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Spinning around in my chair, I say, “Noelle, I want…”
“I’m gonna be late,” she cuts me off, grabbing her keys from the hook on the wall.
There are times when you have to pick your battles, and by allowing her to leave, I’ve chosen to fight another day. The slamming door echoes through the empty house. Only the sound of the air conditioning kicking on fills the space. Taking the pot of coffee, I dump it down the drain while shaking my head.
My phone vibrates against the newspaper I never got a chance to read. When I pick it up, it’s a text from Adrian.
A: I thought you weren’t going to call me?
His reverse psychology is charming and brings a smile to my face, but I flip my phone over anyway, running a hand through my hair anxiously. When I walk away, I hear it vibrate again and back track to grab it.
A: When I said don’t call me, you know I was being cheeky, right?
I laugh out loud, palming my face.
L: OK, Rock Star. Cheeky is not something I ever thought would come out of your mouth.
A: I thought we were too old for nicknames?
L: I said I’m too old for nicknames.
A: You can call me whatever you want.
The ellipsis flicker as he types another reply and I grip my phone anticipating whatever smartass comment he has next.
A: As long as you call me.
Feeling the heat rise to my cheeks, I would be embarrassed at how easily he gets a rise out of me, but there is no one around to witness it. This is a taste of what I’ve been missing all these years, and Adrian is the perfect person to scratch that itch, no matter how fleeting it may be. Either he’ll get bored of me or it’ll cease to be fun anymore and it will end. For now, I’ll enjoy my spoils and take full advantage of the fact that Adrian likes a good chase.
Intent on leaving his text unanswered, I abandon my phone on the kitchen island and walk into the living room, past the precarious pile of DVDs next to the couch and out to the backyard. Running my hands through my hair, I let the shoulder length brown locks fall to the side as I tilt my head away from the sun. Biting my lip I think about last night, the look in Adrian’s eyes as he begged makes me clench my thighs.
I should feel guilty, letting him dominate my thoughts and my time, but I don’t.
The sun on my shoulders feels good for the first five minutes until it feels like I’m being baked in an oven. The clear water of the pool glitters as the sun bounces off the surface. The only neighbors behind me are the prying eyes of coyotes that blend in with the brown and tan hues of McDowell Mountain, but even they are most likely napping under thick patches of sage bushes. On either side of me are one story homes like mine, flat adobe style roofs and spread far enough apart to make you feel as though you don’t have neighbors.
This seclusion is what prompts me to do something I’ve never done since I’ve moved here. Stripping off my tank top and pulling down my shorts, taking my underwear with them, I stand at the edge of the pool completely naked, looking down at the cool water – and then I jump.
19
STILL HAVING FUN
Given the Dog a Bone by AC/DC
Alarge, burly man I have never met enters my home wearing carpenter boots, jeans, and a white t-shirt with the logoCorvin & Sonprinted on the chest. Immediately he starts taping clear plastic over the kitchen cabinets, sealing them off.
“You won’t be able to use your stove until we’re done breaking up all the tile,” he says, just as Adrian passes by giving me a judgmental smirk.
“That won’t be a problem,” Adrian teases as he carries in what looks like a large jackhammer with a flat shovel-like end.
I narrow my eyes at him, fists at my hips while he laughs.Asshole.
“I’m Moe,” the large man now covering my entire island with plastic, introduces himself.
“Lake,” I say, while Finlay, Adrian’s bandmate, enters my home from the garage, a hammer resting at his hip.
He gives me a cautious smile as he passes by, intent on his mission to rip apart my home. The living room furniture has already been moved to one side of the room while Finlay starts pulling baseboards from the wall. The sound is jarring, as if the house is being torn apart. He works his way around the room with expertise, and I realize he must have been working for Adrian for a long time. The entire living room is now devoid of baseboards in a matter of minutes.
Spinning around in the kitchen, I’m impressed at how fast everything is being prepped for the demolition of my tile.
