Page 14 of Rogue Wave

I heard Vivi behind me ask me where I was going and to wait for her, but I was a woman on a mission. A full-blown karma mission.

I stomped loudly—for extra effect—up Dougie’s porch stairs and made a beeline for Hank. “You know what, Hank? You suck.”

His eyebrows lifted to the sky, but the rest of his body never even flinched, and his voice was calm as ever. “Nice to see you too, Hazel. What exactly did I do wrong?”

I shoved the ticket that had been crumpled in my hand in front of him as I yelled, “I can’t even enjoy a night out anymore without you finding a way to ticket me! All I wanted was to enjoy a peaceful girls’ night out with my best friend, and you had me ticketed and towed my car.”

I ended that last statement with an insufferable growl, and my words may or may not have been slightly slurred. I wanted to stomp my foot in protest too, but I was feeling a little tipsy and needed both feet on the ground for stability.

He gazed at the ticket, which was now in his hand. “You parked in front of a fire hydrant.”

It was a statement, not a question, but his tone implied that he either didn’t know that or had completely forgotten about the incident.

“Technically, I was a few feet down from it, but that clearly doesn’t matter to you,” I huffed.

His response was just to blink at me.

That was it.

It had to be the alcohol. That had to be the explanation for my visceral and very carnal reaction to this man I shouldn’t want to like. More than a decade of unsuccessful relationships with men should have curbed this desire.

And yet it didn’t.

Grrr. Frustrated, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Every time I’m around you, I don’t know whether to kiss you or kick you, but I get the feeling you’d hate both of those. And even though I feel like it would be a win-win situation for me, I’m not gonna piss off my neighbor any more than I already have because you’d probably arrest me.”

I threw my hands up in exasperation. Why the hell couldn’t Hank be more like Dougie, or George, or Dottie—friendly, non-asshole neighbors? Or hell, even his dog, Shadow. She was sweet and friendly and clearly felt the same as me right now because she was lying on the porch at Hank’s feet, sighing loudly—obviously fed up with Hank’s antics as well.

Dougie cleared his throat and put a big smile on his face, like he was enjoying the hell out of this. “I’m your neighbor, and you haven’t pissed me off. You’re welcome to kiss me anytime you want.”

Hank growled at him before turning to me. “I’m not the bad guy here. Someone else gave you this ticket.”

“Yeah, probably because you told them to.” I threw my hands up again. “You haven’t given me a ticket in three days, and it was probably causing you to break out in a rash.”

I heard Vivi’s snort from behind me as well as the chuckle from Dougie.

“I’ll take care of it,” Hank said, shocking the ever-loving hell out of me, but before I could say anything back, Dougie sat up in his chair and stared off at Vivi with a deep intensity.

“Hazel, you gonna introduce us to your friend?” Dougie asked, shining his biggest smile over at my best friend behind me.

I was a little caught off guard by the request, so I stumbled through the introduction.

“Umm…yeah. Dougie, this is my best friend, Vivi Marlow. Vivi, this is Dougie and Sheriff McDictator.”

“Umm, hello.” She waved uncomfortably to Hank and then turned to Dougie. “I’ve…uhh…heard a lot about you both. It’s…umm…nice to meet you…both.”

Vivi wasn’t exactly an extrovert, but she also wasn’t normally this shy. I’d also noticed her cheeks turning a little pink as she looked at Dougie. Hmmm… That was interesting, and I would definitely be asking her about that later.

“You ladies are welcome to join us here on the porch,” Dougie offered. “I can get you something to drink.”

Shadow finally got up from her post at Hank’s feet and came over to greet Vivi and me.

I softened my tone a bit because cute animals did that to me. Plus, I knew Dougie didn’t need my attitude or frustration simply because Hank was sitting next to him. “We’re actually going to finish our girls’ night at my place, but thank you.”

He nodded but never took his eyes off Vivi, who was giving Shadow copious amounts of love and head scratches. “Another time then.”

Vivi’s gaze moved from Shadow to Dougie, and she gave a soft smile. “Sure.”

“That sounds great, Dougie. Thanks for being a kind neighbor.” I ended that last part directed at Dougie, while staring at Hank with the biggest glare I could muster.