Page 2

Chapter Two

LAIKEN HAZELWOOD

I’ve toyed with the idea of hiring out my lawn care to one of the teenagers in the neighborhood so they can earn a little money. Sometimes I let them tend to the flowerbeds in the front when I’ve let too much time go by and they’re overgrown with weeds. Especially right before a resident meeting.

However, I find it therapeutic to tend to my outdoor space. The sun is warm, there’s always a breeze coming in off the water, and almost always, I end up with something gorgeous to look at.

Namely, Lie Cain.

My heart jumps into my throat when he steps outside with his arms full of magazines. He waves, giving me a big smile and then strips down until he’s in nothing but the skimpiest little Speedo that makes his junk look like he has an orange in his underwear. Or maybe a pear.

When I’m close and he’s walking around in something like that, I nearly groan because I can see the way his dick is arranged so it curls down and around his balls. I can see the perfect outline of his damn cockhead.

Then this little twinky jerk gives me his back and straddles the lounge chair. He bends over to arrange his things and I’m left staring at the sexiest ass I’ve ever seen.

My dick is definitely taking notice. A wave of arousal rushes through me at the same time guilt gets thick in my chest. I turn abruptly and mow away from his backyard.

I’m no stranger to Elijah Cain. I’ve seen him nearly every single day of his life since the moment he was conceived. His father, Nason, and I have been friends for over thirty years.

He began flirting with me four years ago when he was in high school, and at the time, I found it nothing but amusing. He was a kid. He’s my best friend’s son. In a way, he felt like my nephew.

But when he came home from college a few months ago, he’d suddenly stopped looking like a child to me. He was now an adult. Everything about him had grown up. And I’ve found that I really like every damn thing I see.

He’s adorable. He looks so much like his father but with his mother’s Latina complexion. The combination of Miranda and Nason is simply breathtaking. I’ve always thought so. I’ve always thought that Elijah was an adorable child.

Adorable has grown up into a man that never leaves my mind. His flirting hasn’t stopped. If anything, it’s increased. I’m not sure if he’s just a flirt or if it’s intentionally directed at me.

Not that it matters. I can’t go there. That’s Nason’s kid!

When I reach the end of my yard, I reluctantly turn and nearly groan at the sight before me.

Lie’s legs hang over the edge of the lounge chair, so he’s spread wide.

His skimpy little bathing suit sinks between his ass crack, giving me the most delicious view of his plump cheeks and the round bulge of his balls under him.

His ass is elevated because of the position he’s in and he wiggles slightly. My cock is well on its way to being inappropriately hard. I have a feeling he knows that his ass just might be my weakness. I’m not as subtle as I try to be. I know he’s caught me staring a few times.

Lie’s laughter carries to me as I get close, and I realize he’s on the phone.

That doesn’t surprise me. That boy is almost always on the phone with his best friend.

The rare occasion they’re not on the phone is when Cash is here.

I’ve been over there for an hour, hanging out with Nason, when Lie came out of the bathroom on the phone, where he’d been in the bathtub for a couple hours as he talked to Cash on the phone.

Nason and I have never run out of conversation, but we’ve also gone twelve hours without speaking before. I’m not sure Cash and Lie have. How in the world do they still have things to talk about? What do they talk about?

Just another thing that’s made me incessantly curious about the man that Lie Cain is becoming. Another thing that has me inappropriately obsessing over him.

Thankfully, I was nearly finished mowing when Lie came outside. I do a quick skim of the pool before setting the vacuum at the bottom to let it run.

I could probably be finished with the outdoor work, but Lie is still in his lounge chair with his sexy ass sticking up. My fingers itch to follow the material between his ass cheeks.

“Fucking Christ,” I mutter and determinedly turn my back on him. “What’s wrong with me?”

Lusting after my best friend’s son, who is almost half my age, is not okay. Not at fucking all. Nason will never forgive me.

Taking a breath, I head to my bar. I have an outdoor bar that’s fully stocked and ready for parties, which is slightly amusing as I’ve never held a party in my yard. The most people I’ve had back here at once are Nason, Miranda, Lie, and Cash.

Yep, party animal, right here.

Despite having a formal education in engineering with a minor in chemistry, I’ve turned down every job that comes up on Kala in favor of my bartending. It began as a temporary job because when we moved here, there hadn’t been anything open in my career field.

As it turns out, I love bartending. I get to use my chemistry knowledge to make some pretty epic drinks that make my guests incredibly happy. I love the game of mixing. The choreography of flinging bottles. I love creating something new and my audience loving it.

My job doesn’t come home with me. There’s no stress that I’m left with at the end of the day. There’s nothing that keeps me up at night. When I hang up my towel at the end of my shift, that’s it. I’m clocked out and not concerned with a damn thing.

There aren’t many people who can say that about their jobs.

The only way I bring my job home at night is my outdoor bar. I built it so I had somewhere to study throwing bottles and not breaking them when there are people around. It also gives me a place to experiment.

I built a custom cover for the whole thing, so when I’m not using it, I can pull it down to keep the bottles and glassware clean. The bartop itself is usually left open, though I have a cover that I use when a storm rolls through, which isn’t often.

I busy myself wiping the surfaces down. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve used the space, so there aren’t more than a few stray leaves, fresh grass clippings I just stirred up, and a bit of pollen. It doesn’t take me long.

Since Lie is still outside being a wet dream, I remain an awful person, and decide I’m going to tackle my grill. Now that needs cleaning.

I have the entire thing disassembled when Nason steps out of his house and into the backyard. His presence instantly fills me with guilt because I know I’ve been staring at Lie far more than I’ve been truly paying attention to my grill.

My hands slow their scrubbing as I watch him sit at the edge of the lounge that Lie’s on. Lie shifts and smiles up at his father. A smile of my own lingers.

I’ve always admired their relationship. They’re close. Best friends if we take me and Cash out of the picture. Coming from a family where my father was in and out of my life as a child before landing in jail, my respect for Nason as a father has only made me love and respect him more.

Which is why I’m sick with myself over the way I keep looking at his son.

I force my attention on the grill rack and go back to scrubbing.

I’d already soaked this one in some concoction of ingredients I found online and then spun them around to get the correct combination and ratio of chemicals to break down the burnt-on food drippings.

Now I scrub it away while the other side soaks.

It’s rather quick work once it’s soaked for a few minutes.

I look up as Nason joins me. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He looks at my grill in pieces. “You have absolutely nothing better to do than this, huh?” he asks, amused.

I shrugged. “This is elbow grease and time, as opposed to a few hundred dollars to replace it for a new, clean one.”

He snorts. “Indeed.” He drops to the ground and picks up a rag. “Kristy asked about you again.”

I roll my eyes. “It was seven years ago, and I didn’t even hold her hand!” This isn’t the first time I’ve pointed this out.

Nason laughs. “You made an impression.”

Kristy is a woman who works in Nason’s office. I let him set me up on a blind date with her seven years ago, and she did absolutely nothing for me. She’s perfectly lovely, but after my divorce a couple of years after moving to Kala, there haven’t been many people who have interested me at all.

My eyes flicker to Lie on the lounge. He’s no longer straddling it obscenely. Apparently, that was just for me when his father wasn’t home. He’s now on his back, one leg propped up on his other, bouncing in the air.

“I’m good,” I say. “Thanks for relaying the message.”

“You’re determined to be single forever, aren’t you?” he asks, bemused.

“I don’t need a partner to have a fulfilling life.”

He hums as he scrubs one of the inner pieces of the grill. “I worry you get lonely in that house all by yourself.”

“Thanks for your concern, but I’m fine. If I want a date or a hookup or a partner, I can find one on my own. Promise.”

Nason sighs. “Fine. But my office is filled with lots of hungry people who all drool over your hairy ass. Just saying.”

“My ass isn’t hairy. Only my chest,” I say, making Nason laugh.

“You up for making a little extra money?”

“I don’t know if I dare ask. Are you trying to whore me out now, since I don’t want a romantic relationship?”

His laughter is loud. “No, fucker. My office is planning a Valentine’s Day party, and we’re tossing around the idea of an open bar. We basically have a liquor closet, so all we need is a mixologist. Interested?”

“Are you requesting a family and friends discount?”

He smirks. “It’s not coming out of my wallet, so no. Full price.”

I hum as I think about this. It’s not like I’m busy on Valentine’s Day. No hot plans. Not hoping to get laid. Nothing of the sort. The most I’d be doing is working, which I usually do on holidays since I’m single and without family, whereas many of my colleagues have families and loved ones.

“This isn’t an attempt at setting me up, is it?”

“Nah. Though I’m going to ask that all you wear is a tight white thong, so my single workers have something to ogle at all night.”

“Only if I receive cash tips slipped into the thin fabric,” I say. “I best be making some mad tips.”

Nason rolls his eyes. “How’s the bar?”

I shrug. “It’s a bar. I’m not sure what kind of answer you’re expecting. The most excitement that happens at the bar is me having to threaten Benson to kick him out every time Cash is there because he turns into a giant walking dick.”

He sighs heavily, shaking his head. “I’ve known Cash for most of his life. I have a hard time believing that he instigates his brother’s behavior.”

“Based on observation, I don’t think Cash used to, though I think he’s now of the mind that if Ben is going to treat him like shit, he’s going to have some fun while earning his ire.”

Nason shakes his head. “Lie used to want a brother. Until he saw how Ben treated Cash, and now I haven’t heard that request in years.”

“I think he’d be horrified if you gave him a sibling now.”

“Oh, definitely.” He laughs. “My boy loves being an only child.”

My eyes flicker to Lie again. He has a big smile on his face as he continues to talk on the phone. “Were we like that as kids?”

Nason glances back at Lie. “What?”

“On the phone all day like that?”

“No. We didn’t have cell phones, which meant we had to share the land line.”

I grunt. I don’t miss those days. Getting caught up in phone cords. Wrapping it around my finger until I cut off my circulation because being tied to a wall while you were on the phone could be boring. Not that boredom made you end the call.

“What a life.”

“Right? We were just having this conversation at work. Waiting a week for the next episode of your favorite show to come on. Having to sit through commercials. Sitting at the stereo waiting for your favorite song so you could quickly hit the record button and not miss the first few notes. Playing outside until the streetlights came on. Not having a camera in your pocket. The kids in the office were horrified by these things.”

“Having to wait at the one-hour photo-development place red as beets while we waited for our dick pics to print and praying that they didn’t get flagged by the guy printing them,” I say.

Nason laughs. “Oh my god, I forgot that one.”

“We did that several times as teenagers. As if we were tracking the development of our dicks as we got older.”

He laughs louder. “Oh, god. That’s horrible. We were horrible kids.”

“Nah. Now they just send their cock pics via text message and pray they aren’t shared with the entire world via the internet.”

“Oof. I’m not sure if this is considered progress.”

“Depends who you ask, I guess. The one thing I like to scoff at is all those damn math teachers who insisted that we memorize equations and shit, with their argument being that we weren’t always going to have a calculator in our pockets.

Joke’s on them. Not only do we always have a calculator, but now we have the internet to work out any equation we fucking want it to. ”

“And yet, I think these generations are becoming less self-reliant because they always have the internet for answers. They don’t need to know a thing.

Daniel, my twenty-something intern? I asked him to do something the other day.

I don’t remember what—oh, I said something about Kansas City and he told me he’s never been to Kansas.

They don’t teach geography, man. I told him to go look up where Kansas City was. ”

“What happens when you no longer have access to pocket computers?” I muse.

“You’re free on an island resort like this,” he says, grinning.

Indeed. A life I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Lie’s laughter fills the air again, and I almost scowl at the way my stomach flips at the sound. Fuck my life.