Lauren, raking rock nearby, gave me a look of long-suffering, but I had a feeling she purposely chose the kind of torture that allowed her to hang out with her older brother and his cute friend.
I glanced over at Connor, who had kept himself extremely busy ever since our side of the house interaction. He wouldn’t work within ten feet of me, or even look at me. I had embarrassed him by mentioning his childhood crush on Felicia Rae Gomez, and enjoyed it thoroughly, and if he knew what else his siblings had revealed about him, he might actually die of humiliation. Apparently, he’d been quite the geek in high school, despite his strong build and his success on the football field. I lapped up every story they had to tell.
But maybe it wasn’t embarrassment keeping Connor away from me. Maybe it was the way our interactions always turned a bit flirty. With Natalya as my best friend, he probably preferred to keep his distance from us both.
Parker and I tried tugging the tree out, and this time it gave way with a mighty snap of dead tree roots and a spray of dirt. Unfortunately, summer wasn’t a good time to plant trees. We’d have to wait until fall to replace the thing. But I could be content with grass and flowers for now.
Working as a team, we accomplished more than I’d ever imagined. By the time we broke for lunch, the lawn was seeded and watered, the flower bed was all planted, and the gravel had been tamed into its own section behind the cement curbing.
Parker gathered up the plant containers and seed bags and took them to the trash can by the curb. “We’re gonna bail, Connor. Glad you’re not the eyesore of the neighborhood anymore.”
“Yes, it all looks nice,” my mom said, smoothing over Parker’s dig. “I’m going home, too. Well, unless you still need me.” She glanced between me and Connor and smiled. “But I’m sure you two can take it from here.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I pleaded with my eyes for her to not insinuate anything further, which only made her smile bigger. “He’s a cute one,” she whispered when I hugged her goodbye.
“Not happening,” I whispered back.
My words couldn’t have been truer. Connor escaped inside his door the second she pulled away from the curb. No wave, no parting words between us. Nothing.
I called for Sarge and Buster, who were happily sniffing the new yard and trying to drink from the sprinklers without getting sprayed in the face. They needed their water bowls and some air conditioning.
“Come on, guys.” I stalked into my side of the duplex and took care of them before heading into the shower, feeling broody. Connor’s avoidance today bothered me. Yeah, he was embarrassed about the yard. And he didn’t want to spend time with the best friend of his ex-girlfriend. Both of those things were understandable, and yet I was still ticked off.
I had the rest of my day off ahead of me, and Connor knew it. He’d bailed faster than a man in a sinking boat, afraid I’d try to take more of his time and space without anyone else there as a buffer. The thought of spending time with me was abhorrent to him.
I should invite Natalya over just to make things that much more awkward. And have a picnic on his doorstep.
Instead, I dressed, teased my curls, put on a cute sundress, and dodged the sprinklers that were hitting the porch as I walked over to his door. I had no plan. I was just fueled by a lot of dumb stubbornness and free time.
Connor’s blond roommate answered after two knocks, wearing sweats and a Beatles T-shirt. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I’m not going to stop practicing so you can just…” He made a shooing motion with his hand. “Go back to your place.”
“Stop practicing what?”
“The drums?” He moved aside so I could see his bongos in the corner of their living room. Right. Without the microphone trained on them, the noise didn’t carry through the wall. While we were working on the yard all morning, he must have been in here banging on those. How nice of him.
“I’m not here about the bongos.”
“Oh.” He seemed to take in my appearance for the first time. “You’re actually quite attractive. I don’t know what Connor was talking about.”
“What now?”
He scratched the back of his head and looked behind him, like he was hoping for backup that wasn’t there. “I just thought… you know what? Never mind. Would you like to come in? Are you hungry? I was about to make a smoothie.”
“Where’s Connor?” He’d told his roommate I wasn’t attractive? Maybe I did need to invest in a spider farm. Jerk. Worst neighbor ever. Girl-avoiding loser.
“He’s in the shower. I’ll let him know you stopped by.”
A door clicked open down the hall, and seconds later, Connor walked into the front room, towel drying his dark hair and whistling. He had on a fresh T-shirt and basketball shorts.
The second he saw me at the door, the whistling stopped and he froze. “Melissa.”
“Connor.” My voice was not friendly, and he eyed me cautiously as he slid his feet into a pair of Nike slides. Tossing the towel he’d been holding on the arm of his couch, he came to the door and stepped out. “Let’s go to lunch. Bye, Rob.”
“Where are you two—?”
Connor shut the door firmly, cutting off the rest of Rob’s question.
“We’re going to lunch?” I asked.
