the dozen or so dinner invitations we shot your way each month."

"I've been busy," he lied.

"Uh huh," Jason said unconcerned. "So, your girlfriend seemed nice. Totally wanted me by the way, but that's understandable."

Trevor couldn't help but frown, wondering who the hell Jason was talking about. "Who?"

"Zoe," Jason said, gesturing for Trevor to take a right turn. "She seemed a little shy, but I liked her," he simply stated. "Cole liked her, too."

Trevor just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "First off, she's not my girlfriend and I'm actually pretty insulted that you'd think I'd date someone like her. Secondly, I don't date woman based on your son's opinion."

Jason snorted. "You should. My son has great taste."

He threw the man a sideways glance, wondering if he was high. "Are you trying to tell me that you found Zoe hot?" If he said yes, Trevor was turning the truck around and taking the man to the nearest emergency room to have him tested for drugs.

"I didn't say that. I said she was nice. Not at all like the women you usually date," Jason said.

"What the hell's wrong with the women I date?" he demanded, feeling pretty damn insulted. All the women he dated were f**king perfect, well almost.

"They're all ice bitches," Jason stated.

"No, they're not," Trevor argued, but they usually were. Not that he'd admit it to his perfect cousin. Besides all the women Jason dated before Haley were all stuck up, annoying bitches so he really didn't think his cousin had any room to talk.

"It's the next house," Jason said, gesturing to a beautiful two story ranch with a perfectly manicured lawn. Not that Trevor was surprised.

"Why don't you come in? I'll fire up the grill and we can have steaks by the pool?" Jason suggested.

"Can't. I have plans tonight," Trevor said, suddenly feeling exhausted. It was kind of funny how that happened these days. Ten years ago he would have taken his cousin up on his offer, eaten him out of house and home, and hit the bars until three in the morning before he picked up a piece of ass to keep him company for a few hours and he'd still have his ass at work on time. Now all he wanted to do was get his haircut without falling asleep, go home, shower, rub some muscle gel on his aching shoulders, and fall asleep in front of the television.

Getting old f**king sucked.

Jason looked like he was going to argue, but in the end just nodded as he got out of the truck. "If you change your mind the offer is on the table."

"Thanks."

"I still say Zoe is nice and that you could do a lot worse," Jason said conversationally as he grabbed his tool belt.

There was no way he was going to put up with the suggestion that he should settle on someone like Zoe so he did what he had to do.

"You do know that Zoe's a Red Sox fan, right?"

The look on Jason's face was priceless and he found himself still laughing about it an hour later when he pulled into his driveway. He parked next to Zoe's piece of shit car and headed for the door, running his hand through his now thankfully short hair.

He glared at the freshly cleaned floor mat, pissed that woman had wrecked his hard work and was tempted to go back outside and stomp around in the dirt just so he could cover those freaky looking puppies again, but he was too damn tired at the moment to try. Tomorrow, he promised himself as he walked into his apartment and froze.

It was.......

Clean.

Not only was it clean, but it smelled like lemons. The rug was vacuumed, the furniture polished, dirty clothes, and food wrappers were gone. It looked damn good, he decided as he gave himself a mental pat on the back for coming up with such a great plan. He walked into his kitchen and nearly wept with joy when he spotted the empty sinks and counters. She'd even put away the dishes.