The Girl Next Door
The Boy Next Door Chapter 26

The apartment door closes behind me with an audible click as I hitch my backpack onto my shoulder. As I turn, ready to head to campus for the next couple of hours, my gaze collides with Alyssa's as she steps into the hallway as well. For a moment, time stands still and we both freeze in place. Memories from Saturday night burst through my brain at lightning speed.

Alyssa in my arms, backed up against my BMW as my mouth feasted on hers. Her long legs had been splayed wide as I pushed her relentlessly toward o****m in the parking lot of Bang Bang.

It had all happened so damned fast. One minute, she's raging at me and the next, my hands are on her with our mouths fused together. The energy we always generate exploded upon impact. Whatever this is between us, it's so much more than s****l chemistry. If that's all it were, it would be easy to relegate her to the past and move on with my life. She would be like all the other girls I've slept with and forgotten about. With Alyssa, it goes so much deeper than that. Maybe too deep. Certainly deeper than I'm comfortable acknowledging.

Unsure what to do, I lift my hand in a cautious wave.

Even from this distance, Saturday night sits uncomfortably between us.

As I give her a tentative greeting, she jerks out of her paralysis and flees down the carpeted hallway like the hounds of hell are nipping at her heels.

It's tempting to huff out a laugh. Had I really thought that kissing her into submission would work?

Maybe.

Although, I really should have known better. If I'm being brutally honest with myself, pushing her up against my vehicle and going down on her in a public parking lot probably didn't help matters either. What am I saying?

Of course it didn't. Just look at her-she can't get away from me fast enough.

What I should do is cut my losses and leave her the hell alone. Clearly, that's what she wants. And yet, I can't do that. After holding Alyssa in my arms again and kissing her, I'm unable to fool myself into believing it's possible to move on to a life without her. Decision made, I do the only thing I can and give chase.

Instead of waiting for the elevator to stop at our floor, Alyssa pushes through the metal door and disappears into the stairwell. I pick up my pace and push through the opening before it has a chance to fully close. As I peer down the stairwell, she glances up and our gazes collide before she quickly flicks them away and hastens her step. With my hand wrapped around the railing, I move faster. A few steps down, my shoe slips and I tighten my grip around the railing to steady myself. I can just picture it now-breaking my neck in an ill-fated attempt to catch up with Alyssa. More than likely, she'd feel as if it were sweet irony for my past misdeeds.

Who knows...maybe she'd even be right.

Thirty seconds later, I throw open the door and glance around the empty lobby. Not that I actually thought she would wait for me, because let's face it-hell would have to freeze over in order for that to occur, but it would have simplified matters.

As I push through the glass door into the fresh air, I catch sight of her striding down the cement walkway. She gives a quick wave to another girl before hastening her pace as I jog to catch up with her. Her long blond hair is pulled up into a ponytail that swings from side to side as she moves. My gaze roves down the slender line of her back before arriving at her a*s. My fingers itch to palm the supple cheeks again. My c**k stirs in agreement.

f**k me.

Since the direction of those thoughts isn't helping matters, I jerk my gaze away. New plan-I'm going to do my best not to manhandle her. If I'm going to have any chance of winning Alyssa over again, I need to employ a different tactic.

As I pull up beside her, Alyssa slants a look in my direction. Her lips sink at the corners before she jerks her attention straight ahead and proceeds to ignore me as if I'm not there. If she thinks that's going to work, she's underestimated me. "So," I say, testing the waters, "long time, no see."

She presses her lips into a flat line before muttering, "Not nearly long enough."

Well...at least she offered up a few begrudging words. That's something, right?

Since she hasn't bared her teeth and growled, I ask, "Did you have a good time Saturday night?"

A tick or two passes by before she finally says, "Yup. It was nice to see everyone again."

Wow. Look at us, communicating like adults.

Since I'm unwilling to drop the conversational ball, I add, "I had a great time, too."

"Did you now?" Her gaze narrows as it slices to me. "Didn't you spend the night sitting at the bar all by your lonesome?"

"I meant that I had a good time after I carted your a*s to the parking lot." The way her eyes flare tells me that I probably should have restrained myself and kept the comment to myself. Although that knowledge doesn't stop me from tacking on, "I'm pretty sure you enjoyed it, too." She sucks in a sharp breath before hissing, "We're not going to talk about the parking lot because absolutely nothing happened."

Like hell it didn't.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it did."

A punch of color flags her cheeks. "You're mistaken about that."

"Am I? Cause I'm pretty damn sure I took off your panties and spread you-"

"Enough!" She grinds to a halt before wheeling around to face me. Anger leaps to life in her eyes as she takes a step forward, closing the gap between us until she can drill a finger into my chest. "I don't want to talk about what happened in the parking lot! In fact, I just want to forget about it. Got it?"

"That's unfortunate." My gaze settles on her parted lips and I'm so damned tempted to remind her just how good it can be between us. Instead of doing exactly that, I reach out and trail my fingers along the soft curve of her jaw. With a grimace, she quickly bats my hand away. "We were always good together."

"Maybe so," she concedes, "but that was a long time ago." I open my mouth to argue when she continues, "I will never be stupid enough to get involved with you again."

I almost wince at the pain that flashes in her eyes.

After our breakup, I did everything possible to push Alyssa to the outer recesses of my mind. I f****d every female who would spread her legs for me. And yet, it was never enough. It wasn't Alyssa. Every girl was a paper-thin imitation of the only one I'd ever cared about. She's dominated my thoughts since her return. Laying my hands on her Saturday night only amplified all of the emotion coursing through me.

I have no idea if there's anything I can do or say to get her to forgive me for past transgressions, but I have to try. Even though she wants me to leave her alone, I replace myself unable to do that.

Believe it or not, my intention this morning hadn't been to piss her off even more than she already is. I'd only wanted her to acknowledge that she's still attracted to me. Maybe even has feelings for me. If I can get her to admit that, then there's a glimmer of hope we can pick up the pieces and move forward. "Lys-"

"Don't call me that," she snaps.

"Alyssa," I correct, only wanting to soothe the fire I've unwittingly stoked to life. She swings away before I can finish. Unwilling to throw in the towel just yet, I huff out a breath and jog to catch up with her as she stalks toward the university.

A heavy silence settles over us as we walk side by side before stopping at a crosswalk. Campus looms on the other side of the street. Alyssa shifts impatiently as if she'll burst out of her skin any moment. I'm sure she's counting down the seconds until she can shake me loose. As I wrack my brain for something to say, something that will turn the tide of this doomed interaction, her phone dings with an incoming text. Without sparing me a glance, she pulls the slim device from her bag before glancing at the screen. I crowd closer, trying to catch a glimpse of the message.

Jack.

Who the f**k-

"Who the f**k is Jack?" I grunt as a surge of jealousy rushes through me.

Alyssa scowls as if only now becoming aware of me-almost as if she legit forgot I was hovering beside her-before pocketing the phone without responding to the message. "None of your damn business."

Wanna bet?

As difficult as it is, I keep that thought to myself. I don't need to aggravate her any more than I already have. It's almost impossible to believe there was ever a time she chased after me. You sure as hell wouldn't know it from this disastrous interaction. Even though I'm the one who f****d up our relationship, I don't want her dating other dudes. If that makes me an a*****e, then so be it. I can live with that. What I can't abide is another guy touching what's mine.

Maybe Alyssa doesn't realize it yet, but that's exactly what she is.

Mine.

She's always been mine. I was just too much of a dumbass to understand it and hold her close. Instead, I pushed her away.

"Look, I-"

As soon as the light changes, Alyssa scrambles across the street. It only takes a few long-legged strides to catch up with her. It feels like that's all I've done. Chased after her in an attempt to get this girl to hear me out.

"How about we meet for lunch," I suggest, knowing our time together is limited now that we've reached campus.

Her gaze stays focused on something in the distance only she can see. "Sorry, I'm busy."

I narrow my eyes. "I didn't give you a specific time or date."

"It doesn't matter," she says in a clipped tone before scowling. "Where your concerned, I'm busy for the foreseeable future."

Damn, but she's a tough nut to crack.

"Lys-" When she skewers me with a glare that could send a lesser man up in flames, I hastily correct myself. "Alyssa. I meant to say Alyssa."

Impatience wafts off her in heavy waves as she grinds to a halt and swings toward me. She peers around before dropping her voice. "Whatever you're trying to accomplish here, I'm not interested. I'm really not." There's a pause as she steps close enough for me to feel the heat of her body. It takes everything inside me not to reach out and grab hold of her just to prove her wrong. She still wants me. I see it buried beneath the fury in her eyes. Not only is she intent on battling me, but herself as well.

For the first time since Alyssa returned to Wesley, I wonder if it's possible to break through the thick walls she's erected. Doubt trickles in before I stomp it out. I'm a lot of things, but a quitter isn't one of them.

"Here's the thing, you had me. I was yours." Pain flickers across her face before it's once again masked behind an icy exterior. "But you threw me away because you wanted to f**k your way through this campus." No. That's not true.

"You need to move on and allow me to do the same. Just because you have regrets, doesn't mean that I do. Or maybe this is all a game." She shrugs. "I have no idea and I don't really care one way or the other." Does she really think I'm capable of that kind of heartlessness?

That I could mastermind some kind of game to pull her in again before kicking her loose?

Even though I can't necessarily blame her for being suspicious, her opinion of my character makes me gut sick.

When I remain silent, at a loss as to how to reach her, a pleading look enters her eyes, and it crushes me.

Alyssa has no idea why I pushed her away. She believes the bullshit I fed to her. What I need to do is tell her the truth. It had absolutely nothing to do with other girls and everything to do with my feelings for her.

I open my mouth, ready to lay it all on the line. I don't care if we're on the edge of campus and there are tons of people rushing past us on their way to class. I don't care if we're getting curious stares from onlookers. Our gazes stay fused together as everything around me falls away.

"Colton!"

The high-pitched voice has the moment disintegrating as I'm jolted back to reality. Alyssa blinks to awareness before taking a hasty step in retreat. Alyssa flicks an uninterested glance at the girl waving and calling my name before her lips lift into a bitter smile. "Seems like your fan club has found you. Take a good look. That's what you dumped me for." With that, she walks away and there's not a damned thing I can do to detain her as I'm swarmed by a handful of girls.

f**k.

My gaze stays glued to Alyssa as she disappears through the crowd. Any hope that I could get her to hear me out bursts into fiery flames before dying a quick death.