SWNOVELS The Red Zone: Chapter 5
I HAD SUCCESSFULLY SURVIVED twenty 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 been nearly as 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 a teeny tiny bit of 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.
It must’ve been a tough practice, by the looks of it. Gosh, wouldn’t a bath sound so… refreshing after that?
When I last saw October about seven-years ago, at his high school graduation party, he had less defined muscles and only had one small tattoo of a compass on his chest, just above his heart. Needless to say, a lot about him had changed physically in the near decade since then, and it was a bit unsettling how attractive he’d become in that time.
He really did look good. Older. Bigger. More mature.
Handsome. Devastatingly handsome.
Although, I’d rather be sucked into a hell dimension for the rest of eternity before admitting any of that to his face.
“I take it the showers were broken at the gym today?” I quirked a brow at him.
“Why? Is this your way of inviting yourself to join me?” He tipped his head in the direction of the outdoor shower which sat between the pool house and the fence.
“Quite the contrary, Toby boy. So, tell me. How’s the season treating you so far?”
“Back to using my old nickname, and asking me about football…” He narrowed his eyes at me. “What’s gotten into you?”
“I told you… I’m turning over a new leaf,” I said triumphantly. “You know, righting my wrongs. Making amends. Things the saints would rejoice over.” I smiled, squaring my shoulders and sitting up a little straighter in my seat. “You never answered my question. How’s football?”
“Fine. How’s reviving your modeling career?”
Aaaand that was the tipping point of this conversation.
My former boss was willing to pay the tabloids copious amounts of money to come up with out-of-pocket headlines about my time in the industry. The hard and fast truth was that none of his bullshit lies were true. Yet, every time I’ve made a statement contradicting them, my words were “conveniently” misconstrued.
The man had it out for my career. My business. All because he couldn’t handle the world getting wind of the fact that he stole from teenage models to pad his pockets.
Anyone with access to the internet had likely come across something to the tune of me being a “troublesome person to work with” or saw a statement from another model claiming that I “frequently got in arguments with peers”. Clearly, October was included in that crowd.
And much to my demise, he would stop at nothing to remind me of the bullshit lies being spread by Gordon and his minions.
“Enough about me…” I deflected with a fake-as-shit smile, wanting to avoid all talk of this topic. “Aren’t you going to wish me a happy birthday?”
“I thought we were done talking about you?”
I rolled my eyes, although he couldn’t see it through my sunglasses.
“Happy birthday, March,” he muttered after a beat, a coy smile pulling on his lips. “Did you get everything you wanted for your birthday?”
“The day is still young, but there is one thing I was hoping for…” I trailed off while pushing myself out of the lounger to stand on solid ground. “Maybe you could help me?”
“With what, exactly?”
“You see… there’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a while.”
“Mhmm. I know taking a seat in my lap has been on the list for a few years. Maybe next year will be the one where you finally get your wish.”
“Please,” I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest to accentuate my cleavage. Taking a step closer to him, I watched as he trailed his eyes over me, uncertainty flickering in his face. A flirtatious smile curled at the corners of my mouth as I took one more step closer to him. Only this time, just as I suspected, he took one step backward… setting my plan into motion.
“No, I want something… better.”
“What could be better than—”
“Stop talking.” I pressed my pointer finger to his lips to shut him up.
“That’s always been your problem. You never let anyone else get any words out before you cut them off and divert the conversation to benefit yourself.”
“Quite a bold statement coming from you.” He peered down at me with a popped brow. I tried schooling the growing scowl on my face, but I knew he’d already caught on. “What? Are you going to try to convince me I’m wrong?”
A surge of heat trudged through my veins at his snide tone. I must’ve been out of my damn mind thinking we could spark up a chit-chat in passing without wanting to gouge each other’s eyeballs out.
“The only thing I’ll be convincing you of, is moving out of my pool house. You’re already three weeks in… seems you’re overstaying your welcome a bit, huh?”
The teeniest, tiniest knot he made with his eyebrows ignited a hum of triumph in my chest. Funny how quickly hatred can be turned into joy in a few seconds flat. Especially where he was involved.
Even decades later, pissing him off was still my favorite pastime. Nostalgic looking back on it now, but somewhat alarming knowing little has changed between us in over a decade.
“If you want me to leave, kick me out.”
Any other time, I would’ve jumped at the chance, but right now I needed him to take one small step backward so his heels were lined up with the edge of the pool. I couldn’t make it too obvious, though, or else he’d catch on.
Rocking on my heels, I gave him my best attempt at a genuine smile before taking a small step forward. “What would be the fun in that?”
As if he knew my inner thoughts, he shuffled backward just enough for me to execute what I’d set out to do. I could practically taste my victory at this point.
Sweet… it definitely tasted sweet.
When he peered down at me, I looked up at him with big fake doe eyes before briefly dropping my line of sight to his lips, then back up again.
“You’re acting weird.”
Looking back down at his mouth again, I lingered longer this time before lowering my voice, “I told you. There’s something I’ve been wanting—thinking about—for a while now.” I placed one hand lightly against his chest.
October raised an eyebrow, tilting his head downward so that his face was only millimeters from mine. “What are you doing, Mae?”
The small pocket of air between our lips grew more enticing by the second. It was almost as if there was an unwanted devil on my shoulder whispering twisted temptations into my ear that I had to fight away.
Just close the distance.
Haven’t you ever stopped to wonder what his lips might taste like?
Do it. Kiss him.
Leaning into the devilish taunts, I inched forward just enough that our lips brushed together as the next word spilled from my lips. “This.”
Knowing his stupid boy brain was caught in the wave of lust, I made my move before his football player reflexes could catch up. With a hand still on his chest, I pushed against his pecs and watched in amusement as he stumbled back into the deep end of the pool—with enlarged eyes, arms winding in circles, and all.
With a thunderous splash, I was doubled over laughing while trying to catch my breath. I watched as October’s head popped up above the surface followed by him spitting out a mouthful of water.
Hhis eyes ignited with fury as he treaded in place. “You bitch.”
“I might be a bitch, but I’m certainly not your bitch,” I chided, a coy grin spreading from ear to ear. “Best birthday present a girl could ever ask for.”
“My phone was in that that bag.”
Oh? The one that was still on his shoulder when I pushed him in? Too bad, so fucking sad.
“You’re rich. Buy a new one.”
I could’ve sworn I heard him mumble something along the lines of, “God, I hate you.”, under his breath.
“What was that?” I asked with a sarcastic smile.
“You know exactly what I said.”
“In that case… likewise.” I leveled my gaze at him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be masturbating for the rest of the afternoon. So, if you need me… don’t.”
I was attempting to unnerve him during a moment of weakness, but instead of getting flustered by my bluntness like I expected him to, he chuckled as he flicked the water out of his hair, giving me an amused expression.
Ugh, his subtle delight was ruining my high.
With that, I turned on my heels and headed for the house without glancing back at him. I’d gotten exactly what I wanted here, and there was no point in enduring his presence any longer than needed.
“Think of me when you come,” he yelled as I reached for the handle to the back door.
“I’d rather die first.”