Page 13 of The Red Zone
Mae and I shared an uncomfortable glance, silently agreeing that their shameless affection was our cue to dish out our goodbyes and a faux-friendly “thanks for inviting us” partings before seeing ourselves out the front door.
“Do you need me to walk you across the street?” I offered as we neared the end of the driveway. “I wouldn’t want those—what did you call them?—heathens grabbing hold of you. In case you haven’t heard, this neighborhood isn’t exactly the safe haven you think it is,” I chided, as a security patrol golf cart cruised by us and the two middle-aged night guards gave us a passing wave.
“Fuck off.” She raised both middle fingers for my viewing pleasure as she stormed toward her yard.
“Fun sparring with you as always, March baby,” I taunted, as I watched her stomp up her front porch steps. “I’m already looking forward to our next.”
“I still hate you,” she barked back, slamming her enormous wooden front door behind her so hard her summer wreath nearly fell off the hook.
With a pompous smile pulling at my lips as I grabbed my phone from my pocket to pull up a ride share app.
“Likewise,” I mumbled to no one but myself.
FIVE
MAE
I had successfully survivedtwenty days of October living in my backyard without catching a murder charge. Which was a pleasant surprise, to say the least.
What I found to be even more surprising, was that our arrangement hadn’t beennearlyas agonizing as I’d envisioned it being.
So far, he’d been quiet. He routinely parked in his designated spot in the driveway. And to my knowledge, he hadn’t snuck any of his usual bed warming League wife want-to-be’s into the pool house.
In fact, aside from infrequent sightings of him out the window, I’d hardly seen him since dropping off the keys on move in day—let alone had a conversation with him.
Overall, the entire arrangement had been fairly ideal. Well, as ideal as having your childhood nemesis living in your backyard could be, that is.
Today, however, there was something deep inside my bones wanted the satisfaction of annoying October. I mean, it was my birthday after all and I was deserving of a little birthday treat, right?
There was one thing and one thing only on my agenda for the night: get belligerently drunk off of celebratory champagne. In doing so, l hoped to wipe any and all memories of the tatted jock who lived in my backyard, and his, albeit faint, presence in my day-to-day life. So, I needed to get my fix before the party.
Tonight, he would be cooped up in the pool house playing video games—or whatever the hell he did when he was home alone on a Friday night—while I’d be out drinking the night away with friends at my “surprise” twenty-fifth birthday party.
Although, it wasn’t much of a surprise since Scarlett accidentally left a copy of the booking confirmation for the luxury yacht rental on the printer in my office. If she wanted to pull one over on me, she should’ve elicited the help of our best friend, Lea. The girl was as clever as the devil and twice as sneaky.
My sweet, yet oblivious sister was none the wiser I’d caught on to her plans, so I was going to have to put on the performance of the lifetime to convince her otherwise. In fact, I’d spent the better half of twenty minutes practicing my surprise gasp in the mirror this morning. But I was starting to think that the more I practiced, the less believable I became.
Oh well.
I had a few hours to kill before the girls arrived to get ready. And I was determined to have ateeny tiny bitof fun with October in the meantime.
If that was a crime… sue me.
I was already planning to spend a few hours by the pool this afternoon, when I heard October’s car pull into the driveway and an idea came to mind. Like I said, normally, I’d avoid interacting with him at all costs, but today I had a plan up my sleeve, and as long as he played along, it would all go… swimmingly.
My flip-flops snapped against the hardwood stairs as I bounced down the steps in a bright blue two piece. Pulling the sunglasses off of my head, I slid them onto my face as I winded my way through the living area, dodging the circular coffee table in the middle of the room.
The mid-day Miami heat hit my cheeks as I opened and closed the back door, stepping into the backyard. Fanning my face with a hand, I ambled over to take a spot on one of the chaise loungers, leaning my head back against the headrest with closed eyes, soaking in the sun’s rays as they warmed my skin.
In the distance, I heard the beeps of October locking his truck, which was soon followed by the sound of the white gate across the yard rattling open.
“You out here waiting for me?” He wore a conceited grin as he walked through the opening, letting the gate door slam shut behind him. “Must be my lucky day.”
“Yes, actually. If you must know, I’m turning over a new leaf.”
“Ahhh, tell me more. I’m dying to hear all about it,” October chided as he crossed the backyard and took up shop right in front of me.
He was wearing a black t-shirt so soaked with sweat that it clung to his torso, accentuating the outline of his abs. The cotton around the armholes stretched to accommodate his muscles, though I’d imagine most people’s attention were drawn to his double sleeve tattoos instead Even his tawny brown hair appeared disheveled and desperately needed a wash.
