Boy Next Door ✔

chapter thirty

C A L E B 

Mateo and I walked all the way back to his place - and we had walked to campus, too. Because obviously Mateo was concerned about saving the environment and said that it would be better if we used our feet. To which I teased him about his potential foot fetish, even if it didn't really make sense. Safe to say, I earned myself a few slaps and smacks here and there.

We spent the rest of our time at home chatting and getting to know each other a little better while putting away the rest of his clothes which were still thrown all over his couch - while, of course, Chase Atlantic blared in the background.

Like promised, that day at half past midnight, Dustin showed up at Mateo's place to hand me my key-card and left abruptly after that after giving me a teasing look, which I wholeheartedly ignored. And now, I was left alone with Mateo once again. 

"So.." I began, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "Thanks for letting me crash at your place.. and for helping me take down my notes. I'll give you your notebook back after copying the notes onto my laptop."

"That's okay, you can keep it," he offered, leaning against his door-frame with a hesitant look on his face. "You know, you're pretty decent company for someone who's a loser imbecile."

"Will you let that go?" I scoffed, shaking my head at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not going to elaborate, I'll just leave it on that appropriate boast to roast ratio," he responded, crossing his arms across his chest and shooting me a half-smile. 

"I'll return your clothes to you tomorrow after washing them," I said, tugging at the sleeves of the shirt I was wearing sheepishly. "Thanks for everything, again. I'll see you around."

"See you around," he parroted before continuing. "Hey, hold on. Just confirming, your favourite genre of music is R&B, right?" I nodded in confusion and he shot me a quick smile. "Alright then, bye-bye!"

I shrugged his suspicious behaviour off and turned around to walk to my room, humming to myself. I opened my door with my key-card which felt like an alien object after not having seen or felt it in what seemed like forever and made my way into my humble abode with a satisfied sigh. 

"Finally," I said to myself before setting aside my phone and the notebook Mateo had given me on the desk nearby before sauntering over to my bed and plopping down onto it. Right after I had done so, I let out the most satisfied sigh ever. It had been so long since I'd been in the comfort of my own bed. 

And just like that, I ended up falling asleep. However, somewhere around half past two or three in the morning, I couldn't remember because I was still half-asleep, I was awoken by music yet again. Yet, this time it wasn't Chase Atlantic. It was another artist I recognized. When the situation completely registered into my brain, I scurried onto the spare bed which was closer to the wall and pressed my ear against the wall out of curiosity, even though the music was already loud enough for the entire building to hear. 

"Oh my God," I whispered to myself, a demure smile finding its place on my face when I fully comprehended the situation. 

That smooth little fucker was playing R&B music.