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“When?”
“When she gets here.”
“Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?” she muttered, frustration rising, but love winning out.
“Exactly.”
She sighed again and patted my arm. “Lord knows I love you, Roman.”
“Because no one else will?” I finished for her.
She gave me a look. I couldn’t tell if she truly believed that or just fiercely hoped it wasn’t true.
“Maddy will,” she said.
I huffed a rough laugh. “No. I don’t do kids,” I told her.
“We’ll see,” she said as she passed me my bowl of leftover pasta.
We ate in silence, and I thought about all these changes.
The new house.
Maddy moving in.
Of course, the latter prompted the former. Our previous place wouldn’t have accommodated a brooding, lazy teenager and an excitable, boisterous five-year-old. Not that I was complaining. I wasn’t looking forward to the intrusion my niece would be on my life, but because of her and my sister’s poor life choices, there was a strong chance in Hell that I’d get to see Piper Barlow every single fucking day.
I wandered up to my room, nudging an unpacked box out of my way. I looked over at the house next door – the only house for fucking miles – and felt a smile rising. I saw her in her window, a silhouette against the light shining brightly.
I’d always enjoyed the reaction she had to me, but tonight it had been so much more.
When she’d seen me unpacking the back of my ute after school, the look of confusion on her face had been priceless. There had been a moment where I wanted to know what she was thinking. I’d wanted to know how she felt about me moving in next door. She’d always seemed…flustered around me. She wasn’t flirty or simpering or needy. She wasn’t awestruck or intimidated or particularly shy.
Nervous.
That’s what it was. I made her nervous. I liked making her nervous. I took every opportunity I could to make her nervous. And I was hoping that I’d have far more opportunities now.
Yep. I was going to enjoy living next door to Little Miss Popular.
