Love Next Door (Lakeside 1)

Tucker shakes his head. “You don’t need to do that; ’sides, it’ll take forever for them to get here. I can walk. I’m only a couple miles down the road.”

“I’d feel better if I knew you made it home okay.” I place the order and wait with him at the end of the driveway for the car to arrive. Of course it’s someone he knows. He gets in the front seat instead of the back and gives me a wave before they head toward town.

I make my way down the driveway, toward Dillion’s trailer. I’m about twenty feet away when she opens the door and tips her head to the side, looking confused about why I’m coming from the top of her driveway.

I thumb over my shoulder. “I sent Tucker the Fucker home in an Uber.”

“Oh.” She crosses her arms and bites her bottom lip. “That was good of you. I probably should’ve thought of that.”

I stop a few feet away, assessing her posture and how tense she seems. “You okay? He didn’t do anything to make you uncomfortable, did he? Because I can go kick his ass if he did.”

Dillion chuckles and drops her arms. “No, he didn’t try anything, and I don’t honestly think it would be a fair fight, since he’s still half-hammered.”

“He smelled like whiskey.”

“That’s because he polished off a flask on his way over.” Dillion exhales loudly and rubs the space between her eyes.

“You want to talk about it? He seemed like he was pretty beat down.”

“Basically his life is a mess. His girlfriend and I used to be friends in high school.” She makes a face. “Not really friends. More like frenemies. Anyway, she had a thing for him back then, and I guess she never stopped having a thing for him. They got together at a party a couple years ago, and now they have a baby. I don’t know all the details, but from what he said, she’s been cheating on him for a while and the baby isn’t even his, so it’s kind of a cluster and he’s right in the middle of it.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Small-town drama is real.” She twists one of her curls around her finger. “Anyway, I’m running behind because I was dealing with his meltdown. I need to grab a shower before dinner, if you’re still up for it.”

“Absolutely.” I take another step forward, and she takes one back.

“I don’t smell all that fresh.”

“I don’t mind if you don’t.” I link my pinkie with hers and step up so I’m in her personal space. And that’s when I get a full view of the inside of the trailer. “Holy shit, Dillion, it looks like it rained inside here last night.”

“I left the windows open, and there are a few leaks. It could be worse, though.”

“Not by much.” The mattress isn’t even on the bed, and there’s a huge watermark on the wooden platform. It also smells dank, like old wet stuff. “You can’t stay here.”

She waves her hand around in the air, like it’s not a big deal. “I’ll sleep in my brother’s old room until it dries out.”

I point to my chest. “I happen to have a great bed that I’d be willing to share.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Absolutely. It even comes with orgasms. And postorgasm spooning.” I waggle my eyebrows, hoping it will make her laugh.

She chuckles. “Orgasms and spooning? What more could a girl ask for?”

An hour later Dillion has moved her toiletries and a few outfits over to my place, citing that as soon as the trailer is dried out and she’s patched all the holes, she’s moving back to her place. I leave her to shower on her own, aware that she’ll be sleeping beside me tonight, and I’ve already promised orgasms and spooning, so there’s no need to rush things.

She pulls on a pair of jeans and a loose tank, and we climb into Grammy Bee’s old truck.

It takes a few tries to get the engine to turn over. “Any suggestions as to where we should eat?”

It’s not as though we have a huge array of choices. She taps her lip, thinking for a moment. “How about Casual Affair? It’s a couple of steps up from the diner and has better food than the bar. Everything is homemade, so the options are limited, but if you’re into home cooking, it’s honestly the best place in town.”

“I’m game.”

I’m more than happy to try something new. I don’t have a ton of memories of my mom, but she used to make me breakfast every morning and always made fun dinners, like homemade mini pizzas, since my dad often worked long hours. After she passed, our nanny took over making meals for us. She made sandwiches on some ridiculously healthy whole grain seed bread that was gluten- and basically taste-free. I’m hoping this will be different. And better tasting.