The Neighbor #3 (The Neighbor #3) by Claire Adams Read Free Book Online

for creativity with the Frisbee golf
course,” I said.
    Ryder laughed. “So you saw that? Okay, what
about old?”
    I was starting to relax. “You are older, but
that’s just math. I suck at math—remember.”
    “Yeah. You’re no Einstein when it comes to numbers.”
    I stood up and punched him in the arm.
    “You were going to get your hit in
eventually.”
    “You deserved it. I don’t know if I can trust
you again...”
    Ryder put his hands on my shoulders and looked
at me intensely.
    “I have never lied to you about the way I
feel. I was just so damn scared of losing you. There is just something
happening here that I don’t think I have ever felt before. How
about another try, without the deception?”
    I had heard about taking a leap of faith. I
felt that I was about to take one.
    “I will try my best to believe in you if you
try just as hard to be honest. I don’t really have a choice in the matter since
you are my golf instructor, professor and you live next-door to my mother.”
    “What if I was none of those things? What if I
were just Ryder?”
    “Hmm. I guess just Ryder would be fine.” I pretended to be disappointed.
    “Get over here smart ass and give me a kiss.”
Ryder pulled me in tight and took me to the ground.
    We kissed in the sand, but it was not like the
scene in From Here to Eternity . We
shared a lingering kiss, but sand got in the places I feared. Despite the
discomfort, I was transported by Ryder’s touch.
    “We need to work on your putting this week.
Can it be arranged?”
    “This is meant to be a romantic reunion and
you are talking to me about golf?”
    “We need to keep up appearances, and I am your
instructor. Your putting sucks. Let’s go to the local
putt-putt joint. You claim to be good at miniature golf.”
    “Okay coach. Call me tonight and we will set
something up.” I pulled myself together and started to leave.
    “I missed you, Walsh.”
    I laughed.

 
    Chapter
Seven
    Driving back to school, I felt as if I had
dropped fifty pounds. I was light again. I guess I didn’t know how much Ryder
had seeped into my everyday life. It affected how I got along with my mother,
my BFF, Max, and everyone I met. Kelly from Kansas must have thought I was a
real piece of work. I didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that a
man had such influence on me. The scariest part was I didn’t have a choice.
Ryder was becoming an important part of my life, if not the most important
part.
    I arrived at Leach hall. Before I went to my
room and tried to convince Kelly that I was normal, I checked my phone. I had
received six messages from Ryder, each one sweeter than the last. I grabbed my
gear and ran into the dorm.
    “Hey, Kel . Did you have a good weekend?” I bounded into
the room.
    “It wasn’t bad. How was home?” Kelly asked.
    “It just dawned on me that I went home for the
long weekend you were sitting here in Leach Hall. You’re two-thousand miles
from home. I should have brought you home with me.” I felt like a terrible
friend. “To answer your question, my weekend went from bad to horrid to
spectacular.”
    “At least it ended on a positive note."
Her tone was optimistic.
    “Yeah, Kelly, it ended very positive. Will you
help me unpack some of this shit I grabbed from my mom’s house? She could be on
an episode of Hoarders . I went
through her medicine chest and got all sorts of stuff including this mouthwash.
She had a couple so I snagged one. You are welcome to everything.” It was my
last resort to drop hints to Kelly about her breath.
    “Thanks, but my folks travel so much that they have loaded me up with samples. I am exhausted from a
packed weekend. They had a foreign film festival on campus. I must have watched
20 films. I am putting in my buds and checking out. The light won’t be a
problem.”
    “Okay. We will catch up another time.”
    I had not slept well all weekend, so I was
asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
    ****
    “Morning,