I reached for my phone, debating again as I pulled my hand back, then reached for it yet again. “Damn it.” I blew out a breath and laid my head on my desk. I had been attempting to text Alex for the last half an hour and kept second guessing myself. He’d given me his number when I first moved in, just in case I needed anything. I had never used it, outside of the initial text I sent to ensure he had my number as well. Jenna’s warning still played clearly in my head, and I knew damn well she meant it. I didn’t figure I would end up jumping Alex or one of his two sexy friends, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t develop a friendship there. Hopefully, that would be enough to satisfy her. However, my body wasn’t expecting friendship; it was in complete agreement with Jenna’s final prompting last night as she left after a few too many margaritas to “just take the bulls by the balls.”

I grabbed my phone and made a move to swipe it open when it buzzed in my hand, scaring me so badly I dropped it with a resounding crack. Whoops. Thank goodness for the protective case and glass guard that the saleswoman had suggested. Though I doubted her company appreciated her, with the number of phones I would have gone through at this point without those accessories.

Hey neighbor. The text had me grinning. I wondered if he’d thought of me, too, since this was the first time he had ever texted me.

The phone buzzed again and I managed to hold onto it this time as I swiped to reveal the message. Troy and Max are coming back over tonight for the Cubs game I recorded this afternoon. Want to join? We’re grilling tonight if you want to bring the vodka.

I hesitated for a moment, unsure of my response. Troy hadn’t exactly enjoyed me butting in at their last Friday night gathering. I wasn’t sure he would approve of this one either. Not to mention it would have been nice to see Alex one on one, just to make sure nothing could ever happen between us--at least not more than one drunken night. I slapped myself on the forehead and debated a quick, cold shower. This was foolishness. I wasn’t nineteen anymore. I wasn’t looking for a hookup. I needed friends, and Alex and Max were good guys. It’d be a fun way to blow the evening and, hopefully, it would get Jenna off my back so I could focus on writing.

Sounds like fun. I’m out of vodka, but I think I’ve got tequila left.

My phone buzzed again and I giggled at the gif he sent me of shots pouring. Apparently, tequila would be a welcome addition. The guys will be here soon, so you’re welcome whenever.

I considered my outfit for a moment before I shrugged. The plain white t-shirt and jeggings I was wearing weren’t anything special, but at least I looked more respectable than the last time they had seen me with tear stains down my face, swollen eyes, and neon red blotches covering my face. I winced at that image. Yeah, I didn’t think sexy times with them would be in my future. Hell, maybe they had a cousin or something they could throw a girl. I scraped my hair back, grabbed my Braves cap just for giggles, pulled the tequila bottle from the freezer, and headed out to Alex’s gate, figuring a cookout meant we would be in the yard again.

“Emily!” Alex’s cheerful voice in my ear was nearly enough to have me bobbling the tequila bottle. I turned with a grin to see him balancing a tray of burgers behind me as I tried to get the fastening on the back gate open. “I figured you’d probably come through this way. I was just heading out to open this up for you--and to toss the burgers on.” He lifted the plate in his hands to emphasize his words. “It’s a bit tricky sometimes, you’ve just gotta jiggle it.” I risked a glance at his ass while he messed with the gate and ended up swearing as the gate caught my arm when it shot open. “Oh fuck! Emily, I’m so sorry.” Frazzled, he looked around for a place to set the burgers as I coddled my arm. That was definitely going to bruise.

“No biggie.” I shrugged, stretching the arm to show him I still had full mobility and hiding the wince. “I’m a total klutz.”

“I’m so sorry.” His eyes were wide and dark with concern as he studied my extended arm. “I can get you an ice pack for it. I thought you’d see it open.” Welp, I would have if I hadn’t been staring at that granite ass of his, not that I could say that. “Come on back and sit down.” He drew me gently through the gate, biting at his lip as if trying to ensure he was gentle enough with me. I wanted to bite that full bottom lip for him. He really did have a sexy mouth. Ugh, I hated it when Jenna was right.

“No harm, no foul.” I laid the tequila bottle in my hand against the bruise to help prevent some of it from forming, hissing at the sting of the icy glass against the skin of my arm.

“Don’t do that.” Exasperated, he set the platter on the grill, pulling the bottle from my grasp. “That’s way too cold. I’ll take it in and replace it for you. Just, give me a minute.” His fingers running through his hair caused it to stick up in spikes as he muttered to himself, heading into his kitchen in search of an appropriate ice pack, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was nice to see him mussed up a little bit.

“Starting the party without us, huh?” Max’s voice was warm and full of laughter as he entered through the gate and I answered with a grin.

“Well, I figured someone had to bring the fun—and the tequila.”

“Tequila!” His eyebrows shot up and his smile took on a wicked edge. “That does bring the fun. Burgers and margaritas sound like a good time to me. I guess we’ll just rely on you for the view.” He wriggled his eyebrows and sent me a wink before sprawling down into the same lounger he’d been in the prior week; apparently, he was a creature of habit. I just snorted in reply.

He suddenly leapt up, swiping the cap from my head and dangling it from his fingers in disgust. “You would bring an enemy cap here, in support of my team?” He pretended to be horrified, pressing his fingers against his chest and shaking his head. “I believe it must be offered up as a sacrifice.”

“Hey!” I giggled, jumping up to try and reach him. Damn tall people. He simply placed a hand on my head and continued to dangle the cap just above my fingertips.

“What in the world are you doing?” Alex’s voice was full of humor and mild exasperation as he studied us from the door, a small ice pack in his hand wrapped in a kitchen towel. I continued to try and jump for my hat, giggles rolling up at how incredibly silly we must look.

“He wants to offer my hat as a sacrifice,” I explained quickly, making another grab while Max’s attention was elsewhere. Alex chuckled and handed me the ice pack before he moved to the grill, clearly planning on ignoring the two of us. I simply shrugged and set the ice pack aside. It was more fun to play with Max. Besides, I got worse injuries than this rolling over in bed.

“I swear I have students who are older than the two of you.” Troy’s gruff voice broke in. I ignored him, having too much fun playing with Max to care about how surly he felt that evening. “Though a sacrifice may be necessary.” The words were so low I barely caught them, but I paused for a moment, turning my head underneath Max’s hand to gape at Troy, then up at Max.

“Did he just make a joke?” I couldn’t believe it. He made a joke, and not at my expense. I guess getting the stain out of his clothing had won me some points.

Max’s lips twitched. “Joke or not, I still claim this. You wore enemy gear onto our territory and this is the penalty.” I studied him for a moment and considered my hat. I really liked that hat… An idea percolated and I smiled, wide and a little wicked. “Um, guys.” Max cleared his throat, his hand tightening on my head. “I’m not sure I like this smile she’s wearing. It’s a little devious.” Before he could guard himself, I reached out, running my hands up and down his rib cage and over the rock-hard planes of his abdomen. He gasped out a laugh, his hands moving to swat mine away from his apparently extremely ticklish stomach, his laughter rolling warm over the two of us. I snatched my hat from his hand, plunking it back down on my head and nodding decisively at my victory.

“You attempted to sacrifice it as a penalty, but I won it back. Therefore, I’m allowed to keep it.” I nodded as if sure of the rules of this game we were making up. Slightly out of breath from his laughter, Max held up his hands in surrender and flopped back down onto his chair.

“You win, little one, but next time I’ll know you fight dirty.” He shook a finger at me in warning and I blew him a playful kiss. His smile widened as he shot me an answering wink, turning towards where Alex was working on the burgers. “You already watched the game, or are we actually all going to watch it at the same time?” From the accusation in his tone, I guessed Alex had watched a game previously without his friends and was still getting hell for it.

Alex sighed, shaking his head. “I still maintain I didn’t watch that game! It’s not my fault I saw a Facebook update on it!” The other two muttered their disgust and left Alex to his grilling.

“Emily,” Alex called over his shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve seen you once this week. What have you been up to?”

“Deadline.” I grinned at the memory of Jenna messing with me. “I got wrapped up. I’ve got one more week but there’s never enough time, I swear.”

“You write?” Max piped in. “That’s way cooler than us. Alex and I both work in the same firm—well, it’s our own firm, but still—and Troy is always at the school. Completely boring. Writing sounds like much more fun. Do you write steamy scenes?” He wriggled his eyebrows at me, sticking out his tongue, and I laughed.

“No, not yet at least.”

“You a reporter?” Troy sounded both on edge and mildly interested.

“No.” I shook my head, messing with my fingers a bit. It was still odd to introduce myself as a published author. Many people thought of it as a joke not a career. Even telling people I had been a stay at home mom had usually gotten a more positive reaction than when I admitted what I wrote, especially if I mentioned the genre. Sci-fi was still heavily male, and one of the reasons I used a pseudonym. Max waited patiently for me to expound on my answer and I sighed. “I write books. Science fiction books.”

Troy arched a brow as he considered me. “You write sci-fi books? How many have you published?” That got my back up. Publishing was extremely hard, and even publishing one should be considered a huge deal, whether or not it was a huge success.

“Several.” I hedged the words. I had been publishing short stories for years and a few novels. I had gotten extremely lucky when “Time Tunnel” had taken off.

Max had his phone out and was scrolling through. “What’s your name on here? There are a lot of authors named Emily.” I couldn’t help but chuckle as he scrowled.

“I use a pseudonym,” I admitted. “I don’t like my real name being out there, plus it’s easier with the kids to not have that kind of worry.”

“So give us the pseudonym. Or a title.” Troy’s voice was challenging and Max scoffed.

“You read all the time, do you really want to add another book to your list?”

“You like to read?” I knew the surprise in my voice was evident, but I really couldn't help myself. Logically, I knew he was a teacher, and he would be well educated. It still surprised me, however, that he actively enjoyed reading for fun. I guess you should never judge a book by it’s cover. I snickered to myself at the pun. He scowled, apparently taking my snickering as an insult. Whoops.

“Yes, I enjoy reading. Most genres. It comes from being an English teacher.”

“E. P. White.” The words were quiet. “My pseudonym is E.P. White.”

Troy nearly fell from his chair. “E.P. White? Author of Time Tunnel? Through the Mist? Last Astronaut?”

It was my turn to gape. “You’ve heard of my books?” It was always a shock when I met someone who had read my books but to have someone from my own town who had read them—who wasn’t my sister—was nearly enough to knock me over. “I really think I need that tequila now.”

“That’s so cool!” Max was nearly bouncing as he jogged inside to grab the tequila bottle. “I figured he’d end up reading them, just out of curiosity. I didn’t expect he’d actually know who you are.”

“I thought those were written by a man.” Troy seemed to be considering me.

“No, I was very specific when I wrote my bio. I didn’t put anything down about a spouse or kids and phrased it without pronouns.” I shrugged a bit. “I got some flack about being a woman writing sci-fi without a romance bent when I was writing short stories.”

“Wait, I thought your last name was DeWitt?” Alex turned to look at me, sliding freshly cooked burgers back onto the platter.

I nodded in agreement, my mouth watering at the idea of biting into one of these sexy men instead of the burgers he was now compiling. “It is. E and P are my initials—Emily Paige.”

“Is White your maiden name?” Alex asked.

“You’re married?” I thought I heard mild horror in Max’s voice but decided it was laughter.

“No, not anymore. I never took my ex’s last name, either. I use White because it’s what DeWitt means.” I shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed. This was why I didn’t like talking about what I did.

“Your books are well-written.” The soft words from Troy had me gaping. “The characters are realistic; it’s easy to understand their motives and how they feel. Your plot line is original and allows for theories without leaving gaping holes. I’ve been looking forward to the next release.” That he had managed to sum up my books in a few sentences was more than I could have hoped for with how surly he’d been in the past.

“Thank you.” I really wasn’t sure what else to say to him, still awed by the fact that he had recognized me. Troy nodded, turning his attention to the burgers being built rather than me. Maybe my astronaut had been right about the space-time continuum because I definitely felt a shift. Damn if it didn’t make him even hotter that he could be authentic as well as smart, surly, and sexy.