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Derek heard the knock on the door across the hall and buried his face in his book and groaned. Not again.
He set the book down, grabbed his wallet, and stormed to the front door. Sure enough, the pizza delivery guy was standing in front of his neighbor’s door for the fourth time that month.
Said neighbor–a stupidly cute guy about Derek’s height with messy brown hair and a smattering of moles–was once again arguing with the delivery guy. “No, man, I didn’t order any pizza.”
“I have a large mushroom and sausage for 4B,” the guy drawled.
“I guarantee you, man, it’s for 4D,” Cute Neighbor said, and then he spotted Derek. “Look! There he is!”
It should not have made Derek’s heart double-thump the way it did, but. Well. Derek was allowed to have a crush.
“That’ll be eleven twenty-seven,” the delivery guy continued, like he hadn’t heard a word. “Do you want to leave a tip?”
Derek cleared his throat. “That’s my pizza.”
The delivery guy jerked his head up, frowned at Derek, and then frowned down at his receipt. “Nah, man, it says 4B.”
Cute Neighbor pretended to bash his head on the doorjamb. “No, it doesn’t, because I literally never order pizza from you.”
“I ordered the damn pizza.” Derek waved his wallet. “See? Money!”
The delivery guy continued to frown at his receipt. “But is says 4B.”
“Look man, no offense, but your pizza is terrible,” Cute Neighbor said. “I always order from Joe Momma’s up the road, because not only does my buddy Scott work there and I need to support him, but they have the best pizza in town. So there is no way that is supposed to say 4B. It’s 4D.”
“Bullshit,” Derek said before he could stop himself. “Joe Momma’s is fine, but it’s not the best pizza in town.”
“Yeah, you’ve ordered from Lenny’s four times this month.” Cute Neighbor snorted. “Forgive me if I don’t trust your judgement on delivery pizza.”
Derek stalked over from his door to get the pizza. “This? This is the pizza that got me through grad school. ”
Cute Neighbor’s gaze swept over him. “I have a hard time believing that.”
Derek’s eyes went wide, because what. “Did you just–”
Cute Neighbor turned splotchy pink and backed toward his door. “I mean, uh, you look like you’re really in shape and you usually, like, eat healthy so I highly doubt you survived that long on bad delivery pizza and oh my God I’m just gonna go.”
“Wait!” Derek put his hand on the door before Cute Neighbor could close it. “Um, do you want to try the best pizza in town sometime?”
Cute Neighbor gaped at him. He had a very pretty mouth. Derek didn’t need to think about that right now. Nope.
“Dude, whose pizza is this?” the delivery guy said.
For God’s sake. Derek grabbed a twenty from his wallet and shoved it at him. “There you go. Keep the change.”
The delivery guy bobbed his head and sauntered back to the elevator, and Derek turned back to Cute Neighbor, who was still gaping at him.
Derek shifted his pizza to one arm and held out his hand. “I’m Derek, by the way. I probably should have started with that.”
“Were you asking me on a date?” Cute Neighbor blurted.
Derek’s neck heated up like he’d been sunburned. “Yes. If you’re interested. If not, don’t worry about it, I’ll just–”
“No! I mean, yes, I am. I’m definitely interested.” Cute Neighbor grabbed his hand. “I’m Stiles. And I would love to try the best pizza in town with you.”
Derek shook his hand, felt his face melt in a smile. “Or do you want to come over to my place and share a shitty delivery pizza and some beer right now?”
Stiles beamed. “That sounds even better.”