My Next Door Neighbor

Chapter 9

Grayson's POV

Travis closes the door when Pen left my apartment. We almost kissed, we almost fucking kissed, god, why the fuck did Lucy pull her away? I almost had her soft lips on mine. She looked so cute when she was blushing. I don't think she noticed how heavy she was breathing when we almost kissed.

Her hands were on my neck, fuck. We almost kissed, We almost kissed. We almost- "Grayson!" I jump at Travis's voice. "What" I growl out. He freezes before laughing. "Aww I'm sorry, did I interrupt your day dreaming, here let me help you" He turns around and wraps himself in and hug and starts moving his arms and making kissing noises.

I groan and push him. "You're so annoying T" He laughs and turns around. "Yeah I know but you love me, but damn that just sucks, you almost had the love of your life kiss you, you must be very mad" He smirks at me and I roll my eyes at him.

"Shut up T, hurry up and eat, I made pasta but don't eat all of it! I made extra for Pen" He awes and grabs a plate. "Look at you making sure your girl is fed" I smirk at his words. My girl. "Just eat so we can leave for the Cabin" He smiles at me and grabs the pasta I made. I just want this trip to the cabin to be done so I can be back with my girl.

Penelope's POV

I sighed as I parked my car, putting the clutch on park, unbuckling the seatbelt and I go to get out of the car when my phone dinged, I stop and take out my phone, seeing that Grayson texted me.

Thumper🐰
'Left some pasta for you in a container,
it's in my fridge. Use my extra key to
get it, make sure to eat girlfriend.😘'

Me
'I'll make to eat when I get off of work,
thank you boyfriend🖕'

I wait a bit before he texts back

Thumper🐰
'Ouch Sunshine, the finger? What did your boyfriend do to deserve such treatment? Naughty girl'

I blush at the words naughty girl. I can feel butterflies in my stomach as I stare at the words on my phone.

Me
'My boyfriend deserved it by existing.
Anyways, I have to go now, be safe
Thumper, don't let Travis's snores
keep you up. Love you🖕'

Thumper🐰
'Ouch that hurts but alright Sunshine,
and if the motherfucker snores,
I'm kicking his ass out for him to
sleep with the fishes, have a
good day and I'll see you in a few days,
I love you too❤️'

I smile as I put my phone back, getting out of the car and rushing inside. "Sorry I'm late you guys!" I see everyone huddled together in a pile hugging Cherry. "Umm guys?" I jump when I hear Cherry scream. "I told you Pen! Vicky was gonna propose and she did! Look!"

Cherry runs up to me to show me her ring. I smile brightly as I hold her hand, looking at the ring. The red gem is in the shape of a rose and the band is made of a golden color and the shape of the band is a leaf. "Omg! Cherry! Congratulations! I guess your intuition was fucking right!" I say as I hug her tightly.

I hear a chuckle in front of me and I look up to see Vicky. I pull away and smile at Vicky. "Congrats Vick! Fucking finally!" I laugh as Vicky pulls me into a hug.

"Yeah I know, as soon as she said yes, she told me about your conversation and I laughed when she told me, yesterday was so fun and I'm so glad I was able to have the courage to do it yesterday, thank you for letting her have a break" She pulls away and I shake my head. "It's not a problem, I'm glad she enjoyed herself" I smile and turn to face Cherry who smiled back.

"Oh yeah, she enjoyed herself in more ways than you think" Cherry stops smiling and looks away from me, blushing. Everyone laughed at Cherry's face. "Cherry I really am happy for you" She beams at me. "Hey maybe one day you'll find someone to love like how I love Vicky, maybe that neighbor of yours, Grayson isn't it?"

She wiggles her eyebrows at me and I roll my eyes. "Yeah right, him? Pfft! As if! Even if I liked him like that, he's way out of my league" I hear some 'ehh's' behind me and I turn around. "What do you guys mean by ehh, huh?" George steps forward.

"We've all seen how Grayson looks at you, I'm honestly surprised at how you guys aren't dating with how much he doesn't talk to anyone other than you in a free manner" I tilt my head in confusion. "What do you mean?" Lilly nods.

"Yeah, George is right, whenever he comes into the cafe, we always try and take his order but he never talks, he just politely shakes his head and points at you and we just leave him alone or go over to go you to tell you he's in the cafe, and when your working or doing something and he's here, he just stares at you with this look" I look around the room to see everyone agreeing with her.

"Yep, you're right Lilly" I groan. "Not you too Vicky" Cherry claps. "See even my girl knows, and she barely comes into the cafe other than Tuesdays and Thursdays" I look at Vicky and she nods.

"Yeah and anytime you're talking to a customer and you're smiling at them, he looks somewhat jealous, like you should be smiling at him and only him but then he'd also smile softly whenever you'd laugh or smile, I'm telling you, this man looks like he's in love with you" and somewhere in my mind, I have a feeling she's telling the truth but there's no way he's in love with me.

He's Grayson Miller, an ex-military officer, a guy who volunteers for puppy shelters, a guy who donates his old clothes to shelters, a guy that owns his own company, and my neighbor, there's just no way a man like that is in love with a workaholic woman who failed as a mother.