Neighbor Dearest(48)

I had no choice but to trust Ty’s word that whatever was going on with Damien was nothing to be afraid of and to trust that fate would work things out.







The two weeks flew by, and before I knew it, I found myself sitting in my emptied out apartment, looking at dozens of boxes and once again second-guessing my decision to leave.

My parents were scheduled to be here in the morning, and the plan was still for Damien to help us move. Even though Tyler also offered, Damien had told him not to bother, that he wanted to handle it himself.

It was Saturday night, and I wasn’t sure what Damien was up to. The dogs were with him this weekend, and all I knew was that I wanted to spend my last night here with the three of them.

I picked up my phone and dialed him.

He answered facetiously, “Damien’s Moving Service and Dog Grooming.”

Laughing, I said, “Dog grooming, too, huh?”

“We’re a full service establishment.”

“What other services do you provide?”

God, that sounded suggestive.

“For you? I can negotiate.”

I cleared my throat. “How are the Double Ds?”

“They’re good. I actually just gave them a bath, thus the dog grooming. I swear these dogs have the cleanest asses on the face of the Earth.”

“I have no doubt.”

“How are you?”

“I’m okay…kind of sad, looking around at all of these boxes. The place is so empty, I can hear an echo.”

“You should shout out a bunch of obscenities. I bet that would feel good. Just don’t gear them toward me.”

“My landlord doesn’t like it when I disturb the peace.”

“I don’t think he’d care today. He’s a little down that he’s losing his favorite tenant.”

“Well, he’s raising the rent on me. I have to leave.”

“He fucking wishes that were the reason you were leaving.”

Several seconds of awkward silence ensued before I spoke up again.

“You think the landlord would want to hang out with me on my last night? Unless you have other plans?”

“If I did, I’d break them.”

That gave me butterflies.

“Okay. That’s a good thing, because everything is packed away, so if you didn’t take me in, I’d just be starving and staring at the wall.”

“Ironic. Isn’t that how our friendship started? Because of a wall?”

“Yes, sort of. Technically, it started with you eavesdropping on me.”

“You’re right. It did.”

“Oh, you’re admitting to that now?”

“It was accidental eavesdropping, maybe. I sure as hell learned a lot about you really fast.”

“Tell me again what you learned?”

“That you were a lot more than the bitchy dog complainer next door. I figured out that you were a sensitive, caring person who’d had her heart broken, a person who loves and trusts with her whole heart…a person who needs to be handled with care, even though you’d deny that. Basically, I knew you were amazing long before we ever became friends.”

I closed my eyes to stop myself from crying. Taking a deep breath, I let his words sink in.

This was really happening. I was really moving.

“Well…friend…how about you make me a pizza tonight. I’ll bring a movie. Should I come by around six?”

“Alright. We’ll be waiting.”

With a heavy heart, I killed some time cleaning the empty living space before it was time to head to Damien’s. The Lysol smell was giving me a headache.

When six o’clock finally rolled around, I grabbed a bottle of wine and the DVD and headed over to his apartment.

Damien opened the door, and a waft of marinara sauce greeted me, along with the scent of his cologne. I concluded that those two smells were basically like home to me. This was home—not the empty apartment next door but right here with him and these dogs.

Dudley and Drewfus immediately ran to me. Poor Drewfus still had a limp.

“You guys are so clean and soft! Your daddy takes really good care of you.”

“I’m not saying anything to them about you know what,” Damien said. “I swear they can understand English. They’d probably freak out.”

It made me sad that the dogs would soon realize I wasn’t right next door anymore. Out of everything, thinking about their reaction made me feel the most guilty.

“I think that’s better, even though they’ll figure it out soon enough.”

“I’ll deal with it when I have to.”

Handing him the DVD, I smirked. “I brought a movie.”

He examined the case. “The Omen. I should have known you’d get me back at some point.”