The Neighbor (The Neighbor #1) (5 page)

I hopped in my car and sped to the coffee
drive-thru. It used to be all about the omnipresent cup with the mermaid but
the Coffee Shack was cheap and fast. It didn’t hurt that the owner’s son was
the barista. Sayler had sex with him a couple of times.

“I will have two large coffees.
The
usual.”

“These are on me. Tell Sayler I said hello,”
Rems
said and winked as I drove off.

I knew who Sayler was with last night – two free
coffees. It must have been some night. I smiled.

I made it to Sayler’s house. Still in my pajama
bottoms, I found my way up to her room.

“I see you have yet to clean this place up. I don’t
know how you live in here. You can be in a
Hoarders
episode with Ryder.”

“Who is Ryder? I didn’t think you would come over
first thing to chat with me.” Sayler yawned.

“No Sayler. I stopped at the Coffee Shack. I paid
nothing…and Rembrandt says hello.”

“Yeah.
I guess
Rems
and I hooked up. He’s such a nice guy
and he’s safe. It will never go anywhere but we have fun.
Enough
about me.
Who is Ryder? Why are you glowing?” she asked, raising an
eyebrow.

“He is a guy I met on Pelican Island at Magnolia. I
was doing some volunteering and I went to a reception. I
was
decked out
in my volunteer garb. I went for the free food and not to
meet someone. But I met Ryder. He…is…amazing.
Tall, muscular,
green eyes.
He is the type you notice when he enters the room.” I was
out of breath.

“Slow down Jenna. You are
gonna
hyperventilate. Is he from around here? Do I
know him?”

“No and No. He is older. I tried my best to find out
how much older but I failed. We met at the driving range a couple of days ago,
then yesterday we putted and we are meeting again tomorrow. He makes my hands
sweat like crazy.” I pulled out my tablet.

“You have his name Jenna. Let’s look at his Facebook
page.” Sayler was intrigued.

She squealed when we got to his page. The man was
good. His profile gave nothing away. He left all of the important stuff blank.
His birthday was in December but he gave no year. Everything related to golf. I
was curious to see him with Sammy. There were no photos of him with a Sammy or
a Samantha. I Googled his name and I came up with some stuff several years old.
He had won a couple of amateur golf tournaments and then he disappeared.

“This guy is a conundrum. You must know something
about the guy. You have spent hours with him right? Your hands sweat. I know
you well Jenna – did your crotch tingle?” Sayler asked.

I laughed. “Shut up!” I yelled and smacked her with
a pillow. “Anyways, I found some sex books today,” I told her, trying to stop
her from asking more questions about Ryder.

“Sex books?”

“Some guy is moving in next-door to my mom. She says
he’s hot. I brought him an apple pie since she thought he needed some sort of
welcome to the neighborhood gift.”

“You baked?” Sayler was incredulous.

“Not really but it looked home-made. He wasn’t home
so I left it for him and of course, I looked around. He is a fitness nut who
takes a lot of meds – weird combo. I noticed some boxes. I peeked inside and
they were all about sex. I am talking a smorgasbord of sex books. Whoever this
dude is he likes sex or just knows a great deal about it. I even resorted to
spying on the man in order to steal a glance of him. It ended in a debacle.”

“Jenna. I am so confused between Ryder and the sex
guy.” Sayler was back to Ryder. I decided to ask for advice.

“What if Ryder takes this thing a step further?” I
asked.

“I say go for it Jenna. If he is older, he will be
able to teach you some new moves. He may rock your world.”

I giggled uncomfortably. Maybe she was right. Maybe
he would
rock
my world.

We talked for hours before we got hungry. I went out
to pick up a pizza. I returned to find Sayler’s mom drinking coffee and smoking
a cigarette in the kitchen. She had woken up by noon, which was typical. She
was not someone who I wanted my friend to emulate. Sayler had a lot of
potential. It just needed to
be pointed
in the right
direction. My mother was no picnic but I guess she was my mom and I loved her
despite her drawbacks.

“Hey Mrs. L. Good morning or afternoon – good day,”
I chirped. I knew immediately I was too cheery for the hung over woman.

“I don’t see what’s good about it but I appreciate
the sentiment. I heard you and my daughter talking this morning. These walls
are like paper. I heard something about a Ryder guy. If he is too old for you,
send him my way. He must have cash if he is hanging out at the country club.”
Sayler walked into the kitchen. She saved me from Juliet.

“Mom, I think he is interested in Jenna. You are
probably not his type even if he is closer to you in age. You will do best to
stick with the guys playing video golf at the bar.”

“Yeah.
I hit a hole in one last week. It only set me back a couple of quarters.
A lot cheaper than a round of golf.”

Juliet wandered away in a haze of smoke.

“Later mom.
If it was anyone but you, I would be embarrassed. She wonders why I don’t ever
bring a guy home. He would take one look at her and run away. They would think
I was destined to be just like her and run out the front door… But anyways,
back to Ryder. What are you going to do about the mystery man?” Sayler asked.

Just at that moment, my phone chimed. It was set to
an Alicia Keys tune and it blared through my phone speaker. It was Ryder. I had
entered him into my phone. Expecting him to cancel, I let his call go to
voicemail.

“Was that Ryder?” Sayler asked.

“Yes”

“Why the fuck didn’t you answer?”

“I would rather get let down via voicemail. I cannot
believe I am treating this like a breakup. We golfed together twice,” I
stammered.

“Put it on speaker. I want to hear what he says.”

I opened my voicemail and set my phone to speaker.

Hey
Jenna.
I have unpacked a lot of shit and I have a nice house setup here finally. I
have a brand new grill and I was going to “throw some shrimp on the Barbie”, as
they say Down Under. I made a delicious apple pie that I would hate to eat
alone. I was thinking we could skip the golf lesson. Do you want to come for
dinner? Let me know.

I was surprised that it was anything but ditching
me.

“What are you waiting for Jenna? Call him. He sounds
hot and he definitely sounds interested. Weren’t you just talking about an apple
pie? It must be a sign. You both like to bake apple pie.”

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have time to date
a guy since I started school soon. What would one date hurt though?

“I guess I could just see where things go. I will
just text him back and ask for his address. I can’t believe I am doing this
Sayler. I am going to be off to college soon,” I told her. “Do you have a beer
or a glass of wine around to get me through the awkwardness I’m feeling?” I
joked.

“Jenna, seriously.
This is the Lindner house. We have the finest canned domestic beer you can pick
up for under $10 a 6-pak and an assortment of wines by the box.” Sayler smiled.

I laughed. “So here is what I wrote.”

Send
me your address. Scared to
be shown up
by a girl on
the driving range? What can I bring?
Fire extinguisher?
LOL

“Sounds fine to me,” Sayler said.

I pressed send. Seconds later, my phone beeped. It
was a text from Ryder.

“He’s anxious,” I said.

“No. He’s just prompt. Let me read it.” Sayler
grabbed my phone. She was silent as she read his reply.

“Wow. Your address is 629 Lewis Ave., correct?”
Sayler asked.

“Yes, that’s it why. Just read the damn text.”

I took the phone and stared at the text.

Just
bring you. 627 Lewis Ave. Point Pleasant neighborhood
J

“That must be wrong. That is right next-door to my –
holy shit Sayler. He is the guy my mom thinks is hot. He is the fitness freak
with the sex books. Shit. I can’t have dinner with
him
.”

“Why not?
It’s convenient. If you stay the night you can sneak back in and your mother
won’t even know.”

“He’s planning to cook out. My mom will see us and
then she will be involved in my business.”

“You said your mom was having dinner at your
brother’s house. She will not be home. I don’t see what the big deal is Jenna.
So the guy likes sex. Maybe he can teach you a thing or two. I think it is
another cosmic sign.”

“When did you get all new-
agey
?
If there is a sign, it says
DANGER –
Enter at your own risk.”

“Come on Jenna. We will look back at this in a year
and realize what an opportunity you
were given
. Just
have dinner with him. It’s fun – no commitment.”

“Let’s head upstairs and raid your closet,” I
suggested because I had nothing to wear.

“Fuck that Jenna. When is the last time you went
shopping for yourself?”

“Um – a few days ago,” I said.

“You deserve something new anyways. You won’t fit
into my shit. I have never seen you in such good shape,” Sayler said.

“I’m just going to wear jeans and a tank top. It’s
hot as hell so I will probably wear my hair in a ponytail.”

“No Jenna. No ponytail. Your hair is beautiful and
you appear more womanly when it’s down. I still can’t believe I convinced you
to chop it off last year. Sorry about that.”

“It was a little devastating but I can look back on
it now and laugh. I think it’s your turn next. I have plans to make you over
before I leave for school,” I said.

“Save the effort Jenna. It’s like putting lipstick
on a pig. Let’s focus on tonight. Be prepared to fill me in on all of the
details.
YOLO Jenna.”

“Don’t ever use YOLO again.”

“Well, it’s what you should be thinking right now.”

“Whatever you say Sayler.”

I drove home and I entered at the side door because
I didn’t want Ryder to see me. He would be surprised to find that I am his
next-door neighbor. I was interested to hear him explain the sex manuals.

My mother was just leaving when I walked in the
house.

“Hey Jen.”

“Hey mom.”
I smiled.

“I saw our new neighbor today. I’m telling you. The
man is blistering hot. He must be having a special guest tonight. I saw him
setting up a table on the patio and it looked romantic. I suppose we are out of
luck – at least we will have a fine view of perfection,” she said.

I laughed uncomfortably. “You are going to
Jonathan’s for dinner tonight correct?”

“Yes that’s the plan. He will drive me home so you
will not have to worry about me. Are you going out?” my mother asked.

“I am going to see a movie and hang out with
Sayler.” She used me to lie to her Mom so I was just returning the favor.

“All right, well, have a great time. Last one home
locks the door.”

“Got it mom.
I am going to go upstairs to shower and change so have a good time,” I told
her.

When I was done with my shower I put on a sky blue
tank top and jeans. As suggested by Sayler I wore my hair down. I slipped on
some strappy sandals and the usual silver bangles. I looked at myself in mirror
and said, “Here goes nothing.”

Chapter
Seven

I grabbed a pint of vanilla ice cream to have with
my pie before I left. I walked out the side door and around the block before
arriving at Ryder’s door with a very soft pint of ice cream.

I knocked at the door.

Ryder answered the door. He was fresh out of the
shower and his casual buttoned up shirt was open. He smelled…heavenly.

“You look beautiful. I didn’t hear you pull in the
driveway.” Ryder gave me a friendly hug and a peck on the cheek.

“I don’t live far from here. It is a good evening
for a walk.”

“I thought I saw your green car across the street. I
suppose you don’t have the only Kelly green Kia Sol in the neighborhood.”

I chuckled. “I guess not. I should get this ice
cream in the freezer. It’s kind of melting. I will run into the kitchen real
quick,” I said without thinking.

“Go right ahead Jenna. It seems like you have been
in this place before.”

I was going to play along with this game for as long
as I could take it.