Chapter 5

Chapter

Five

Adrian

It had been four days since the attack of the dog next door. Maybe that was a little dramatic. It hadn’t bitten or nipped at me or anything. If anything, she’d wanted to love me up. Weird. Thankfully, I only heard her bark a few times since then. Victor better be glad because I’d be knocking on his door this time if his animal disrupted my peace and quiet.

Opening my front door, I peeked to the side and saw Victor’s truck, but there was no sign of him. I ran out to my car and jumped in. I only needed to go out and do a few things, which I’d planned to do earlier while he was at work to make sure I didn’t encounter him or his kids or his pet, but I’d had an unusually long call at the help desk that had gone right through my normal lunch time.

When I was done with my errands, I rolled past his house, happy that there was no sign of life. I was halfway out of my car, when I heard, “Hello, neighbor.”

Shit . What were the chances? Grimacing, I stood all the way up and saw Victor coming toward me with his animal. With a bark, she immediately started moving faster, straight toward me. Was her tongue lolling around in her version of a doggy smile?

“Uh, Hi.”

Victor stopped far enough away that the dog couldn’t reach me. “Goldie, sit.” Like the other night, she sat after casting a disdainful look in his direction. What was this dog’s deal with me? Maybe she liked the smell of my fabric softener. “I wasn’t sure you drove.”

His gray-blue eyes stared at me expectantly, and I blinked. Pointing a finger back at myself, I asked, “Who? Me?”

He chuckled. “Yes, you. I haven’t seen your car move once since I moved in.”

I shrugged. “I work from home, so there really isn’t a reason for me to leave the house too often.”

“You have to eat,” he said. “When do you buy groceries?”

“You know stores deliver now, don’t you? Between that and other online shopping, I usually don’t have to worry about peopling.”

He shook his head, chuckling some more. “That doesn’t sound healthy.”

My back stiffened, and I straightened my shoulders. “Did you need something?”

He held up his hand in a stop motion. “That didn’t come out the way I meant it. It’s just that I think a young, good-looking man like yourself would want to be out having fun.”

Good-looking? Did he mean that he thought I was attractive? I often forgot to comb my hair since no one was going to see it anyway, and my clothes rarely matched. Again, because no one was going to see them anyway. Every encounter I had with this man so far, I’d been… not the nicest, and here he was complimenting me? No, he was probably teasing me, right? Was it normal for a straight man to call another man good-looking?

Closing my car door, I took a step toward my front door, hoping to end this confusing interaction. “Where are your Rugrats?”

He barked out a laugh. “Why? Do you miss them?”

“Yeah, that’s it,” I said dryly. “Well, it was nice talking to you, but I’m gonna head inside now.”

He took a step toward me, and the damn dog stood up, tongue rolling out of his big goofy mouth. “Why don’t you come with Goldie and me for a walk?”

I gaped at him. “You’re kidding, right? Do I seem friendly to you?”

He took another couple of steps in my direction, and the dog panted up at me happily. Victor tilted his head down at the animal. “I think she’d like your company. So would I.”

“But why?” The words slipped from my mouth without permission.

He shrugged. “I’m not sure why Goldie’s so fixated on you, but she is.”

His eyes twinkled with humor, and I narrowed mine at him. “Not the dog.”

“Goldie.”

“What?” I asked, confused by this whole conversation. He was giving me a headache.

“The dog,” he said with a grin. “Her name is Goldie.”

“You’re weird.”

He smiled so wide I thought I could see his molars. “And you’re grumpy. Come on. Come with me while I walk Goldie. The kids aren’t here, so I’m lonely. I could use the company.”

“Where are they? Wait, I already asked you that.”

He moved close enough that the dog—Goldie—jumped up on my waist. “Goldie,” he said in a stern voice while tugging on the leash.

I waved him off. “It’s fine.” I pushed her down so her front paws were back on the ground but stroked my hand over the top of her head. “Here’s the deal, Goldie. I’ll pet you, but you have to quit jumping up on me.” Great. Now he had me talking to his animal.

She barked, then sat and dipped her head for more pets. “Man, she really likes you. See, you have to come on our walk.” Victor began striding down my driveway.

I had no idea why, but for some reason, when Goldie trotted along by Victor’s side, I followed, matching his stride while still stroking the top of Goldie’s head. “Kids,” I prompted.

“They’re at their mothers. We share custody.”

Now I felt like a dick. He’d just gone through a divorce, and he ended up living next to me, the neighbor from hell. “I’m sorry.”

He side-eyed I’d me. “Why? It’s been like this for years, so we’re all used to it.”

In that case, I wanted to take back my words. If this wasn’t a new thing, then why was he acting lonely? He had to be used to it by now. Not sure how to respond, I remained silent.

After a few minutes, he said, “I guess it is different. I’m used to being with them all the time, but now that I’ve bought this house, I really am only seeing them on my days.”

I tried rearranging his words around in my head a couple of times, but no matter how I looked at them, they made no sense. “How did you see them daily before if you’ve been divorced for a while? Did you have custody before?”

“No, I lived in the garage apartment at my ex’s house. It was easier for us that way. We both got to spend plenty of time with the kids, and it kept their lives from being disrupted.”

“For how long?” I asked. It wasn’t that I cared, but it seemed rude not to act interested since I’d somehow ended up on this walk with him.

“How long did I live in the garage apartment? Around three years. It was great while it lasted, but Mary, my ex, is dating a really great guy, and they need space. It’s probably about time I get back out into the dating scene, too. It’s not like I was going to take someone home while living above the garage,” he said.

“Not that I’m all that qualified to speak about dating, but it seems like a woman should respect a man who wants to be close to his kids.”

“Or a man,” he said.

“What?” I asked again. Seriously, either he was confusing, or I’d forgotten the art of conversation.

“I’m bisexual,” he stated simply.

“Oh.” When I glanced at him, he winked. Oh . Okay, so maybe he’d meant it when he’d said he thought I was good-looking. I needed to go home and wrap my brain around that.

“You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” Victor’s voice had taken on a little harder edge.

“Me?” I snorted. “I hardly think so since I’m gay.” What I didn’t add was that he’d have a better chance dating while living over his ex-wife’s garage than I did in my rental. Meeting other men was hard when you avoided leaving the house.

His lips turned up into a megawatt smile. It was distracting. “So tell me about yourself,” he said.

“Can I go home now?” I asked. It wasn’t that walking Goldie with him was particularly horrible, but now that my dick knew this virile man next to me could be a potential for sex, it was all kinds of interested. That was the last thing I needed.

Well, the sex part would be good, but it probably wasn’t a good idea to mess around with my neighbor since he’d still be living next to me afterward. The man and his kids, hell, even his dog, didn’t seem to get the hint I wanted to be left alone. How much worse but it would be after I sucked his cock? My dick twitched in my pants. Shit . I needed to get away from him.

“Sure. Come on, Goldie,” he said as he pivoted to go back toward our end of the neighborhood. “You can tell me what you do all squirreled away in your house as we go.”

I sighed. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little annoying?”

He barked out a laugh. “Generally, people say I’m friendly.”

“Whatever,” I mumbled. “I work as an IT help desk operator. Yes, I like it. No, I don’t miss getting out of the house. Yes, I’m in the field I went to college for.” I didn’t add on that I was studying to go into cybersecurity because it wasn’t any of his business, and we weren’t going to be friends.

“That’s cool. I’m an electrician.”

I bit my lip against the desire to snap at him that I hadn’t asked what he did for a living. I’d be lying. Even though I wasn’t the most social guy, I wasn’t a liar. “Okay.”

He huffed, sounding completely amused. “Adrian, has anyone ever told you how fun you are?”

Frowning, I asked, “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. I think we’re going to be great friends.”

Thankfully, he left me alone for the rest of the walk back. He didn’t stop talking, though. He just talked to Goldie about the houses we passed, when the kids would be home, and other random things that made no sense. Seriously, this man was weird.