My Prince Next Door & Seven Reasons Why Not - #OnceUponNow

Chapter 1 - Hot Neighbor Boy

                 

Nothing keeps a girl from dating like having seven brothers. Seven loud, testosterone-filled, overprotective brothers. Guys don't even try to ask me out anymore. And I won't even get into how many girlfriends I've lost over the years because they've dated one of my brothers and it didn't work out.

Okay, fine.

Five.

Five besties—more than one a year since I was in middle school. The only one that could resist the Diaz male charm was Blair.

"They sure do have a ton of boxes," Blair says, her head poking out the other side of my curtains ostrich-like with its bird head buried in the ground. "They haven't shown up yet?"

"Nope." I pop the 'p' as I hit send on my email. "The movers have been carrying stuff in since noon." Piano, dining room table, chairs, boxes, paintings, flat screen TV, couches, more boxes—nothing that gives away anything about the inhabitants who'd soon be my neighbors.

"Maybe they're a gay couple, that'd be cool."

"Mmm-hmmm." I keep my eyes glued to my laptop and scroll through my social media.

"That'd give old Ms. Hobbs something new to complain about." Blair pauses. "Or maybe they have like a million kids like your family."

"No toys."

"What?"

"They don't have any toys, so no kids," I say, surfing the internet.

"Then they're probably old...or serial killers."

"What?" I snap my head in Blair's direction.

She shrugs then slips her head back between the curtains. "Oh, wait. We got movement—an SUV. Oh, and a dog."

Car doors slam and a dog barks outside, muffled by my window, followed by a voice yelling 'Amber."

"Well, hello there, hot neighbor boy," she says. Now that gets my full attention.

Blair's form disappears completely behind my curtains. I go over, shove aside the sheer crepe material, and peer around Blair's mass of blond curls. A couple my parents age disappear into the house while a teenage guy dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans chases what looks like an Irish Setter around the front yard. From my upstairs bedroom window, I can't make out his face, but the way he fills out his shirt gives neither of us anything to complain about.

"Do you think he'll be going to school with us in the fall?" I ask, watching him roll around on his front lawn with his dog.

"I sure hope so." Blair's gaze doesn't leave hot neighbor boy, I don't even think she blinks. "Seriously, I wish I was his dog right now."

I give a snort and elbow her in the ribs.

"What?"

"Nothing." I shake my head. "Maybe he graduated already."

"Does it matter? He's your neighbor. For the entire summer."

"So." Like my seven brother security detail will allow him to even get close enough to say hi.

"You get to ogle him any time you want." Blair finally sets her eyes on me. "I bet you could see into his bedroom window."

"Um, okay, stalker."

"I'm just saying." She gives me her usual non-committal-Blair-shrug, and we watch my new neighbor saunter into his house with Amber close on his heels. "You need to meet him."

I nibble my lower lip and stare at the neighbor's empty lawn. What would I even say to him? A guy like that probably has a girlfriend. Yep. He definitely has a girlfriend—I have no doubt. Definitely. Definitely, girlfriend—