Bake Me Out Tonight

Chapter 2

Juniper

    It would be just my luck that my new neighbor witnesses me catching Ryan cheating on me. And of course, he's devastatingly handsome. His short chestnut brown hair is a bit messy; I'm assuming from the moving and unpacking. Dark bushy eyebrows loom over soft hazel eyes. It gets worse once my eyes take in the rest of him. But look at him.

    I mean. My. God.

    He's like a Greek sculpture come to life. At least a foot taller than me. I legitimately have to look up to him. The view from down here is amazing I should add. He's wearing a simple black short sleeve shirt that fits him like it was made specifically for him and sweatpants. His muscles fill out the shirt. Then he opens his mouth.

    "I heard yelling and I wanted to make sure everything was okay." Of course, he did.

    "I appreciate that, but everything is okay. I'm sorry to bother you. I'm never this noisy I promise." He's going to move out before he even moves in.

    "Don't worry about it." He says sincerely. "I'd like to stay until everything is resolved, if that's okay?"

    Great and he's nice too.

    "Who the fuck is this guy?" Ryan says from behind me, now fully clothed. "Already moving on, huh?" If he has one thing – it's the audacity.

    "One sec." I say holding a finger up. He nods, trying to suppress a smile. I whirl to Ryan.

    "Get out Ryan! You can get your things later this week, but I need you to leave now."

    "J, please, let's talk about this. It was a mistake." He pleads.

    "You want to talk? Let's talk. How long have you been cheating on me?" He actually has to think about it. The nerve. "Has it really been so long that you have to think about it?"

    If I had to guess at least five months. That's when I first started noticing him coming home from work late. He'd always said he was busy talking to clients. Typical.

    "Close to a year." Ryan says and I sucked in a breath as I hear my new neighbor blow out one.

    "So, it wasn't just with Lauren." It's not a question. Lauren had only been working there for six months, at least that's the first time I heard about her. "We're done. Get out. I'll let you know when to get your things." I'm trying to keep calm and not let him see me cry.

    "Whatever. I don't need this. Have fun sleeping with her. She's a bore in the sack." Ryan says as he brushes past me and when he's gone, I take a deep breath and turn to the beautiful stranger behind me. I'm forcing myself not to dwell on that last thing Ryan said. I have to at least try to save face in front of my hot new neighbor.

    "Well, that was quite a first impression." I force out a laugh.

    "Are you okay?" He says.

    "Not really, given the circumstances. But I'll be okay. I just can't believe you witnessed the lowest point in my life, and I don't even know your name." He'll be living across from me so I might as well be on a first name basis.

    "Griffin." He holds out his palm. I take it and notice how his hand engulfs mine. God, I wonder what else he could do with his hands. He is overall a lot bigger than the coward of a man who just left. If you were to ask someone who was the personal trainer between Ryan and this god among us, you'd definitely wouldn't pick Ryan. What does he do for a living? I realize I'm just shaking his hand while staring at it when he says. "And you are?"

    "Right, sorry." I take my hand back. "I'm Juniper. But Juni or J, is fine too."

    "Juniper." He says my name as if he's tasting it. We stand there for a while assessing each other before he coughs into his fist, glancing down at the grocery bags around me. "You should probably put your groceries away before anything spoils. Did you need help carrying anything?"