He snorts. “Okay. Remind me to never go camping with you.”
The idea of camping with him makes me feel hot. I pull my shirt away from my stomach to cool myself down. “I can handle camping. There aren’t any elevators in the wilderness.”
His gaze lowers, landing on my stomach. I realize the way I’m holding my shirt looks like I’m about to take it off. I let go, clearing my throat while I pat my shirt back into place. He turns his head away, his ears turning pink.
“I can’t believe I’ve avoided the elevator all this time just to get stuck in it again.”
“You really haven’t been in here since then?”
I shake my head. “I take the stairs.”
He looks at the button for the third floor, which is still illuminated. “Two flights of stairs twice a day? You never get sick of that?”
I shrug, gesturing around us. “I feel like I would get sick of this a lot faster.”
“True,” he says. “I’ve heard I’m pretty intolerable.”
I smack his arm. “That’s not what I meant.”
He pulls his arm away, acting like I’ve hurt him. “Ouch!”
I laugh. “That did not hurt.”
“Yeah, it did. You’re stronger than you look.” He points at the elevator doors. “I bet you could pry them open.”
I roll my eyes. I hand him my coffee cup, then step up to the doors and attempt to pull them apart. I already know that it’s not going to work. I tried this last time.
“Nope,” I say, taking my coffee back. “Guess I need to hit the gym more often.”
“Nah. You don’t need the gym. Just do a hand-stand your whole way up the stairs every day. You’ll be strong enough in no time.”
I almost snort out my coffee. “That would be a sight to see.” I check the time on my phone. “Ugh. How long has it been?”
I take another sip of my coffee, which I regret, because I have to pee, and I’m not doing myself any favors by putting more liquid in my body. I lower myself to the floor and sit with my legs crossed in front of me. He sits down next to me. I suck in a breath. His closeness makes me forget how much I hate the elevator, if only for a moment.
I notice that he seems calm, like he’s not anxious to get out of here like I am.
“So,” he says. I turn to look at him, waiting for him to continue. The corner of his mouth tilts up. I pull my gaze away from his mouth to meet his eyes, which are fixed on mine. My breath catches. “I heard you and your friend talking about me.”
My face heats as I remember everything that Anne said. I’m afraid to know how much he heard, but I have to ask. “What exactly did you hear?”
He smiles. “I heard you have a loud neighbor.”
I wish I could hide. If he heard that, then he definitely heard everything else.
“Can I see your phone?” he asks.
I pass it to him. “Why?”
“So that I can give you my number.”
He starts typing in his contact information. I look over his shoulder. He puts himself in as ‘Hot Neighbor’.
I roll my eyes. “A little full of yourself, aren’t you?”
He shrugs as he hands my phone back. “Just accepting the title I’ve been given.”
I send him a text message, and to my surprise it goes through despite the terrible signal in this elevator. “There. Now you have my number too.”
