New neighbors Andi and Hayden don't get off to the best start - and neither do their dogs. When the hostility between their pets, Bart and Rosie, leads to noisy barking, Andi and Hayden must solve their pet's tension or risk eviction from their apar...
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Soft swirls of orange and pink coat the sky. Children's laughter floats across the park, mixed with low shouts of street vendors and the soothing strum of a nearby guitarist. The air is humid. Stickiness clings to my skin, but when the lake captures the sun under its coastline, the air will cool. For now, the lake completes its never-ending duty of lapping against the rocky coastline.
Still, the one downside of the beautiful night is the bugs. Mosquitos are out in full force and will not be calming when the sun vanishes, unlike the heat.
Then there's the other downside of the night. Hayden. I barely even sat at my picnic table before him and his hotdog caught my attention.
"What are you doing?" I ask, stepping closer to him. Mosquitos swarm my legs. I swat them away.
Hayden twists from his picnic table, both elbows resting on the wooden planks beside his tin-foiled food. "I don't know?" he says. "What am I doing?"
I squint, partially because of Hayden's nonchalance and partially because the bold sun blares behind him. "I said I had work."
"I know." Hayden shrugs his firm shoulders. Specks of stray sunlight catch in his hazel eyes, mixing with a swirl of casualty.
I adjust the strap of my bag and swat another mosquito from my knee. "But I thought you were getting food?" A burst of brightness stings my eyes. I raise my hand to my forehead to block the sun. "Why are you here?"
"This is food." Hayden points to his hotdog. "I'm enjoying the park."
He has that right, same as me. Still, there's an inkling he's not here to be innocent. His light brown eyes hold the same evil glint as his dog. Or maybe it's just the light.
Regardless, I examine the situation, flicking my eyes across Hayden's relaxed face and messy brown hair. I move my attention to the black shorts and navy tee atop his toned muscles. Golden light bleeds onto his tan skin.
I clear my throat and snap my eyes to his. "By yourself?"
"Correct. You do your thing at your table, and I'll do my thing at mine," he replies. "Although ... " The corners of his full lips rise as he points behind me.
I turn and zero in on my table.
Or, more accurately, a large family swarming around my table with a picnic basket.
Fuck.
I twist back toward Hayden, tightening my hand around the strap of my bag. I clench my jaw, hating that I did this to myself. In my whir of surprise to see Hayden over here, I didn't even think to leave an item on the last open table in the park.
Hayden softens his face. "Here." He brushes some twigs off his bench. "Sit."
I take a step backward. "I'll just wait for another table."
