How to Love Your Neighbour(6)

If anything, meeting the sexy dog walker had only pumped him up more, made him feel like a kid on a sugar high.

“You lost, man?” Rob, the owner of the gym and friend of Noah and Chris’s, walked up to him, a gym bag slung over his shoulder.

“Nah. Chris was supposed to meet me here but bailed.”

“Can’t work out without your baby brother spotting you?”

Noah huffed out a laugh. “Bite me. Just trying to figure out if punching a bag is enough today.”

Rob arched his brows. “You okay?”

Fuck. Now what? You want to stand out here dissecting your feelings or something?

“Fine. Just a little restless. I’m waiting to hear back from a Realtor. I’m trying to buy the house next door to me. It’s been empty since I moved in but I’m getting the runaround about the owner.” His brother’s words from months ago still haunted him. You jump from one goddamn thing to the next wondering why you’re not satisfied. Stand still and maybe you will be. He was trying.

Rob shook his head, dropped his gym bag on the ground between them. “Uh-oh. Poor little rich boy.” The grin took away the sting.

“I repeat, bite me.”

“So, go buy something else. Work on the house you have,” Rob said, as if both of those things were as easy as walking into the gym.

“I am. I’ve been jotting down ideas, calling and arranging contractors. I’ve got a crew coming by soon.” Noah pushed both hands through his hair. “Never mind. Ignore me. I just need a distraction.”

Rob eyed him a moment longer, then picked up his bag. “I have something that might work but you’d need to be a hundred and ten percent in.”

Noah flashed the smile he’d used in the media when he’d been the face of his father’s company. “As opposed to the half-ass effort I usually put in?”

Rob’s laughter rang through the air, reminding Noah it’d been too long since he’d felt as carefree as he was known for being.

A few people waved at Rob as they headed into the gym. “Not saying that. This is just something if you give your word, something else can’t come up.”

Irritation crawled up his spine. That’s what he was known for: a cameraworthy smile and his inability to stick around. Which was bullshit. He’d worked his ass off for his father in New York. Saw everything through to the final signature on the bottom of the paperwork. He’d even tried to have a serious relationship. That had gone three kinds of sideways.

Bailing on drinks or a couple of workouts so he could meet up with some possible network connections wasn’t the same as being unreliable. Rob should know that.

“If it’s important enough, nothing will get in the way.”

Rob eyed him carefully, making Noah want to squirm. Which only irritated the hell out of him further. “Let’s go.”

Without another word, he walked into the gym, waved to his employees—Noah did the same, as he’d seen them often enough to know some of their names—then headed for the back exit.

“You taking me out back?” Noah’s grin came easier.

“You’ll see. I want you to meet my friends.” He stopped at the exit door, turned to face Noah with a far more serious expression. “I work with a group of kids who get bused in here from surrounding counties. It’s something I’ve been working on. We play basketball and I’m trying to set up a three-on-three tournament to fundraise for a community center. You’d know, since that’s part of what you used to do, it’s a hell of a long road. But these kids don’t need a place to hang as much as adults they can turn to.”

Noah’s brows furrowed. “Okay. I knew you were doing some stuff with the local school districts.”

Rob nodded, his jaw clenching. Whatever he was thinking got under his skin. Something Noah could appreciate and understand.

“Spit it out, man.”

“These aren’t just elementary kids learning about fitness and health. Most of the kids are between twelve and sixteen. Some from broken homes, some from families just doing the best they can. They’re not always easy to connect with.”

Noah’s heart tugged sharply. His grandfather’s final legacy ended up being a rec center in the neighborhood where he’d lived most of his adult life. It was the first time the company had built anything from the ground up. The last time, as well.

“You already know how charming I am. Let’s go.” He knew, better than most, how to work a crowd. He could handle some kids.

“They can see through bullshit, so just be yourself.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Noah tried not to glare. “Jesus, man. You don’t sound like you think too highly of me. You sure you want me around them?”

He was sort of joking but truthfully, Rob’s hesitation was pissing him off.

“Sorry. I’m protective of them. They’ve been through enough. I just want to show them there are people in their lives that will show up. Whether we raise enough money or not, they need to know they matter.”

“I can do that. Let’s go. Unless you want me to give you some pointers on basketball?”

Rob’s laugh evened out the tension in Noah’s shoulders. “They’re going to eat you alive.”

He pushed open the door, letting the sunshine and heat in. On one of the two courts out back, two kids were hunched, one with a ball in hand, the other waving his arms around, spewing a bunch of trash talk. Oh yeah, he could do this.