Love Thy Neighbor (Friend-Zoned)(29)

The taste hits me like a tornado. Sweet and smooth. Absolutely delicious.

My eyes flutter shut and I moan low and long. I chew slowly and swallow. I open my eyes and look straight into his heated stare. I whisper hoarsely, “You have to try this. It’s better than sex.”

Cutting another small piece, I move the fork over to his slightly parted mouth and say, “Open.”

He does, ever so slightly, and I place the cake into his mouth. His hooded gaze never leaves mine. His lips close over the fork and I slowly drag it out of his mouth. I smile, and although he doesn’t smile back, his eyes do. And my core jolts. His eyes close in bliss as he slowly chews. When he swallows, his eyes open and he leans forward, right in my face and grins most charmingly. “You’re right. Damn good, but not better than sex.” The tip of his nose almost touches mine. I successfully hide my shudder and close my eyes. He states, “Not sex with you anyways.”

And just like that, I’m burning up.

Holy crap, that’s hot!

I thought I was in charge here, but damn! He just turned those tables on me. And I like that. I normally hate when people gain the upper hand, but with Ghost, it’s almost like I trust him in that position. I don’t do trust very easily. And though I don’t know that he wouldn’t hurt me, I know he wouldn’t hurt me. I’m a firm believer in trusting your gut and what never felt right before, suddenly feels right now. I want him.

I want him bad.

I’m suddenly speechless. I’m never speechless! There’s always some witty, smartass, acid remark on the tip of my tongue. The tip of my tongue currently has a sign on it saying Rubbin’ one out. Be back in five.

Just as I think of something witty to say, Nina is by my side. She grabs hold of Ghost’s hand and firmly says, “Up.”

He narrows his eyes at her suspiciously but he stands. She leads him over to a single chair in the middle of my apartment and pushes him to sit.

Oh, dear God. I know what she’s doing and I can’t stop the chuckle from breaking free. Poor guy never stood a chance.

Once his butt hits the chair, he raises a finger and opens his mouth to say something, but she cuts him off with a swish of her hairdresser’s cape. Tightening the cape around his neck, Ghost swallows hard and suddenly looks very worried. Before he can say another word, his eyes are forced shut as she sprays his hair with water and combs it through. She walks around him and mutters things like “too damn long” and “what to do, what to do”. Her eyes brighten and she smiles. She combs and cuts at his thickish hair for only a few minutes before she clips the sides of his head.

It doesn’t look very appealing right now, but Nina has a way of making things work.

She puts down the clippers and uses the thinning scissors on what’s left of his hair. Seeming satisfied with the results, she removes the cape but tells him not to move. I shoot him an apologetic look and shrug. He narrows his eyes at me like this is somehow my fault. I raise my hands in an I didn’t do anything motion and chuckle. Nina comes back with a tub of goopy wax and takes him into the bathroom. I hear her explaining to him how to use it to style his new do when the doorbell rings. Still smiling I head over to the door and answer it.

As soon as I pull the door open, my blood runs cold.

This seems like an appropriate reaction because there stands Cole wearing an easy smile, holding a giant bouquet of pink roses.

I’m petrified. I literally can’t move. My hands sweat. I lock my knees to stop them shaking and whisper, “Cole.”

His eyes are rueful and he sighs, “Sorry I’m late, sunshine.” He nods to the flowers. “I had to get something special for my girl.” He has the audacity to wink at me, and I suddenly want to pour hot tar over his head and throw a bucket of feathers over him.

Immediately Helena is by my side and asks cautiously, “Who are you?”

He smiles his devastatingly sexy smile, “I’m Cole. And by the looks of you, I’m going to take a stab and say you’re Nat’s sister.”

Nina comes out of nowhere, standing on my other side, flanking me and holding her extremely sharp hairdressing scissors. She shoots him a look of disbelief then spits, “The only thing that’s going to get stabbed is you if you don’t leave right this second. I can’t believe you have the nerve to come back here after what you did to my sister, carrying a bunch of flowers, no less.”

Coles smile vanishes and the cruel I saw in him last night re-emerges. The flowers he holds drop to his side, his eyes narrow at Nina and he spits, “Mind your f*cking business, bitch.”

Helena takes hold of my hand and very calmly tells him, “You need to stay away from my sister. So please leave. Now.”

My throat clogs and my vision blurs with unshed tears. Just as I open my mouth to tell Cole to leave someone cuts me off.

“Girls, get in the bedroom. Now.”

Well, today just got real interesting.

***

Rage coils tightly in my gut like a snake ready to attack its prey.

Cole glances at me and smiles. Definitely not a how you doing smile, more like a I’m going to enjoy gutting you kind of smile. The girls haven’t moved. This is not a f*cking joke. It pisses me off. I boom, “Girls, now!”

Helena gently leads Nat backwards by the hand and walks her down to her room. I walk to stand behind Nina who stares up at Cole like she would take immense pleasure in cutting off his dick. I know how she feels. I place a gentle hand on her shoulder and whisper in her ear, “She needs you.”