Boys Next Door: A Contemporary Reverse Harem Romance (Boys Next Door, Book 1)

by Mia Belle

  I narrow my eyes. “As if you’re minding your own business.”

  He tsks. “So much anger this evening. You don’t want to be in a shitty mood when you go to the party, do you? Or is that the reason you’re so snappy?”

  “Dude, stop spying on me.”

  He holds up his hands, giving me an innocent look. “Spying?”

  “What else do you call overhearing a private conversation with my best friend?”

  He gives me a look like he has no clue what I’m talking about.

  “How do you know I’m going to the party?” I ask.

  He crosses his arms over his chest. “Isn’t that the thing to do around here?”

  I narrow my eyes again. “I heard you sitting in your window. Admit you were eavesdropping.”

  He holds my gaze. “What are parties like in this town?”

  “You’re changing the subject.”

  “Just want to know what I’m getting myself into.”

  My eyebrows scrunch. “You’re going?”

  He dips his head.

  “But you told Alexis you didn’t want to.”

  “And you told your best friend you didn’t want to, either. Guess we’ve both changed our minds.”

  “What? Why?”

  He lifts his eyebrows.

  “Why did you change your mind?” I ask. He doesn’t seem like the most social person on the planet.

  He shrugs. “Why did you change yours?”

  I throw my hands up. “You’re impossible. Why can’t you answer the question?”

  He shuts the sketchpad and rests his elbows on his lap. He stares in the distance, then brings his eyes to me. “You want me to tell you I decided to go because you did?”

  “What?”

  He laughs softly. “Self-centered much?”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Maybe it’s true. Maybe it’s not. Guess you’ll never know.” He slides into his room and walks out, shutting the door behind him.

  I stare after him, wondering what on Earth just happened.

  “Lia!” Sophie scurries into my room. “Sorry I’m late. My mom and dad are still acting like five year olds and I’m trying to keep the peace. Seriously, it’s like World War Three in there. What are you doing at the window?” She squeals, and the next second she’s at my side. “Is Zane there?” With a bright smile, she peeks out the window, only to find an empty room. Her shoulders droop. “Damn.” She turns to me. “You okay?”

  No. I’m not okay. I’m confused. What’s up with that guy?

  Sophie rubs my arm. “Lia?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re staring at his room. Was he here before? Did I miss him?”

  “Yeah, I mean no. I mean yes. He was here.”

  Her eyebrows practically shoot to the sky. “What’s wrong with you? You look like you saw a ghost.” She gasps. “Was it your mom? I heard sometimes you can see the ghosts of people you’ve lost.”

  I shake my head to fling Zane’s words out the window. “No. I didn’t see a ghost. Let’s just get this party over with.”

  She frowns. “Thanks for your exuberance.”

  Sophie trashes my closet as she searches for something suitable to wear. “God, do you have anything good in here?”

  She’s wearing a miniskirt and a white T-shirt. While neither of us are fashion experts, Sophie is better at this than me. So I trust her judgment when she tells me to put on a dress my mother bought me for my last birthday party. It’s navy blue, long sleeved, and reaches just above my knees.

  Once I’ve put it on and our hair and makeup is done, I gaze at myself in the mirror, tugging on my curls that are semi-behaving tonight. “Are you sure this isn’t a bit much? It’s just a dumb party.”

  She runs a brush through my hair, or tries to. It’s just too knotty. “It’s not a dumb party. Everyone will be there.”

  Yeah, including my anti-social neighbor.

  “And I think it’s about time we find you a new boyfriend.”

  I steal the brush away from her. “Are you crazy? You know how I feel about boys.”

  She bites her lip, her eyes apologetic. “I know we keep talking about it, but I want to show you that not all boys are like Josh. Just talk to some at the party. Mingle. See for yourself.”

  I take in a deep breath, not wanting to yell at my best friend. “I’m going to this party because you asked me to, okay?”

  She’s quiet for a few seconds. “Fine, but there are lots of cute guys at school.” She beams. “And you know specifically who I’m referring to.” She licks her lips. “Aidan said he was going to be there. I’m making out with him tonight.”

  “But you don’t know him.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Come on, Lia. It’s not like all those romance books you read. We can kiss even though we’re strangers.”

  “Whatever.”

  She giggles. “And don’t tell me you haven’t thought about kissing any of them. I mean, they’re right next door. One is right across your room. Do you see him, like, without a shirt on?”

  I drop on my bed and pull on my black boots. “No.”

  She pouts. “Not fair. Having Adonis across your room is so wasted on you.”

  I gesture around the room. “You’re welcome to come here whenever you want. You basically live here half the time, anyway.”

  Her home life is a little screwed up at the moment, which is why she likes hanging out here.

  Her eyes light up. “Oh my god. I should totally move in with you!”

  “I didn’t mean that.”

  She scowls. “Yeah, my mom will kill me. But I can sleep over.”

  “Do what you want. Can we go to this party already?”

  She stops me at the door, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Look, I’m not forcing you to come with. If you’re not feeling it, stay home. I’ll be fine.”

  As tempting as that is, something tells me I’ll need to watch over my friend tonight. Sophie doesn’t always make the right choices when it comes to boys and someone needs to be her brain sometimes.

  I force a smile. “I’ll come and try to have a positive attitude.”

  She wraps her arm over my shoulder, towing me along. “I have an awesome best friend.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Zane

  Aidan, Caleb, and I make our way toward Alexis’s house. It’s a huge place, with lots of floors and windows. Music blasts from inside. Like I expected, it’s just an ordinary high school party. I’ve only been to a few, since this isn’t really my scene. More like Aidan’s. The excitement is leaping off him like a firecracker as we enter the house and take in the dancing and drinking kids. Damn. Guy’s really desperate for friends. Me? I’m good by myself.

  Only reason I’m here is because of one person. Looks like she hasn’t arrived yet.

  Aidan’s first stop is beer. He downs the liquid like a pro.

  “Should we be worried?” Caleb asks, his blue eyes flicking from Aidan guzzling down the beer to the other kids crowding the living room, dancing.

  “Nah,” I say. “As long as you keep an eye on him, he’s good.”

  Caleb swallows. “He never drinks like this.”

  I shrug. “Can’t blame him, can you?”

  He doesn’t say anything, but his eyes say enough. I grab a red cup and fill it with beer. Caleb shakes his head when I offer it to him. I hate beer, but only drink it because I have nothing else to do. And because there are way too many people here.

  I stop after my second cup because I don’t want to get drunk. From a young age, I learned what too much alcohol could do to a person.

  “Lia’s here,” Caleb says.

  My eyes travel to the front door, where she’s standing with her friend Sophie, clutching a small blue handbag that matches her dress. Damn. She looks super cute and pretty in that dress, though she’s beautiful in her jeans and T-shirt, too. Her brown curls spring up and all I want to do is twirl one around my finger and tug.
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  With a large smile, Caleb waves them over. I notice his eyes lingering on her dress.

  Sophie charges over to us with our neighbor at her heels. Her head whips around. “Where’s your brother?”

  I point my thumb to the left, where Aidan’s with a group of kids, chugging down more beer. Sophie’s nose crinkles. She pastes a large smile on her face. “What’s New York like?”

  Caleb turns away, probably worried he’ll accidentally reveal something that might put us in jeopardy. He runs his hand through his long hair, pushing it over his face.

  Sophie looks at him like he lost his mind. Then she turns to me and grins. “I heard you like sports.”

  “That’s Aidan.”

  I keep my gaze on Lia, who’s playing with the snaps on her handbag, glancing around like she’d rather be anywhere but here.

  “Oh,” Sophie says, looking at me and then away. She must realize Caleb and I don’t want her here, because she gives us tight smiles before dashing over to Aidan and the other drunks.

  With a giggle, she accepts the cup of alcohol and drinks it. Lia watches with a frown. Her friend seems like she’s having a great time, and isn’t that the point of a party?

  “Lighten up,” I tell her, nodding toward the drunks. “Worse that could happen is she’ll be hungover tomorrow.”

  She regards me for a good few seconds. Feels like hours as her green eyes bore into mine. “You don’t know my friend.”

  “So?”

  She shakes her head, muttering that she has no idea why she’s even here. She disappears into the kitchen.

  I follow her. The place is empty, since all the other kids are busy getting hammered or making fools of themselves dancing.

  Lia’s at the window, peering out into the backyard. It’s dark, but there are enough lights to illuminate the huge garden they’ve got back there.

  “What’s with you and windows?”

  Lia jumps, her hand springing to her chest. “You scared me!”

  I’m about to apologize, when something catches my attention. I hadn’t noticed it before, but my neighbor always wears long sleeves. Even her pajamas shirts. It’s like she’s trying to hide something. Now that her sleeve is lifted and some skin is exposed, I think I may know what that is.

  I reach for the hand clutching her chest and gently pull her sleeve further up, revealing the scars on her wrist. Small cut marks that may last forver. Don’t tell me she—

  Lia pulls her hand away, so strongly I lose my footing. I grab onto the table before I crash to the floor.

  “What the hell?” she demands. “Who gave you the right to touch me?”

  “Who did that to you?”

  She glares at me. “Get the hell away from me.”

  I step closer. “Lia.”

  “Get away.” Tears flash in her eyes, but she tries to blink them away.

  Anger fills every inch of me as I think about what those scars mean. What she’s been through. What I’ve been through. My fists clench at my sides.

  “Stay the hell away from me.” Tugging down her sleeve, Lia storms out of the kitchen. I place my hands on the table, bending over and trying to relax. My chest heaves as I suck oxygen into my lungs.

  Fuck.

  After I’ve calmed down somewhat, I enter the living room, but don’t see any sign of Lia. I search the whole house, but can’t find her. I descend to the basement and hear soft voices. Peeking inside, I find Lia and Caleb sitting on the floor in the laundry room. They’re very close. Lia’s legs are pressed to her chest and her chin rests on her knees. I can’t see the look on her face, since her back faces me, but her body seems less tense. Whatever Caleb’s saying to her is working.

  All I’ve managed to do in the span of five minutes is piss her off. Hurt her. Once again, that’s all I’m good for.

  I spin around and stomp up the stairs. Aidan is in the same spot, swaying like he’s had way too much beer. Sophie is hanging onto his arm, nearly as drunk as he is. Alexis stands beside him, also drunk and giggling.

  Pushing my way through the crowd, I grab his arm. “Let’s go.”

  He shoves me. I shove him, forgetting he’s not as strong as he used to be. He knocks into the kids behind him, who start yelling. One makes a move to punch Aidan, but I jump in front of him, my fists raised. I’m not going to let anyone hurt my bro.

  “Stop! Stop,” Alexis slurs. “No violence. This is supposed to be a fun party.” She glares at me. “You weren’t supposed to be here. Get out.”

  “Yeah,” Aidan says, waving me off. “Go home, Zane.”

  I clutch his arm. “You’re coming with me.”

  He shakes his head. I pull him, but Sophie and Alexis yank harder. They’re no match for me, but I’m not going to get into a fight with drunken kids.

  I let go of my brother. “Fine.”

  Turning on my heels, I leave the house. As I make my way toward home, I whip out my phone and text Caleb to take care of Aidan. I’m so done with parties. I only went because of…

  My heart lurches. Lia. The scars. The pain and anger on her face.

  Memories fill my brain, ones I have pushed to the back of my mind. It’s all resurfacing now.

  Shutting my eyes, I shove that aside before I completely lose it. If I’m not careful, I’ll punch anything and everything that passes by.

  Her sad eyes fill my head and I grit my teeth. I stop in front of a stranger’s house and drop to the ground, grabbing my head and forcing myself to relax.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lia

  I march out of the kitchen, my insides boiling with anger. Who does he think he is? To pull my sleeve up? It’s none of his damn business.

  Tears have been in my eyes the second I saw the horrified look on his face, and I let them spill down my cheeks as I head down the stairs, away from the other kids.

  He had no right to invade my privacy. To make me relive those terrible weeks over and over again after I’ve tried so hard to get over them.

  The worst—the absolute worst—thing is the way he looked at me. Like he felt so sorry for me. Not only am I the poor girl who lost her mom a month ago, I’m the pathetic, messed up girl who tried to kill herself.

  No one other than my family and Sophie was supposed to find out about this. And now some stupid annoying boy knows one of my biggest, darkest secrets?

  I hate him.

  My feet drag me to the basement, the only place I can be alone to fume. I’d leave the party, but I can’t abandon my best friend.

  I find the laundry room and enter, stopping in my tracks when I notice someone sitting on the floor.

  Caleb.

  I really don’t want to talk to anyone right now, especially someone related to that jerk.

  He sits up as soon as he sees me. “Hey, Lia.” He stands, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets and looking into my eyes. “Are you okay?”

  Oh, god. Can he tell I’ve been crying?

  “Yeah,” I say casually. “What are you doing here?”

  He laughs lightly. “Wanted to get away from all the noise.”

  “Same.”

  He drops down to the floor, resting his back against the washing machine. He gives me a sweet smile. I should leave, but I kind of don’t want to be alone right now, even though I’m trying to convince myself I do. Warning bells go off all around me, telling me to stay away from this guy. I can’t forget my promise to swear off all boys.

  “Sorry,” Caleb says. “Do you want me to leave?”

  “No,” I quickly say. “Of course not. I mean, you were here first. I should leave.”

  I turn to go, when he says, “You don’t have to. I’d like the company.”

  Slowly, I face him. His blue eyes are so, so beautiful. Swallowing, I tear my gaze away and cross my arms over my chest.

  “Parties aren’t really my thing,” he tells me.

  I step deeper into the room. “Then why are you here?”

  He shrugs. “To watch over my cousins, I guess.
I kind of feel like I had to go with them, you know? For support or whatever.”

  I lower myself next to him and hug my knees to my chest. “I know what you mean. I’m only here because Sophie asked me to come. She said I’ll have a great time.”

  “Are you?”

  “No.”

  He laughs softly. “Yeah, I wasn’t having much fun, either.” His face grows serious. “Are you okay, though?”

  “Yeah,” I lie, chucking that jerk Zane out of my head. I tug at my sleeves to ensure they hide my scars. I don’t need another Armstrong boy discovering my secrets.

  He studies me for a little bit, then smiles that girl-melting one. “So we both came to this party to watch over the people we care about. How long has Sophie been your friend?”

  “Since forever. I can’t remember not being her friend.”

  “It’s great that you have someone so close to you.”

  I give him a sideways look. “Aren’t your cousins close to you?”

  “They are. And they’re great. We get along really well, like most brothers. They’re my best friends. But sometimes I feel…” He presses his lips together.

  “You feel what?”

  He opens his mouth, when his phone pings with a text. Scanning the screen, his eyes widen. “Crap.” He scrambles to his feet.

  I jump to mine. “What’s wrong?”

  “Zane texted me that Aidan’s out of control. I need to get him home.”

  I follow him up the stairs and out of the basement. Ramming through the throngs of dancing kids, we find Aidan in the living room, surrounded by many girls, including Sophie and Alexis. My best friend is hammered. She’s gotten drunk before, but never like this.

  Caleb grabs Aidan while I reach for Sophie. Giggling like a lunatic, she slaps my hand away.

  “Lia! I’m having so much fun. Do you know how awesome this party is?” She stretches for Aidan, but Caleb is already lugging him away.

  “Do you need help getting her home?” he asks me.

  I shake my head and clutch Sophie. “Come, let’s get out of here.”

  She slaps my hand again. “No. I told you we’d have a good time.”

  Speak for yourself. I take hold of her arm another time. “How much did you drink?”