Neighbor Dearest (8 page)

“Thanks again.”

Don’t go.

As he started to walk away, I stopped him. “Damien?”

He turned around. “Yeah?”

“Do you have plans right now?”

“No.”

“Would you want to watch a movie?”

He bit his bottom lip to ponder my question then smirked. “Only if I can pick the movie.”

“Sure.”

“You have a DVD player?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll come back in a half-hour.”

***

The exaggerated banging on the door was rhythmic. “Knock. Knock.”

After I let him in, Damien looked down at my outfit. “You’re still dressed up.”

He’d changed into gray sweatpants that clung to his junk in a way that now ruled out absolutely any chance that he wasn’t blessed in that department. The top of his boxer briefs was sticking out a bit.

Damn.

Prying my eyes up, I said, “I didn’t realize this was a slumber party.”

He moved past me, leaving me with a whiff of his arousing smell. “Well, we’re watching a movie. I figured I’d get comfortable. But feel free to stay in a
dress
. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.”

After our talk, why did I even bother to look good around him anymore?

He was right.

“Okay, wiseass, I’m going to change into my sleep clothes.”

He lifted a microwavable packet that he’d brought and shook it. “I’ll make popcorn and set up the DVD player.” He looked around. “Bowls are where?”

I pointed to one of the cabinets. “In there.”

“Sweet.”

“You’ll have to change the TV mode to composite two. It’s the Sony remote,” I said as I walked to the bedroom.

“Got it,” he yelled after me.

Even though my mind knew that Damien had closed the door on the possibility of anything romantic happening between us, my nerves certainly hadn’t gotten the message. Slipping out of my dress, I still felt like a giddy fool. My heart was beating just a bit faster than normal as I threw on some black leggings along with Elec’s old Bruins shirt that I often slept in. Feeling a slight rumbling in my stomach, I decided I should probably take this opportunity to use the bathroom.

Shitting yourself in more ways than one, eh, Chelsea?

My bathroom trip took longer than expected. It surprised me that Damien wasn’t giving me hell for it.

When I finally finished, I felt so much better. That is, until I reentered the living area.

My stomach sank at the sound of his voice. Blood started to rush to my head.

His
voice.

A voice I hadn’t heard in so long. A voice I’d tried to block from my brain on a daily basis.

Elec.

It took me a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t really him. It was the DVD I’d left in the player a long time ago, one that I’d watched over and over when we’d first broken up. I hadn’t used the DVD player in months, but the disc was still in there.

Damien hadn’t realized that I was behind him. He was standing there frozen, intently watching the homemade video. I didn’t know what to say or do, so I just stood there feeling ashamed.

When we’d recorded that video, Elec and I were supposed to have been filming a presentation for the youth center and ended up goofing around at the park instead with the loaned camera. At the time, I thought the little movie would make a cute private keepsake. I had no clue it would merely be used instead as a means of self-torture right after our breakup as part of my constant research into what went wrong.

Listening to it was like slowly getting stabbed in the heart with Damien as a witness to my being massacred. I cringed at the sound of my own voice in the video.

“Aren’t you supposed to be interviewing me, Elec?”

“I got distracted for a minute.”

“By what?”

“By how beautiful you look right now under the sun like this. I just love looking at you through this lens.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re so fucking adorable. I can’t believe you still blush when I compliment you.”

“Do I?”

“You do. And I’m just warning you, keep batting your eyelashes at me like that, and this will turn into an unintentional adult film in about two seconds.”

Giggles.

“Maybe we can try that later at home, Mr. Cameraman.”

“Seriously, though, the camera loves you. So do I, actually.”

“You do, huh?”

“I do, Chels. I really do.”

“How much?”

“Let me show you.”

Elec drops the camera.

Kissing sounds.

Laughing.

“It’s true, baby, you make me so happy. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

When Damien finally turned and noticed me standing beside him, he shut the video off and just looked at me.

Silence.

The expression on his face was a mix of sympathy, anger, and understanding. I think he finally realized why I was so fucked-up.

When a teardrop started to fall, he caught it halfway down my cheek and said, “He’s a fucking idiot. He’s not worthy of the way you were looking at him in that video, and he’s certainly not worthy of these tears.” He rubbed his thumb along my cheek. “No one is.”

“I can’t help it.”

“But you know…I get it now. Watching that. Listening to that. I get why it’s so hard for you. I know I joke about you being crazy and all that…but you have every right to be upset and confused. The things he said to you…the way he said them…I would have fucking believed it, too. And I’m a perceptive motherfucker. You just don’t do that to someone. More than that…
you
deserve
so much better.”

“That was only three weeks before he went to Boston and reconnected with her, when everything changed. When he was away, I found a ring in his drawer. He was going to ask me to marry him.”

Damien shut his eyes momentarily and let out a series of profanities under his breath.

“He’d better not ever set foot in our building. I swear to God, if I ever see him, I’m gonna fuck him up.”

Our building.

A small laugh escaped me at the thought. “Thanks for wanting to do that for me.”

“You shouldn’t be watching that video.”

“I wasn’t watching it recently. I swear. I never use the DVD player now because I have Netflix. That disc has been in there for several months.”

He ejected the disc and held it in his hand in front of me. “You don’t need to hear this shit ever again. With your permission, I’m going to destroy it. Can I?”

What was I supposed to say? I had to let him do it.

Somewhat reluctant, I nodded anyway. “Okay.”

With one hard bend of the disc, Damien snapped it in half before walking over to the trash and discarding it.

He wiped his hands clean exaggeratedly. “What’s next?”

“What do you mean?”

“That shirt you’re wearing. It was his, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Are you wearing a bra?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Turn around.”

Expecting him to try to take the shirt off of me, my heart started to beat profusely. I closed my eyes when I felt Damien bunch up the material at my back and tug on it. The closeness of his body behind me made my skin heat up.

“Stay still,” he said before I felt him cutting through the shirt with what I assumed were my kitchen scissors. A draft of cold air replaced the warmth of the shirt as he ripped it off of me.

“Go put a new shirt on.”

Wrapping my arms around my chest, I disappeared to my room, taking a minute to grab my bearings as I leaned my back against the door. His cutting the shirt off of me ignited an odd mix of emotions. On one hand, it was a symbol of finality. That shirt was the last item of Elec’s in my possession. More than that, I was caught off guard by how much his ripping my shirt off had turned me on.

Forcing myself to remember what I’d even come in here for, I grabbed the perfect shirt for the occasion and returned to the living room.

Damien grinned as he looked down at my chest. “
You Bacon Me Crazy.
Good choice.”

“Well, it’s true. You drive me crazy sometimes, but in a good way. Thank you for pushing me to do something I really needed to do.” I leaned in and gave him a friendly hug. I refused to allow myself to acknowledge how fast his heart was beating and how fast mine was trying to catch up to it. Or how he smelled so good that I could practically taste him.

Damien was the first to pull away. “Ready for the movie?”

“Yes. What did you bring?”

He smirked as he walked over to the counter and handed me the DVD that was still in plastic packaging. “It’s your autobiography.”

“
Firestarter.
I should have known.”

“Have you ever seen it?” He smiled.

“Can’t say I have.”

“Neither have I. But it’s about a blonde who starts fires. So, I feel like I know her already.”

“Interesting.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Did you buy it?”

“Ordered it online the night we had pizza. I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to break it out.”

“You
would
do that.”

“I like messing with you. But it’s all in good fun. You know that, right? I have fun with you, Chelsea.”

“The feeling is mutual…when you’re not scolding me,” I joked.

“Even when I’m scolding you, it’s for your own good.”

“I know.” I smiled.

As we sat down for the movie, Damien made himself comfortable on my couch, kicking his big feet up on the coffee table and laying his head back. I relaxed my body into my own side of the sofa, careful not to get too close.

Even though I’d always heard of this movie, I had no clue what it was about and was surprised to find it starred a young Drew Barrymore. The main character had the ability to start fires with her mind. It wasn’t my type of story at all, so I found myself daydreaming through a lot of it, sneaking glances at Damien as he ate his popcorn. He seemed into it. Was he serious? He appeared to be really enjoying this.

At one point, he turned and noticed me staring at him. “What’s the matter? You’re not into it?”

“This movie is not really my taste.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“You were taking too much pleasure in the whole idea of watching it. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

He lowered the volume. “Want to watch something on Netflix instead? What do you feel like?”

I feel like making out with you.

God, that’s the only thing I feel like doing right now.

“It’s getting too late to start a new movie. It’s fine.”

“Well, I’m not keeping it on if you’re not into it.” He grabbed the remote and pressed stop.

It was suddenly quiet.

“Can I ask you something, Damien?”

“The answer is always yes, so stop prefacing everything with that question.”

“What was it exactly that you invented that allowed you to buy this building?”

“It was a type of headphone technology. Myself and a co-worker sold the patent for ten million.”

Say what?

“That is so amazing.”

“After taxes and divvying it up, it wasn’t that much money. I used my half to buy this building at auction and fix it up.”

“So, you invested all of it here.”

“Yup. And it pays off.”

“You were very smart to do that and not waste it.”

“I love that I can keep a few good people employed. That’s honestly the best part.”

“Murray had nothing but good things to say about you as a boss.”

“My job is easy. What you do at that youth center on a daily basis, shaping kids’ views of life and the world, opening their eyes to new things…that’s way harder than anything I’ve ever done.”

“It’s funny. There’s this teenage girl who’s been coming to
me
for relationship advice…
me
of all people.”

“Just tell her all the answers can be found in the unicorn,” he said, rolling his eyes facetiously.

That caused me to erupt in laughter. “I should have
you
go in and set her straight. Although, she might not care about Kai anymore once she became lost in your blue eyes as you were yelling at her to get over it.”

I immediately regretted the eyes comment. He simply smiled at me, looking like he didn’t know how to respond.

“Do I yell?” he asked.

“Only sometimes.”

We stayed making comfortable conversation on the couch for a while until he finally said, “Alright…so we’ve ruled out another movie?”

“Right. No movie. I think I’m gonna turn in.”

He lifted himself off of the couch. “That’s my cue, then.”

Damien bent down, ejecting the DVD from the player.

I walked him to the door. “Thank you for everything.”

He lingered before he said, “Your eyes ain’t so bad, either.”

I smiled and felt flush from the compliment.

He continued, “Your douchebag ex was right about one thing.”

“What?”

“You
do
blush every single damn time someone compliments you.” He paused. “Every single time.”

I was sure I was blushing even more when I said, “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

CHAPTER NINE

PANDORA’S BOX

Rubbing my eyes, I said, “Seriously? They are extra loud today.”

Damien’s phone voice was way too bright and cheery for so early in the morning. “Why don’t you come have breakfast with us? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

“So, the only way I can get The Double Ds to stop barking is to come over there? Seriously, there has to be a better solution.”

“What could be better than breakfast with us? They miss you.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

Over the past several weeks, Damien and I had started to figure out that for some reason, the dogs stopped barking whenever I came over to complain in the morning. As soon as I’d return to my apartment, the barking would start up again. It was almost like they were messing with me.

“Come on, I’ll make you some coffee and eggs. If you want toast, you’ll have to bring the toaster oven.”