He chuckles, it’s far from innocent. “You ever change your mind, you know where to find me.”
“You’re disgusting.”
He spreads his arms wide, seemingly unaffected by my jab. “Just know how to have a good time.”
I start to reply, but Vivian takes hold of my arm and jerks me toward the gate, almost knocking my hat off.
Probably a good idea, I don’t need to be arguing in the middle of my yard. I’m sure I already burned whatever cordial, neighbor thing nice people have going on. Guess I can’t count on him for a cup of sugar.
“So now you’re just gonna walk away from me, again?”
“Kinda the plan,” I call out without turning to face him.
“Prude.” The word is grunted as he lifts another two-by-four.
Raising my free arm in the air, I wiggle my fingers in a mock wave. “Rude-ass.”
We make it two houses down on the promenade before Vivian releases me, shaking her head. “You just can’t try, can you?”
“Seriously?”
She huffs, her shoulders sagging. “Play nice, act like youwantto go out on a date.”
“A threesome with the douche canoe?” I raise my eyebrows. “I’ll pass.”
“It could be fun.”
“Wait,” I stop abruptly, nearly causing a random jogger to crash into me, “you actually want to have a threesome?”
“Sorry,” Viv calls out as the guy swerves around us.
“No deflecting,” I hold my ground when she tries to resume walking, “answer the question, Viv.”
“Well,” she gives me that signature smile that lights up a room, “it’d be fun.”
“Yeah,” I shake my head, “I’m not twenty any more. My wild days are over, but if you want to hit that, be my guest.”
“What wild days?”
“Touché.” The wildest I ever got was my nose ring, and that was only to avoid actually going out partying. “You want some ice cream before you start banging my new neighbor?”
Vivian laughs. “I swear, you’re insane.”
“That’s why you love me. There’s this cute, little smoothie shop a couple blocks up.”
She holds her hands out. “Lead the way.”
A few minutes later, I take my hat and sunglasses off and sink into a chair at Groovy Smoothie with my red velvet and hot fudge smoothie. Closing my eyes, I relax, grateful for the slight break from the sun.
“This is insane.” Viv shakes her head as she sits down opposite of me. Her eyes are wide as she gapes at her ice-cream-filled, giant donut.
“What flavor did you get?” I ask between sips. Holding my cup near my arm, I try to tell if my skin looks pink.
“Whiskey cream.” She smiles wide and takes a bite.
“After this, do you want to hit up some of the touristy shops? Maybe get a souvenir? There’s a delicious, little candy shop a few blocks over that makes their own chocolate.”
“Is this your way of not going to the beach again? It’s almost evening.”