Page 24 of Dad Next Door
“I’m surprised there hasn’t been an uprising.”
“I’m about to lead the charge.” She rested her hand on the doorknob. “But until then, I’ll have to settle for crashing here.”
“You know you’re always welcome.”
“I know.” She flashed me a smile. “See you tomorrow.”
“Text me when you get home.”
When the door closed behind her, I went back to the kitchen.
It was Thursday, and I’d just gotten off a ten-day stretch of work. The only saving grace was that I had the entire weekend off and would be able to spend it with Leo.
I hated that I only got to see him every other week but add in my unpredictable work schedule and I lost more of my already limited time with my son.
At least he had Lydia when I couldn’t be here. I hated that she had to step in and be Leo’s de facto parent when she’d made the choice to not have children of her own, but I would be forever grateful that she loved my son enough to step up and give him some stability.
Tiredly, I put the paper I’d left on the counter away so none of the pets got ahold of it, using one hand so I didn’t disturb Jinx.
It wasn’t late, only around ten, but I was too tired to do anything that required thinking.
With a sigh, and still using one hand, I grabbed a beer out of the fridge, then carried Jinx into the pet room, which was what I’d turned the formal dining room into after my divorce. Extending my arm, I rested it on one of the cat towers.
Jinx scurried up onto my shoulder, then down my arm and onto the tower. Our black cat popped her head out of one of the cubbies and looked up at him.
Jinx bopped her on the head to entice her to play with him.
She stuck her head back in the cubby and curled up to go back to sleep.
Jinx looked at me incredulously, like he couldn’t believe his sister would rather nap than play.
“Sorry, buddy. Looks like you’ll have to find someone else to have zoomies with.”
He hopped down onto the platform Mili’s cubby was on, bopped her through the opening, then took off like the brat he was.
Mili burst out of her cubby and chased Jinx out of the room. Shadow, our Siamese, jumped out of the bed he’d curled up in and raced after them.
“Or you could just do that.” Chuckling at their antics, I made my way to my room.
The house was set up like a typical ranch, with bedrooms on either end of the building and the living area in the center. My room and the nursery, which was now my office, were on one side. Leo’s room, the one I’d set up for Lydia, and a spare room were on the other side of the house.
I’d never liked the layout of the house or that Leo’s room was so far from mine, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it now.
The only part of the house I truly liked, other than the location and the land, was the private balcony that ran along the back of the house and could only be accessed through my room.
Needing to relax, I slipped onto the balcony and breathed in the fresh air.
Lights drew my attention to Quinn’s property.
His backyard was far different from mine. I had a small patch of grass, our garden, the sheds, and lots of woods.
Quinn’s backyard had been designed for entertaining, although I’d never seen the previous owner host any sort of gathering.
The deck was massive and sectioned off into distinct areas. On the far side of the house was an outdoor kitchen with an in-ground barbeque pit. Next to that was a seating area with couches and chairs clustered around an ornate stone fireplace. Tucked in the corner closest to my house was a hot tub that used to be obscured by a pergola, but Quinn and his friends had torn the pergola down and installed an open canopy with a removable cover and lots of lights that could be set to flash along with music, on their own, or work like normal lighting.
My breath caught as my gaze settled on Quinn in his hot tub. The jets were off, the lights were on, and the canopy was open, giving me an unobstructed view of him in all his glory.
I should go. Peeping on my neighbor while he was relaxing in his hot tub was peak creepy, but my feet wouldn’t listen to my brain and stayed rooted in place.