A cat clawing against my skin that is obviously in heat.
I don’t hear my neighbor say anything—not even a grunt. Slowly my hand relaxes.
“I thought maybe I could get a little wet with you,” she says, her voice dropping down into what I’m sure she thinks is her bedroom voice. I gasp. I can’t stop myself. She said that shit to him, right in front of his son. My fist tightens up again and this time I want to claw her eyes out. I lift off my sunglasses, needing to see my neighbor’s reaction, but mostly wanting to check on his little boy.
I’m not a mother, but I’ve had a bad one and something about that little boy kind of reminds me of my brother… when he was young… when the world hadn’t changed him… when my mother hadn’t destroyed him…
I tap down the urge to swoop in and take the little boy in my arms and protect him—barely. Instead, I giggle. I do this because the man turns around and looks at her and from my angle I can see the cold steel of anger on his beautiful face.
“Back off,” he growls, the words like steel stabbing through the air.
“I just—”
“I know what you’re doing. You know what you’re doing. I’m telling you right now I’m not interested. I don’t want you in my air. So back off.”
“I… You’re in a community pool!” Sheila cries.
“You’re in my air,” he warns and there goes that giggle again.
Sheila stands there for a moment shaking her head. Finally, she makes a noise of disgust and walks away. Thankfully she doesn’t come back over here, she keeps walking back toward her house.
The giggle—still on my lips—stops almost instantly when the man turns to look at me. His brown eyes are intense, his face still stone, but different than the look he gave Sheila. I’m not sure why it feels different—but it does.
“Hi, Rory!” Ryan calls. “Watch this!” I tear my eyes away from the father to look at the son, a smile instantly stretching my lips as I watch the little boy dive off the side of the pool and belly-flop into the water making a huge splash.
“That’s awesome, Ryan,” I laugh. I hear the neighbor then, an almost growl that’s low in sound, but definitely a warning.
I jerk back around to look at him and he looks like he wants to kill me. That might sound extreme, but that’s definitely what I see coming from him. I pin him with my best fuck-you look. If he thinks he can intimidate me, the man seriously needs to think again. I come from a long line of people who tried to intimidate, belittle, and destroy me.
He’s nothing.
“You want to come swim?” Ryan asks, his voice full of hope.
I make myself get up and walk over to the edge of the pool where Ryan has perched himself. His father is still in the same spot, his eyes glued to me. I don’t have to look at him to know that’s true. I feel his heated gaze the entire time I walk toward his son. If it wasn’t for years of experience, I would have stumbled. The truth is, however, that despite the dreams and the pull I have with this man, I know he’s an enemy. I don’t know why he is, but I’m not stupid even if he might think I am. Therefore, I walk as gracefully as I can and ignore him. I bend down to touch his son’s hair. I don’t know why I feel a connection with this boy, but I do and I refuse to hurt him. I grin at him, even as I feel his father getting closer.
“I’m sorry, Ryan. I can’t. I have to go get ready for work,” I lie. It’s my day off and I really want to enjoy it by the pool, but with Ryan’s father close by there will be no enjoyment.
“Bummer,” he says, clearly disappointed.
“Yeah,” I grin. “Bummer. You have fun for me though, okay?”
“Okay, Rory!” he says and I ruffle his hair and stand back up, still ignoring Ryan’s father. I don’t look at him; I don’t speak to him. Still, I know he’s watching me. His heated gaze burns into my back the entire time I walk back to the house.4DieselFucking hell, she’s at it again.
I was under the impression that these homes were new builds. Obviously, they aren’t or at least this unit in particular is not. It’s made to look like the others, but if it’s a new build they fucking skimped on the basics—such as insulation. Every fucking night for the past two weeks I’ve lain in my bedroom while hearing my next-door neighbor in hers.
Rory.
That’s what Ryan calls her. It fits her really, matches that sass she throws around and that thick main of auburn hair. She’s the type of woman that would have challenged me, would have made me want to see if I could dominate her. The type of woman I would have enjoyed… before Vicki fucked up my life.