My chest had pounded extremely hard. I thought I’d have a heart attack with Noelle on top of me. Thank God I hadn’t, because she’d never have saved me.
Little Elle hated me, and she’d be happy to be rid of me—to crunch me up into a snowball and throw me as far as she could, only for me to slam into the ground and flutter into pieces.
Damn Noelle, with her caramel hair tied back, letting cute wispy hairs fall into her face as she stared down at me with sweet cinnamon eyes. Those fucking hues burned with a fierce hatred but swirled with passion. Probably with an intense need to ruin me, and I got turned on by her.
Fuck. I got hard for little Elle—the woman who was my enemy. I wanted to destroy her bright attitude with my wrath and live in peace for the rest of my life, not go on coexisting with her next door.
When the hell did that cheerful, independent woman get attractive?
The answer was simple. I was a damn dude. I didn’tlikelittle Elle Evergreen because I couldn’t. Elle was my best friend’s daughter. Too young, curvy, and outspoken for me. I preferred women around my age who were experienced andwho were a onetime deal. Not women who were ready to cozy up, wanting Mr. Right and marriage. Fuck. I didn’t do commitment, let alone being tied down for my retirement years.
Those rosy cheeks and cute button nose had no sway over me while I watched Elle straddle me with her plump thighs digging into my hips. Christ.What the hell was wrong with me?I couldn’t quit reminiscing about Noelle on top of me, and I was getting hard all over again.
I stared down at my junk. “Work with me here, dick.”
Little Elle wasn’t allowed. She wasn’t my type. I had to stop thinking about how damn sexy she was towering over me.
Hot enough to ride me cowgirl style.
Fuck!
There was only one solution. A cold shower. No. A goddamn ice bath to cool my aroused dick, which certainly didn’t agree with my head.
As tempted as I was to throw some snow down my green trousers to cool my jets, I stomped back up my driveway. I heard kids call out for the creature I imitated, but I grumbled at them. Miserable like the party pooper himself and angry at myself for wanting Elle.
Whyher?
I opened the front door, but an enormous ball of fur collided with me and tackled me to the floor. A wet, slobbery tongue licked up my face and smudged my makeup, but I didn’t give a fuck. My impersonation of a greedy outcast was over. Back to being a grumpy man who plotted against my cheery neighbor.
Chip barked at me with his paws on my chest and sniffed my costume. He smelled Noelle. Fuck. Her scent was everywhere.
“I know, boy. Little Elle was at it again,” I grumbled as I petted behind his ears, and he peered up at me. “She’s always out to get me. Isn’t she?”
Chip barked once, licked my face, and got off me. He darted for the back door, and I got up off the floor. I followed his lead because I knew he wanted to go outside to take a piss.
Chip stood up on his hind legs and pawed at the wooden doorframe.
“Alright. Alright. I’m coming,” I mumbled, taking off my wet furry boots and pot-bellied green suit. “Hold your horses, boy.”
Chip whined.
I opened the door, and Chip ran for the fence dividing my property from Elle’s. His nose dug into the snow while he tracked her scent and tried to get to the other side. He was a damn smart dog. The aroma of her was on me, and he wanted to see her. I hated her, but Chip loved Elle no matter what, and his affection for her infuriated me.
The damn woman had taken enough from me. My once peaceful solitude changed the moment Noelle moved in next to me. Every moment of each waking day she was all I thought about, and she had drawn Chip in too.
Chip took a piss. His brown coat shimmered with the green glimmer I had displayed out back. He was a mixed breed, a companion I kept after finding him on the street, and he wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone.
The dog followed me home one summer while I was out for a jog, and I kept him when no one came forward to claim him. Dang mutt had never left my side, and he got on my nerves, but someone had to care for him.
Chip kept me company and gave me something else to think about besides spiraling over everything Elle did. Her loud music, seeing her every day while I tried to avoid her like the plague, but we lived right beside each other. Avoidance was inevitable. I fucking wanted nothing to do with her, but my cock still wouldn’t agree with me.
I had to get little Elle out of my system.
“Come on, Chip, get in here!” I hollered, annoyed.
A cold bath was in order with lots of fucking ice.
EIGHT
