Well, well, well, the bearded guy living with her is not her boyfriend.

I smile to myself as I put my key into my door. Yeah, she’s a little flaky. But cute. Definitely very cute. I’m not in the market for a girlfriend, but it’s never a bad idea to make friends with the next-door neighbor.

It was gutsy of her to hit me up. She looked like she was about ready to fall over and die from embarrassment just from asking me. I’ve been meaning to apologize for being such a rude fucker myself. Not that I flip out anywhere except in my head, but still. Shit happens. Literally.

I push open the door and Tyrion is already spinning in circles with sheer unadulterated joy. As always. There’s something to be said for somebody being that excited to see you when you get home. I went a really long time without this in my life.

“Hey, boy!” I say with a chuckle, crouching in front of him so he can sniff me. He starts smelling in earnest. “You smell Draco? You’re gonna hang out with him tomorrow night while I hang out with his mom.

Shit! Where did that come from?

I’m not looking for a relationship. I’ve got no place for a girlfriend in my life right now. My existence is a mess presently. I’m up to my eyeballs with work and I’m living in this temporary accommodation without all my stuff because my apartment is being redone. No, I do not need the added complication of a relationship.

Not even without one as cute as Miss Appleton.

Even so.

No, Jackson, no.

I remember the landlord mentioning her when I came in to look at the house. Nice girl, he said, quiet and keeps to herself. No parties. All of that sounded good at the time and still does, since I need peace and quiet.

Not that a drink with the guys is off-limits, and in fact… oh, damn. I was supposed to meet up with Josh and Pete tomorrow night. I completely forgot. I occurs to me that I could cancel with Lauren, but I don’t want to come off as a complete jerk. Well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

I put food into Ty’s bowl and get into the shower. As soon as I’m out, I dial up Joe. I hear crying the second he picks up, before he even says hello. “Sorry,” he calls out over the cacophony. “Teething. You know how it is.”

No, I don’t. I’ve heard how it is, since my friends are now of the age, where having kids has become a reasonable next step, but I’ve never been through it.

“I won’t keep you long,” I promise, mostly because I don’t really feel like hearing the baby squall for much longer. “I’m not going to be able to make it out tomorrow night. I’m sorry, man.”

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait. I’ll just go lock myself in the bathroom.” The sound of the baby’s cries gets quieter until it goes away entirely.

Poor guy. I glance over at Tyrion, who’s lying on the floor and licking himself. A dog is more than enough for me.

“Shit, this is the only place in the house I can get a minute of peace, Jackson. You honestly are backing out on getting drinks tomorrow night? Because I get out like, once in a blue moon anymore and I’ve been looking forward to it ever since we decided to hang out.”

“You’ll still have Pete with you.”

“Oh, well. No big deal, I guess.” He sighs.

“I’ll make it up to you, man,” I say feeling like a douche for cancelling on him. I’ll meet you for happy hour some night this week. Or whenever is good for you.”

He chuckles. “Wow, since when do you leave the office early enough to go to a happy hour?”

“I can make an exception. Gimme a call and let me know what’s good for you, okay?”

“Right man, got to go.”

I hear the yelling get louder so I quickly say my byes and end the call. I have a ton of work waiting for me on my table. I need to focus.

I also need to stop thinking about the girl next door and the way she smiles. The way she blushes whenever our eyes meet. She’s definitely cute. Maybe even hot, though I’ve only ever seen her wearing bulky coats and scarfs, since we’ve only ever run into each other while she’s on her way out with the dog.

Tyrion eventually scratches at my ankle, signaling that he needs to go out for a walk. I find myself looking at her door while I’m locking mine, wondering what she’s doing in there. What’s her life all about? What does she do with herself on a Saturday evening? What does she do for fun?

Fuck, I have stop this shit. She’s just the girl next door. I’ll have dinner with her tomorrow and that will be the end of that. Before the month is up, I’ll be out of here, anyway.