Page 4 of The One Where They Fall in Love

“Barking?” she says in disbelief. “The poor thing wascrying. Scratching at the door, whining. You’ve been gone all night! How could you do that to him?”

I’m not really sure how to respond to that. Of course, I’m not happy about leaving him, but the multiple night shifts are making this whole situation difficult to process. Surely this woman could have simply left a note if she was concerned—sleeping outside my door all night feelswildlyout of proportion. Maybe this is just a very bizarre dream about having a hot neighbor. Although, I think if shewasa dream-induced hot neighbor, she would be a little nicer.

“Let me get this straight, just so there’s no confusion. You’re angry with me onbehalfof the dog, notbecauseof the dog?” I say slowly.

“I’m upset,buddy, because a dog does not deserve to be left alone in an apartment by himself all night! I can’t sleep knowing he’s distressed upstairs, and Ineedmy sleep.” Her gestures get more animated as she gets louder. “Have you never left him alone before?”

“It’s my sister’s dog, and my sister’s apartment. She gothim a few weeks ago and then went away, so I moved in and—” I run my hand across the stubble on my jaw. “It’s a long story. He must be having a hard time settling in.”

“You think?” she huffs, crossing her arms across her chest. I take the brief moment that the berating has ceased to observe her. She’s small, about a head shorter than me, with a petite frame and a curvy stature. Her face is round, centered by doe-eyes that pull me in like a magnet. In any other situation, I’d be enraptured by her. Right now, I’m just irritated.

I shake my head. I already feel bad about having to leave the dog, and maybe that’s why I didn’t want the responsibility of watching a damn dog in the first place.No offense, Thor. But I don’t need this girl adding to my guilt—she literally doesn’t know anything about me. She’s already disrupting my schedule by making me stand out here in this hallway, and I’m sure one of the other neighbors is going to come angrily bursting out at any moment.

“Ma’am—” She looks at me funny when I say that. “I’m very sorry if my dog disturbed you, but can we table this discussion for another time? It’s pretty late… or early,” I amend, seeing the sun start to peek through the shades of a nearby window.

“Ma’am? Did you justma’amme?” Her eyes narrow.

Okay, she definitely looks like she is going to murder me now. Maybe I was wrong about her being a threat. She’s small, but I bet she’s scrappy.

I take a deep breath and exhale loudly. “I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let’s try this again. I’m Oliver.” I hold out my hand, which she looks at like it’s holding a vial of a fatal disease. After a few moments, I let it awkwardly fallback to my side.

“I’m Elle, and I don’t think we can start over after this,sir.”

“I’m sorry. Afterthis?” I question, not sure what she means.

“You upset a dog. That is a capital offense in my book,” she says matter-of-factly. She purses her lips and raises an eyebrow at me.

“It’smydog!” I say, throwing my hands up.

“And that makes itbetter?”

I blow out a harsh breath. “Okay, I’m going inside now. Please move away from my door.”

“Move away from your door?” She scoffs, likeI’mthe crazy one here. “What do you think I’m going to do, follow you in?”

“Honestly, I’m not really sure what you’re capable of. You’re sitting outside of a stranger’s apartment at the ass-crack of dawn with a jar of peanut butter,” I say, pushing the key into the lock.

She gives me a hard stare before moving to walk away, but turns back at the top of the stairwell.

“At least tell me the dog’s name,” she says, her bun flopping as she tilts her head to the side. My annoyance is giving way to pure exhaustion, and I hate to admit it, but I can’t help find her hallway-bedhead endearing.

I stop short with one foot in the door. “Why?”

“Because I’ve been calling himBuddy, and I don’t want to assume gender. And I have a feeling that he or she and I will become good friends, given that you are clearly as nice to live with as theBeast.”

I shake my head, so perplexed by every sentence thatcomes out of this woman’s mouth. I would usually be better with comebacks, but I’ve been trying to keep people alive for ten hours, and my senses are a little dulled. “Thor,” I say quickly, cringing. Leave it to my sister to give her dog the most ridiculous name possible. “And please stay away from my apartment—and my dog,” I add, tonelessly.

Elle doesn’t seem to notice the absurdity of the name. She barely takes a beat before she responds, “Only if you promise not to do a full-blown cardio workout at some ungodly hour today.”

“Wha—” I start to say, thinking back to last night, when I couldn’t sleep and ran on the treadmill until I couldn’t breathe. “What I do in my apartment is none of your business.”

“Maybe a run outside would be better for you. Thor might enjoy it,” she says, eyeing me knowingly. Why is this woman talking to me like she knows me? It’s very unsettling. “And it would be less disruptive to your neighbors,” she adds, raising her brows.

“It’s freezing outside,” I say. Plus, the last time I tried running outside, I wore a black hoodie and hat, and at least three people thought I was going to mug them as I rounded a corner. But I don’t tell her that part.

“I hear that’s good for your stamina,” she says.

“Is that so?” I say, condescendingly. “Do you run?”