Neighbors

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"Jay, Jay," I groaned as I rocked my hips back and forth biting my lip, discarding the book and replacing the words with my own intense fantasy. I threw my head back, my eyes shut as I imagined my neighbor kissing my chin and neck. Then I leaned forward, increasing the friction of the washing machine under my clit. Fuck it felt so good, I could feel the tingling in my stomach stretching down to my dripping wet pussy as I felt the onslaught of my orgasm approaching. I cried out but clamped one hand over my mouth to smother the sound as I writhed up and down on the machine. My pussy contracted and the hand that wasn't covering my mouth balled into a fist as I rode the washing machine wishing like hell it was Jay's tongue instead of an inanimate object.

All the sudden I heard a noise in the hallway. My eyes flew open and I scrambled from on top the washing machine straightening out my shorts. Damn, son of a bitch, I didn't even get to cum. I looked at the door but it never opened. I walked on slightly shaky legs over to the door and looked through the glass but the hallway was completely. Must've been my imagination. I laughed to myself, I was such a wuss. I sighed as the machine switched off, not that I would've finished anyways, I was too freaked out now. I gathered up my wet clothes from the machines and switched them to the dryers. About 25 minutes later the door opened. I did a double take as the object of my affection came through the door, his own laundry basket in tow. He smiled at me.

"Hi Rianne." I could feel my skin grow hot, embarrassed at the idea that if he had decided to come down a little earlier he would've seen me jerking off while saying his name. I sent a brief prayer up to heaven that didn't happen, then I thought that was probably not the type of thing to be thanking God about.

"Hey Jay." I said, discreetly (or at least I think discreetly) pulling down the bottom of my shorts, suddenly feeling like they were way too short. I hoped he couldn't smell my arousal. Not wanting to engage in any further interaction due to the fact that I was still nervous and embarrassed from having almost gotten caught by him I buried my head into my book.

"What are you reading?" I heard him ask. I looked up at him and back down at the book.

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" I said, grateful I had traded in the romance novel I had earlier. I returned to pretending to read it, even flipping the page for good show.

"Must be some book." He said.

"Wh -- Why would you say that?"

"Well because you're biting your lip and staring at it like you wouldn't look up if your life depended on it." I looked up at him, careful to keep my face composed. For the briefest of seconds I saw a flash of something in his eyes, almost like he was laughing at me or something but I brushed it off.

"It is actually. . .really interesting."

"Well maybe you'll let me borrow it when you're done, since it looks so good." I had a moment where I flashed back to being 13 when everything seemed to be dripping with innuendo and the word "it" automatically had a sexual connotation. I quickly decided it was just my imagination and stood up tossing him the book.

"Be my guest, won't have time to finish it anyways." I said as I gathered my clothes out of the drying, tossing them unfolded and partially wet into my laundry bag, there was no way in hell I was staying down there. I looked up and saw he looking at me again smiling- no actually smirking, he was definitely smirking. I hated smirkers. "I'll see you later."

"Yep, later. Rianne." For some reason the way that he said my name just then sent a small shiver up my spine. I looked back him with as nonchalant a smile as I could manage.

"Have a good night Jay." I said as I got out of the small confines of the laundry room as quickly as I possibly could.

Now it was Saturday. Instead of being the odd man out at the monthly couples dinner party I was sitting alone in my apartment. Working out seemed like a good thing to do, so I put on my shorts and tee shirt and headed down to our gym facility my Zune blasting Peaches. After hitting the weights and running on the treadmill for an obscene amount of time, I headed back upstairs to my apartment.

I got on the elevator with my headphones still on, bopping along to my favorite song. Right as the doors were about to close a large hand slid in stopping them from shutting, it opened and a man slipped inside carrying a bag of groceries. He looked up and it was my neighbor Jay. I smiled politely at him as the doors closed while silently cursing the fact that I never saw him when I actually looked nice. I was drenched in sweat, in my sports bra and shorts (my tee shirt gripped in my hand having been turned into a makeshift face towel), my hair was curling up -- I already had needed my hair done before I even went to work out, so I know it looked a mess. And I was still a little out of breath from my vigorous workout and was probably blotchy. Meanwhile he still looked ready to do a photo shoot, this time channeling casual sexy in jeans and tee shirt, I wasn't really used to seeing him not wearing a suit, casual definitely suited him He turned towards me grinning, he was saying something but I couldn't hear him. I debated whether to just motion that I couldn't hear him with my headphones on or if I should actually take the headphones off and make neighborly conversation. I reluctantly decided on the latter.

"Sorry I couldn't hear you." I said after I had turned off my music player.

"I was saying I never see you on the weekends and now I've seen you twice in two days." He said still smiling, a mischievous look in his eyes, I wondered if he was remembering the last weekend I had run into him.

"Yeah well I'm usually at my boyfriend's house." I replied.

"Oh, Carter right?"

"Yep, Carter."

"Did he come over here this weekend instead?"

"Nope." I said.

"Touchy subject?"

"Not touchy, just not much to say about it." I said as the doors opened on our floor. I stepped out first.

Now despite the fact that I look younger than I am and people tend to try to play me like boo boo the fool, I'm not a naïve person. And I definitely know when I'm being checked out and this was one of those moments. I could feel Jay's eyes on my ass as I walked towards the apartment, I had to admit it was kind of nice being checked out, especially when I felt I was at my sloppy worst. But I wasn't about to let him know that, instead I turned towards him. "See something you like?" I said giving him my best stern nurse look. If I was expecting him to be embarrassed (which honestly I kind of was) then I was to be sorely mistaken.

"You know I do, isn't that why you added that extra hip swivel?" He said unapologetically. I rolled my eyes in response.

"I'm too exhausted to add a swivel, especially not for your benefit." I said, I knew it was a damn lie but like I said, he didn't need to know that.

"I know your walk, I see it almost every morning and I'm pretty sure I caught an extra swivel." He said frankly. "It's okay to admit it, I liked it." I snorted.

"If this is your game Romeo than I really am curious how you manage to get so many chicks up to your lair because that's pretty lame." He laughed.

"It wasn't game, I don't run game. I don't need to run game." I bent down to untie my keys from my shoe laces.

"Uh huh." I said unimpressed. I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to flirt with the neighbor that had accidently found his way into more than one of my super secret fantasies -- okay maybe not accidently. But to be honest I wasn't really sure I felt like being bothered. After all reality never lived up to fantasy, and he was probably hotter in my head than in the flesh, I wasn't too keen to kill the dream just yet. Given my schedule I was probably going to spend plenty of nights by myself with my vibrator, I needed to make sure I could still have some good material to draw from. Besides his cocky attitude wasn't really doing a whole lot for me at the moment, there was something to be said for false modesty, it was something I engaged in all the time. I was aware of him still standing behind me, still watching me. I stood and looked at him nodding firmly, it was meant to be a goodbye.

"What are you doing later?" He said obviously not picking up on my dismissal, or perhaps choosing to ignore it.

"Haven't decided. Probably heating up a TV dinner and watching a movie." I said honestly, I realized that it probably made me sound like a bit of an old maid but I didn't feel like trying to make my life seem more glamorous than it was. . .especially when he knew enough about my habits to know better.

"Alone?" He asked, it was kind of cute how he asked as though he didn't know the answer to that question.

"No, with Dog." I said seriously. He laughed again running his fingers through his hair.

"Well. . .I woke up this morning with a taste for my mom's seafood risotto, I decided to take a crack at the recipe. Can't promise it'll be as good as my mom's but thus far in my life I've managed not to give anyone food poisoning so that's good right?" Now I was the one laughing.

"That shouldn't be your measure of success."

"I think that's actually a damn good measure of success. If it doesn't taste good but it doesn't make you sick, you could just pretend to eat it, spit it out in the napkin, lie to me and tell me it's the best risotto you've ever eaten. Then chow down the store bought dessert which is a sure thing, no harm no foul. Food poisoning on the other hand is definitely a buzz kill, then I'd have to take you to the hospital, I'll see things coming out of orifices that will definitely ruin the fantasy."

"Wow you have a fantasy about me?" I said teasingly. His eyebrow raised and for a second I could swear I caught a glimpse of his dirty little mind -- or was it my dirty little mind? I subconsciously wrapped my arms across my stomach protectively suddenly aware that my body was on virtually full display. His eyes followed the moment before slowly coming back up, pausing on my chest, before coming back up to my face. I didn't need to look down to know my nipples were hard. I moved my arms from my stomach to my chest, regretting my question.

"Have dinner with me." Was all he said after a moment of silence.

I told myself I should politely decline, that it was a bad idea to have dinner with a man who had slept with more people in the last month than I had in my entire life. And it was an even worse idea to have dinner with a loose dick man that also happened to be my next door neighbor. Say no, walk away, say no, walk away. My brain chanted.

"Okay." Was all I said in response.

Jay said to come over in a couple of hours. It was a couple of hours later and I was standing in my bathroom giving myself the once over. I didn't feel like fighting nature so instead of straightening my hair like I normally would I left it loose in wild, untamed curls. It was freeing-- not practical- but it was nice for the weekend. I was wearing a denim mini skirt and a tank top layered under a slim fitting long cardigan and my favorite converse low tops. I wondered if I should get more dressed up but for a last minute dinner across the hallway I figured it was sufficient enough. I added my hoop earrings and bangle bracelets just to be sure though. I decided to go really wild and wear a bit of my shimmery bronzer (not enough to look like I was going to high school prom in Jersey, just enough to add a glow to my rich brown skin), my pinkish brown lip gloss, and my expensive mascara -- the one that made me look like I had mile long eyelashes. I put on some of my favorite perfume and surveyed myself one last time before grabbing a bottle of wine and walking across the hall. I paused at the door, my hand poised to knock. I still had one last chance to haul ass back to my apartment before he heard me and make up some excuse for not showing up.

"IS THAT RIANNE?" I turned and saw Mrs. Petrie who lives on the other side of Jay padding up the hallway, clutching her robe closed, her mail in her hand. She was yelling as usual (she was hard of hearing) killing any possible chance of an escape, I was sure he'd be able to hear us.

"HI MRS. PETRIE." I said.

"What was that dear?"

"I SAID HI MRS. PETRIE" I repeated as she handed me her mail to hold while she fished her key out of her bathrobe. She paused to give me the once over.

"MY DON'T YOU LOOK PRETTY TODAY." I hated that, the use of "today," the implication being that it wasn't a usual occurrence. I smiled politely.

"THANKS MRS. PETRIE, HOW ARE EISENHOWER AND REAGAN?" I said referring to her two cats. Actually I hated her stupid cats, evil Siamese bastards had tried to attack Dog on more than one occasion. They stopped after I kicked at one of them when she wasn't looking -- I know that sounds mean but I swear I can see Satan in Reagan's eyes when she looks at me. Besides I didn't actually make contact with her, I'm pretty sure I pissed her off more than anything. Mrs. Petrie smiled sweetly at me.

"THEIR GOOD AND HOW'S THAT PRECIOUS LITTLE CALICO OF YOURS?" She asked, she never called him Dog, she got a bit confused when I tried to explain that I had named my cat Dog but I was perfectly aware that he was in fact a cat and not a dog.

"HE'S GOOD."

"AND WHERE ARE YOU OFF TO THIS EVENING?"

"ACTUALLY I WAS JUST GOING TO-"

"THAT'S GOOD DEAR. NOW LISTEN I KNOW YOU'RE A NURSE, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU. MY GRANDSON HE'S BEEN TALKING ABOUT HAVING THIS BURNING PAIN FOR A WHILE NOW, THEN A FEW DAYS AGO HE STARTED HAVING THIS RASH. HE HAS BLISTERS ALL OVER HIM AND SOME OF THEM ARE STARTING TO POP AND OOZE. NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT IS?"

"WELL, MA'AM IT COULD BE SHINGLES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, HE WOULD REALLY NEED TO GO TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM." I said shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"CAN'T I JUST TELL HIM TO COME OVER AND YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT HIM?"

"WELL I-" I heard the door open and looked over and saw Jay leaning up against the door frame.

"Hey I was just coming to get you." Jay said to me, the amusement clear in his voice. I smiled gratefully at him. Mrs. Petrie looked back and forth between the two of us, her eyebrow raised in slight disapproval, he turned towards her. "GOOD EVENING MRS. PETRIE."

"HELLO JAMES." She said her nose turned up slightly.

"I HOPE YOU DON'T MIND ME SNATCHING RIANNE UP, YOU SEE I ALREADY HAD HER BOOKED FOR A NICE, QUIET DINNER TONIGHT. SHE'S BEEN WORKING SO HARD ALL WEEK, REALLY FOR MONTHS. POOR THING ALWAYS COMES HOME WORN OUT FROM THE NIGHT SHIFT. SHE DESERVES AN EVENING OFF DON'T YOU THINK?" He said it pleasantly but firmly, in a way that left no room for argument. After a moment, she nodded contritely.

"OH OF COURSE DEAR." She said finally, when I handed her the mail she pulled my arm and gestured for me to lean down. "NOW HE SEEMS LIKE AN OKAY YOUNG MAN BUT YOU BE CAREFUL, THE BOY IS A VA-JAY-JAY BANDIT IF I'VE EVER SEEN ONE." It was a good attempt at a whisper, but it was pretty much still yelling. I bit my lip to keep from laughing while Jay had the nerve to look indignant.

"I'LL BE CAREFUL MRS. PETRIE." I promised her. She put her hand on my cheek.

"GOOD GIRL." She turned towards Jay. "GOOD NIGHT JAMES."

"GOOD NIGHT MRS. PETRIE." He grabbed me gently by the elbow and guided me into his apartment, I was still trying unsuccessfully to keep from bursting out laughing. "Va-jay-jay bandit?" He said to himself shaking his head as he closed the door. By now I was about falling on the floor clutching my stomach as I laughed my ass off, he turned to look at me. "I am NOT a va-jay-jay bandit." He said, pouting slightly. I tried several times to stop laughing failing miserably.

"Of course you're not." I said trying to keep a straight face before dissolving into a pool of uncontrollable laughter once again. He looked at me, clearly not as amused as I was. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm totally not laughing at you just the choice of wording."

"Whatever." He said, taking the bottle of wine out of my hands and heading towards the kitchen. Once I got myself together I looked around his place, seeing it for the first time. His loft was twice the size of my rinky dink studio apartment and he had a premium view of the city his windows stretching around the building giving a panoramic view of downtown Chicago. His hardwood floors, furniture and wood trimmings had been stained a dark chocolate, giving a richer ambiance. Large charcoal gray sofas and white Asian style lamps meshed well with large framed vintage movie posters. It was comfortable and inviting yet one could see the calculating amount of effort that must have gone into assembling it.

"Do you need any help?" I asked, my stomach growled low, as the amazing scents coming from the kitchen assaulted my senses.

"No I got it. Make yourself at home." He called out from the kitchen. I immediately went over to his music collection. It was kind of my thing, I always liked looking at people's music and book collection, it could tell you so much about a person. I spotted his iphone set up and made a beeline for it, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. He would have an iphone, it pretty much fit my impression of him. I looked through his music, I had to give him credit, I had him kind of pegged as a strictly Radiohead/Coldplay type of guy. He had plenty of Radiohead but beyond that it was an extensive and eclectic mix from hip hop to punk rock with some jazz thrown in.

"Mind if I put something on?" I called out.

"Go ahead." He said. I chose Common's Like Water for Chocolate. Lyrically it probably wasn't one of the sexier albums I could've chosen but it had been one of my favorite cds in college before I lost it and I was delighted to hear it again. My hips instantly starting to sway as his voice came through the speakers. I closed my eyes for a second, listening to the afrobeat drums in Time Travellin. "Nice choice." Jay said, I jumped slightly. He was standing right behind me, I couldn't help but wonder how long he had been there without my knowledge. I turned to look at him and he was holding two glasses of the Pinot Noir I had brought over. "Sorry didn't mean to scare you." He said.

"Yeah sure you didn't, probably trying to give me a heart attack as revenge for the laughing about the va-jay-jay bandit." I said laughing as I took the glass from him.

"My evil plan, was definitely not to get you over into my 'lair' as you say, and give you a heart attack. No I have much better plans in store for you my dear." He said wiggling his eyebrows like Doctor Evil, I laughed.

"And what would those plans entail?" I asked.

"I'm going to poison you with my risotto." He replied. I laughed again but sobered up as I became keenly aware of him watching me. It was as though he was cataloguing things about me. It made me feel distinctly uncomfortable. I looked down at my wine glass. "I really like your hair like that, it suits you, you look more relaxed like you're in your own skin." I heard him say.

"Thanks, it's not really practical for work though. Nice music collection." I said switching topics.

"I like it." Jay said, his voice low still watching me, gauging my reaction to him watching me. Once again the word 'it' seemed to hold a whole additional subtext. I cleared my throat looking away.

"I know you said you were making a seafood risotto so I probably should've brought a white wine but I like red wine so I thought about bringing the white but then I didn't really know how much of a wine connoisseur you are but then again judging from your place your probably are quite the connoisseur so this might be cheap in comparison to what you normally drink anyways. . ." I was obviously rambling at this point he seemed to have no intention of stopping me, just continued to watch my mouth move, a slightly amused look on his face. I wanted to know what he was thinking but then again I didn't. Finally I just shut up altogether and waited for him to throw me a life raft.