But He's My Grumpy Neighbor (But He's a Carter Brother #1)

by Annah Conwell

Right as I’m taking a sip of my morning tea, a loud crash pierces the air, making me startle, and my tea slosh out of my mug and onto my shirt. “Why me?” I hear a familiar feminine voice whine and without thinking, I rush down my deck stairs, abandoning my mug on the railing. I jog in the direction of the crash but stumble to a halt when Juliette comes into view. She’s frowning down at my tipped-over trashcan, her arms crossed over her chest. Her beige satin pajamas shimmer in the light as she shifts from foot to foot. Does she always look this unbelievably soft? A look of determination washes over her and she bends down to grab the edge of the trashcan. Her face scrunches up as she attempts to lift the mostly-full can off the ground. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from chuckling. “Juliette,” I say and she jumps, dropping the trashcan, getting more debris on my driveway in the process. “Adrian,” she breathes out and an unwelcome tingle skips down my spine. “I am so sorry, did I wake you up?” Her green eyes rove over me. “Oh, you went on a run around the lake. I’m glad I didn’t wake you, but I feel so bad. The trash truck is about to come and I noticed you hadn’t brought yours down yet, so I thought maybe you didn’t know that Friday is pickup day. I didn’t want to knock on your door so early so I thought I would get it for you, but it fell over when it hit a crack in the driveway. Now there’s trash everywhere, but don’t worry I’ll clean it up! I just can’t seem to ge...