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I hung up before explaining to my big brother that I had given his best friend the most incredible homecoming gift in history. Although, by the sound of it, he wasn’t as impressed as I was.
Griggs and I had a secret; we were madly in love in high school. Raith had one too, or so he thought, but I found out about his ultimatum for Griggs a month after he left Cherry Grove and me.
He also left me brokenhearted, and I never got over him. I simply made one wrong decision after the other once I came to terms that Griggs wasn’t coming home again.
Now, there’s no way I can tell my brother or Griggs because it would hurt them both, but it would ruin their friendship and possibly forever. Sometimes, the past is best left there.
Although now that Griggs and I have had our risqué run-in, I’m not so sure that’s possible for us. Ghosts aren’t always invisible, and we have a past with many of them.
“But I mean, what could it hurt to finally know how many tattoos are on his body and what I could do with the knowledge of his piercings and their precise placement.” My face flushes, and once again, I tighten my thighs with Griggs dancing around in my mind’s eye.
Chapter 4
Griggs
I worked through the night, non-stop, to make this place presentable for the open house. Why I didn’t hire it out, I’ll never know. It’s probably because I’ve never done it on my own and had no clue how tiring it is to set up a home.
Last night, my buddy Raith called me and invited me over for dinner tomorrow evening. It’ll be nice to catch up, so today, I’m going to make a grocery run. I grab my keys from the hall table and head to the truck. I’m brought up short when I spot my neighbor walking from her mailbox.
“Hey, there.” I smile with a wave. “How are you?”
When her gaze locks with mine, it knocks the breath from me. Her smile widens as she waves. “Hey, there, neighbor. How’s the staging coming along?”
“Almost done; you’ll have to come over and give me your opinion on the set-up.” What in the hell am I saying? This isn’t an episode of House Hunters; besides, she already has a home, so just ask her out already.
She lingers in her driveway before answering me. “Sure, that sounds great, but it’ll have to be after I run to the school.”
“School? Are you going back to college?” Please tell me you’re modeling for the frat calendar because I would buy the entire lot from them.
“Not me,” she tilts her head. “Mia and Taylor start preschool this week. That’s if Taylor doesn’t play escape from Alcatraz with the locals.”
There it is. The head tilt that owned me my whole life, even when we were her kid's age, it’s all she ever had to do to get me to agree with her about anything. My chest tightens and fills with the heaviness I knew would eventually come; I’m sure her ex will be around to see this with her.
“Ah, yes, of course.” I drag in a deep breath and raise my head again. “I wish them well.”
“The twins or the teachers?” She winces.
“Touché.” I watch her eyes sparkle when she talks about her children; she’s in her element and shines every time.
She moves closer to me but not close enough for me. “I hate doing it, but the extra time I’ll get to work now will definitely come in handy. They keep growing, and so do the bills.”
“I can’t imagine; I know my parents kept saying I was gonna make them go broke just buying food when I was growing up.” This is the conversation I could’ve waited on having with her. I simply don’t want to hear about her ex-husband, and it’s gonna take a lot more time by the apparent ache in my soul that I’m feeling right now. Ouch!
She wanders into my driveway, making her way over to me. “Most days, I’m okay with handling everything, but I’m finding it harder as they grow to stay on top of it all. I feel like the worst mom ever.”
“I don’t see it; I think you’re incredible.” I can’t help myself and inhale her delicious scent as she gets closer; she smells like strawberries and champagne, crazy. But what’s even more insane is the peace she brought with her; it’s overwhelming.
“Maybe, but I believe you just don’t see it. How did our mothers make it look so easy?” She touches my hand and quickly removes it.
“I’m not sure, but I know you’re amazing; Mia and Taylor are lucky to have you.” I bite my lip when I realize she’s watching my mouth; her lips part, and I find it intoxicating and sexy as hell.
The tip of her tongue sweeps over her mouth. “Oh yeah, I forgot I have something I need to do, so I better go.”
With that, she spins around and hightails it back to her house like she’s stealing my newspaper or something. I haven’t moved from where she left me, still trying to figure out what the tension is between us.
“That woman’s gonna be the death of me; I just know it.” I run my hand over my face to gather myself in hopes of calming down. Hunter makes my blood boil in all the right ways, and sooner or later, I’m going to blow.
As I hit Highway Seventeen just as the school buses crowd the road, I guess I should’ve paid better attention to the time than my neighbor.
