The Boys Next Door

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I swung the putter, causing the ball to bounce off the artificial stones and roll across the green. "Damn, you suck," Tyler observed from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and stuck my tongue out at him like a two-year-old. "Classy," he commented. "You're a real charmer."

Someone snorted behind us. I rolled my eyes as I turned to face Mercedes. She had one manicured hand on Cayden's arm and the other was casually swinging the putter, but the look in her eyes looked like she actually wanted to use it to beat my head in. "What's so funny?" I asked, trying my best to keep the snarl out of my voice.

"Oh, nothing," she removed her death hold on Cayden long enough to wave her hand casually. She stepped up to hit her ball. "Nothing at all." A small smile played at the edges of her lips as she glanced down to line up her putter with the hot pink ball she chose.

A hand reached out and tugged on my elbow. "Come on," Tyler muttered. I followed him to the next hole. This morning, after we hit the trails together, he begged me to come with him to go putt-putt with Cayden and Mercedes. Apparently, Cayden had initially just invited Tyler, and then Mercedes found out and when Tyler tried to back out, Cayden wouldn't let him. Spending an afternoon with the bleach blonde bitch wasn't my idea of fun, but it was nice just out hang out with Tyler and get to know him and his brother better. Except Cayden didn't do much more than hit the ball and make out with Mercedes.

Tyler swung the putter, sinking the ball into the whole with two strokes. I stood back and admired the way the muscles in his back shifted with every movement. "Are you just going to sit there and stare?" he asked without looking back. My face heated, and I moved to stand next to him as I attempted to hit my ball in. It didn't work.

"So," I said after a moment, "Why'd you guys move?"

Tyler shrugged, "I mean partially because of my mom's job—she works in business health, so she runs hospitals. And it was either here or Maine. We wouldn't have had to move though, if my dad and mom hadn't divorced." He scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Yeah." He stared at me from under his lashes, eyes sparkling. For a moment I felt something stir deep inside me, but then he was bending down, scooping up the ball from the hole.

"Do you like it here?" I probed, being nosey as usual.

Once again, he shrugged. "Of course I miss my friends, but we were all interested in different stuff, so we wouldn't be at the same college anyway, so it's just like graduating early... almost. And beside your much better than my old neighbor. He was a one legged old man who threw lemons at us." I burst out laughing, tears sliding down my face, and stomach clenching.

"He—he threw lemons at you?"

Tyler cracked a small smile. "Yeah. He would sit on the porch all day, and as we walked past, he would yell stuff like, get a haircut. You look like you live on the street. Or, no proper gentleman wears jeans. Then he would throw lemons at us. His service dg thought they were tennis balls, and would chase us through our yard and wouldn't stop barking until we slammed the door in its face." He glanced around thoughtfully, "I wonder what ever happened to the old bastard." I shook my head, smile still on my face. "What?" Tyler asked.

I sighed. "I don't know. I just—I've been living in the same house on the same street in the same small town for all my life. The only change that's ever happened is when my old neighbors moved out to a retirement home. I guess I just haven't lived yet."

A warm hand slid into mine, and I stared at our linked hands, mouth open, but at a loss for words. Tyler's hands were smooth, but had calluses in all the right places from holding the reins of a horse. He squeezed my hand once reassuringly. "I can help you change that."