I smile down at Dalton and wink, before turning my attention back to Kent. “Nice to see you again, Kent.” I nod, then gesture toward Teddy’s duplex then. “Is uh, is Teddy alright?”
“Oh, yeah, she’s fine. Colleen and I came over to spend the weekend with them and sent her out for a girl’s night last night.”
“Did she not come home?” I ask, trying my best to keep the concern in my voice contained. The last time she was drunk, I’d had to drive her home because she was too drunk to drive. The woman has the alcohol tolerance of a damn squirrel.
Having her next to me on the bench seat that night, barely a foot separating us, her scent filling the small cab of my truck for the duration of that drive… it had been akin to torture. She’d been happy that night, buzzed and giggly and her light, tinkling laughter had wound itself around the stone that has been my heart for decades. Thank God it was dark in the cab of my truck, because I’d barely been able to keep my eyes off of her.
Fingers fisted tightly around the wheel, I’d reminded myself over and over again that I was driving her home; home to herhusband. She was married, dammit; happily, blissfully married.
And not to me.
“Oh no, we sent her to a hotel to get away for the night. She just called, she and her girlfriends are heading out for breakfast before she comes home,” he says, ruffling Dalton’s hair, yanking me out of the memory. “I figured I’d get this lawn whipped up before she gets back. One less thing for her to worry about.”
I’ve always liked this man, and I like him even more now. I breathe a little easier, knowing she wasn’t out trying to drive drunk, and had at least a few people looking out for her while I was gone. That tightness in my chest eases, though it’s replaced quickly with an emotion I’m not sure I want to put a name to. An emotion I’ve been shoving down for years.
Shifting the pack on my shoulder, I nod over to the lawn mower. “Let me put my stuff away, and I can do that for you. I know my lawn is a mess right now, too. I can just do them both at the same time, and you can spend more time with your grandkids.”
“No offense, son, but you look dead on your feet,” Kent mutters dryly and I can’t help the scoffing laugh that escapes me. I rub the back of my neck with one hand. I know as soon as I stop moving, I’m going to pass out hard, and my neck is sore as fuck. But I want to do this for Teddy.
“I really don’t mind,” I insist.
Kent nods then. “Alright, lawn’s all yours, son.”
Dalton follows me as I walk into my duplex to set my pack down, and I make a quick walk through to open windows. The duplex is stuffy after being closed up for two weeks in the August heat. I change hastily out of my gear and into a pair of athletic shorts and a t-shirt, sliding my feet into a pair of worn sneakers. Dalton remains by the door, waiting, and then I squeeze his shoulder as we exit. “Ready, champ?”
He beams a smile up at me and nods. And we get to work.
I may be a little hungover this morning, but the last twenty-four hours have been exactly what I needed. Nothing that a hot shower, maybe an Aspirin, and the rest of this absolutely giant coffee from The Nook can’t fix. Oh, and lots of water.
I’d left Vi and Scottie after hugging them both on the sidewalk outside of The Nook and thanked them for an amazing girl’s night. We made the promise to hang out again soon, even if it’s just meeting up at one of our houses for wine and adult girl talk. I’m refreshed—despite the slight hangover—and I feel ready to take on the world.
It’s really incredible what good friendships can do for your soul. And I’m so insanely blessed to get to say both of those women are my friends, but more than that, they’re family. My sisters from other misters.
I’m singing along to the radio when I turn down my street, feeling lighter than I have in months. And then I spot it from halfway down the block; Xander’s black pick-up truck in his side of the driveway.
He’s been gone two weeks.
Butterflies—or maybe they’re big awkward pelicans becausethey seem to take up a lot of space in my chest—take flight in my middle. I haven’t seen him since the morning that he’d left…and I’m not entirely sure I’m ready, now. Nerves make me jittery.
Okay. I’m fine. I can do this.It’s just Xander.
Xander… who apparently has heard my ‘self care’ and knows that I think about him when I do it.
Oh god. I’m going to die of humiliation.
Glancing at my reflection in the rearview mirror, I breathe a sigh of relief that my hair isn’t a flyaway mess, and that I’d at least put on a little bit of makeup before we’d gone out for breakfast. My clothes are comfy and altogether not sexy; I’d packed my favorite pair of coral pink biker shorts and had pulled on a white, oversized tunic top where one shoulder hangs halfway down my arm, leaving my shoulder and upper arm bare.
My jaw drops open when I get closer though, and I’m not entirely sure I remain breathing.
Good lord… hot neighbor is right.It really should be illegal to be that attractive.
He could cause an accident with that body on display like that.
I slowly pull into my side of the driveway, parking next to Colleen and Kent’s car, if only to get a better look at what is happening in the front yard.
The majority of the front lawn is cut, just a couple strips left remain horribly overgrown as Xander pushes the mower. His shirtless, bare upper body and torso are deeply tanned, rippling with hard muscles and dripping sweat in the late summer heat. He has a pair of black basketball shorts slung low on his hips, the band of his underwear visible just above them, and dirty, grass stained sneakers cover his feet. His dark, thick hair is damp with sweat and keeps falling over his brow.
He glances over at me, those intense, ice blue eyes meeting mine from across the yard and I can’t help the blush that stainsmy cheeks. I drop my gaze from his quickly, my heart racing frantically in my chest, and I turn the engine off before grabbing my overnight bag from the passenger seat. Sucking in a deep, calming breath, I step out of the minivan. The sound of the mower cuts off and my gaze raises to him again. I blush hotly all over as he walks toward me.
