“Yep,” I confirm, ushering them in through the door and closing it quickly. Shaking my head, I can’t help but laugh. What in the hell is Louise doing over there?
“Do we have to go to bed right now?” Chloe asks around a yawn.
I laugh again, nodding. “Oh yeah. We’re already late. We stayed longer at Nonna’s than planned.”
“But it’s not a school day tomorrow,” Chloe whines, sticking her bottom lip out.
“And that’s the only reason you got to stay up this late to start with,” I mutter, ushering my smallest heathen down the hall to the bathroom. Bailey and Abigail are already brushing their teeth.
“Can we see Lou tomorrow? We haven’t seen her in dayshh,” Bailey asks around her toothbrush.
“We’ll see.”
“That means no,” Chloe mutters sullenly, climbing up onto the stepstool and picking up her toothbrush. Abi reaches over and puts toothpaste on the bristles for her.
“It means we’ll see,” I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest. “I haven’t talked to her. She’s been busy.”
That’s a lie.
I’ve avoided her.
To a degree.
I know I shouldn’t be doing what I’m dreaming about doing with my very young, very attractive neighbor. And I fear that the taste I got of her the other day is only making my addiction to her worse.
I want to taste her again. I want to tasteallof her. Over and over again.
And now I can’t get the thought of doing what that definition suggested out of my mind.
Fuckkkk. Nope. Don’t think about that right now.
Getting the girls tucked into bed for the night takes longer than usual, and by the time I get Chloe into bed for the third time, I head to the kitchen. The garbage is full and needs to be taken out to the bins, and then I groan, because I remember that tomorrow is pick up and the bin needs to be wheeled out to the road for the truck to access.
Tying off the bag, I walk it out to the trash bins, hauling it down the driveway. Rustling in the bushes to the right alerts me to the fact that I’m not alone, and I shine the flashlight on my phone toward the noise. Glowing orbs and a masked face stare at me, almost indignant at the interruption, and I shift the light away.
“Dammit, Yolanda,” I mutter to the little masked trash panda as she skitters up a nearby tree to watch me. She chatters at me as I start my walk back down the driveway.
I watch Lou’s front door open and several women step out onto the front porch. Rounds of hugs and ‘See you laters’ go out, and then five women I don’t recognize climb into the vehiclesparked in front of Lou’s house. It’s dark, and I’m not sure any of them have noticed me before I get to Lou’s parking spots.
One by one, the vehicles reverse and then pull out of the driveway. Lou waves from her front porch as the cars disappear. I’m torn between making my presence known or remaining in the shadows.
When she turns to head back inside, I find my feet have moved me forward, and I call out, “Louise.”
I watch as her eyes scan the darkness around us until she finds me. In the glow of the front porch light, I can see that her cheeks are flushed pink. She’s so damn beautiful.
“Hey,” she says, then steps down the two steps, slowly making her way toward me as I do the same. “What are you doing out here in the dark?”
I hitch my thumb over my shoulder and mutter, “I was just taking the bins to the road. Do you want me to take yours down?”
“No, I’ll take it down in the morning before I head to work. Thank you, though. I’m a big girl, but I appreciate the offer.” She winks, and that damn rock in my chest thumps harder.
“You ladies have a good time tonight?”
Her laugh is light and a little hesitant, and she nods as she crosses her arms over her stomach. Only a few feet separate us now, but it still feels like too much. I want her closer.
Fuck that, I want her in my arms.
Still might not be close enough.
