Page 66 of Lovewell Lane

I nodded and grabbed the small binder of pictures to put back in my purse.

“What are you going to write about our picture?” Derek asked.

“I guess it’ll just be a secret,” I said. “I don’t show this to many people if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not,” he answered. I watched him grab the fully developed picture of me laughing. “I should get home. It’s late, and I need to take another shower.”

“What are you going to do with your picture of me?”

“I guess it’ll just be a secret,” he annoyingly repeated.

22

Derek

My entire life, I’d prided myself on my self control. I was the responsible brother who carried my entire family on his back when my mom died. When my father got injured and mentally checked out, I made sure my younger siblings went to school and were clothed and fed. My wife cheated on me and ran off with a rich asshole without any kids, and I just strapped in for the ride.

I never complained or struggled under the pressure. I just dealt with it.

Yet this woman living in my backyard was testing my self restraint more than anything had ever in my entire life. Margo weaseled her way into my life, wrapped her pretty little fingers around it all, and then let go. She only wanted to be friends, and I didn’t know what the hell to do with that.

We pulled back after the kiss, but hearing her say she didn’t want me out loud was like an electric shock to the heart. She only wanted to be friends. I didn’t look at my friends the way I looked at Margo. I didn’t think about them twelve hours out of every day. I wasn’t reminded of them every time I looked at my bed.

I slammed another plank of wood onto the pile I was moving. Sam walked out from where he was hiding in the office. He knew I was in a mood and knew better than to poke the bear.

“Okay, what’s going on with you? Did you and Margo get into a fight? Slick said he set you up on a date,” Sam said with a rare annoyed face.

I ignored him and continued working. “I was going to give you space, but you’re about to break our inventory. Derek, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“Nothing is wrong,” I said under my breath. Annoyance bled into my tone.

Sam walked over and stood on top of the wood I was moving while crossing his arms. He looked just like he did when we were kids, and I wasn’t playing according to his rules.

“There is no ‘Margo and Derek’, we are just friends.”

Sam uncrossed his arms. “And that’s the problem,” he said.

I nodded. “That’s the problem.”

“Maybe we need to give you a makeover. Turn your attitude around. I’m sure Margo would be more interested if you acted a little nicer and less like an unsocialized alley cat.”

I chuckled coldly at his plan. “You’re an idiot.”

“From what I’ve seen, she looks at you the same way you look at her. What’s really the problem?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Don’t know. She wants to be friends.”

He sucked in a breath. “Friend-zoned, yikes. Welcome to my world, brother.”

I set down the wood I was holding to give him a deadpan look. “Get over yourself. Lila isn’t even your friend. You just follow her around like a puppy dog.”

Sam stepped off the wood and silently walked toward the office. “Alright, asshole. Figure it out yourself then.”

Just like when we were kids. At least I was left to work in peace. Unfortunately, the peace didn’t last long because I looked out of my window out of habit and saw Margo working in her dineracross the street. A customer walked into the store a few minutes later to shake me out of my thoughts.

“Hey, Brady,” I muttered.

“Derek.” He gave me a short nod and walked down the aisles to pick out what he needed.

---