The Man Next Door

Chapter One

"Toothbrush?"

Your dad rustled through his duffle bag. "Check."

"Shampoo?"

"Check."

"Underwear?"

He zipped up the bag and pat the table with a smile. "Check, check, check."

He'd waited until the last minute to pack for vacation, and he asked for you help. You couldn't help but laugh at the goofy man parading around the kitchen, doing last minute things to secure the house before you'd be leaving for a week.

You slung your book sack over your shoulder and tugged on your suitcase, which your father soon took from you and loaded it into his SUV. Now all you had to do was pick up his best friend and his daughter, who just so happened to live a few houses down.

Your dad had been friends with Joel Miller ever since the two of you moved into the house after your mom passed. You and Joel's daughter, Sara, had also grown super close over the past few years, bonding over not having a mother in your lives.

Your father finished packing the car and the two of you headed to the Millers house. He honked the horn a few times, and when no one immediately came out, your father asked you to go see what the holdup was.

"Just real quick pumpkin, we gotta get goin'"

You let out a sarcastic sigh before getting down and making your way to the front door. After a few knocks, the door creaked open, and Joel stood in front of you, toothbrush in hand. Once he realized who was at his door, his face softened, only slightly.

"Mornin'" his southern drawl was still thick through the brush in his mouth.

You took in the sight in front of you. Joel had clearly only recently woken up- his dark eyes still looked sleepy, his hair was tousled, and he still wore a pair of flannel pajama pants. His shirt tugged on his muscles, and you could smell the scent of his shampoo, even from where you stood-

"You wanna come in?" You snapped out of your daze, slightly blushing when you realized you had been staring, and you hadn't said a word. "Uh- yea, thanks."

Once he shut the door, Sara peeked her head out of the bathroom. "Thank god you're here! This dummy still hasn't packed!", she said, pointing her thumb to her dad, who finished brushing his teeth in the kitchen sink.

"Won't take long." Joel had always been a man of few words, so his short answers did not surprise you.

"I packed all of your toiletries, just go pack your clothes please, I'm sure Mr. Grant is waiting on us."

You smiled softly. "Oh don't worry about him, he'll be fine. He's excited, but he can wait."

Joel simply looked at his daughter before walking off to his bedroom.

"God, I will never understand why men do this!" The pair of you laughed. "Yea. My dad didn't pack until this morning either. Guess it's just a guy thing."

A few minutes passed before Joel came sauntering out of his room, bag in hand.

"Y'all ready?"

-

Every year since your dad and Joel had become friends, he and Sara had joined you on your beach trip. It was a yearly thing when your mom was still alive, and your dad didn't want to break the tradition. You knew he was lonely, so you were overjoyed that he had a friend to drag along with him every year, even if that friend was as quiet and brooding as Joel.

You and Sara took up the back seats, spreading out and watching a movie together.

The drive from Texas to Florida was painfully long, so you planned on sleeping for a good bit of the trip there.

As you passed the Louisiana state line, your dad took an exit and stopped at a gas station. After around five hours of being in the car, you were glad to get out and stretch. Your dad filled up the tank, and he handed you a few twenty's and sent you and Sara on snack duty.

You climbed out and stretched your legs before something caught your eye- Joel had gotten out of the car and was also stretching, his tight shirt lifting slightly, revealing his tanned, toned stomach-

"Hellooo? Let go get some food." Sara snapped you back to reality and you internally scolded yourself.

He's like, twice your age.

After using the bathroom and buying snacks for everyone, it was time to get back on the road.

-

Your eyes slowly parted, your vision slowly unblurring. You sat up and looked out of the window. The sun had start to set, and the sky was glowing a beautiful orange color. You looked up at the driver, who was now Joel, your dad fast asleep in the passenger seat.

"Where are we?" Your voice cracked.

"Alabama." He kept his eyes on the road, sipping from his thermos. You watched his face through the rearview mirror. His thick  mustache sat above a pair of soft lips that sat in a line, only a hint of wrinkles creasing his forehead. You could feel your heart skip a beat when he looked away from the road for a second and into your eyes. Embarrassed, you looked away, pretending to look out the window at the endless rows of trees flying by.

A minute passed, and you figured Joel would have focused on the road again. Your eyes wandered back to the mirror, and your heart did another flip when you found his almost black eyes still looking at you.

Fuck.

You had always thought Joel was attractive. But after you came back home from college, it was like he'd only gotten finer with age. Heat creeped into your cheeks as you looked away again, curling up and deciding to get some more sleep.