Chapter Five
Wren
I woke up to a mouth like sandpaper, a swollen tongue, and the stale taste of beer coating my throat. Gasping for water, I shot up in my bed and immediately regretted the fast motion. A wave of nausea nearly threatened to burst out of my body and I immediately leaned back against my headboard, clutching my hand at the bubbling roar in my stomach.
“Fuck,” I groaned and tilted my head backwards.
The last thing I remembered from the night before was crying on my front porch, and disappearing into the kitchen to find all of the beer in my fridge. It had been a pathetic attempt to remove the sadness I was experiencing from George leaving. Leaving me. Over the time I had lived in the cabin next to his, he had become a father figure to me. Losing him had felt like a sucker punch straight to the gut. So I had turned to alcohol to soothe my sorrow, as I had done many times in the past. My relationship with my father had thrown me into a spiral of alcoholism in my younger years – drinking was the coping mechanism I had used to deal with his abuse, as well as to numb myself from the side effects of working in the porn industry.
With the bright light of morning sunshine streaming through my bedroom window I was regretting my decision to drink through the night. I cringed as I slid my legs over the side of my bed, desperate to get to a glass of water.
The walk to the kitchen felt like a walk through the Sahara desert. Every part of my body groaned in protest as I sluggishly made my way to the kitchen sink. I didn’t even stop to grab a glass as I turned the cold water faucet on and stuck my mouth directly under the pour. I gulped down the refreshing water, letting it run over my chin and down my throat without caring. I could feel the water soaking into my tongue, wetting my lips, the hydration no longer making me feel like a piece of dried out paper.
A moan of pleasure escaped my lips as I took a break from drinking.
At least I didn’t have a headache. It wasn’t much of a hangover besides the need for water and the slightly queasy stomach. I had perfected the art of drinking throughout my years. I glanced over the kitchen and noticed a dirty frying pan and a fork sitting inside of it, crusted with dried up egg. I chuckled to myself at the sight. Drunk me had at least decided to cook myself some eggs before bed, I guessed.
“Sorry Meg,” I mumbled under my breath. I wouldn’t be getting any writing done in the condition I was in.
Staring out the kitchen window that overlooked the lake, I decided it was the perfect day to sunbathe. Mostly because I wanted to avoid writing. Hell, I wanted to avoid my computer entirely. I was nervous I would see another email from my father, begging me to perform in Corbin’s next movie. The thought did nothing to soothe the nausea rumbling at the base of my stomach.
Before changing into my bathing suit, I leaned out the front door of the cabin to glance over at the other cabin. There were no cars in the gravel. George’s truck was gone. It was probably empty. The last thing I needed was peeping toms as my new summer neighbors.
I stared at myself in the floor-length mirror in my bedroom after I had changed into the two-piece black bikini I always wore. I pinched at the skin around my stomach, wondering if it was the beer or the Cheetos that had formed a small pudge around my pierced belly button. My hair was crazy, dark brown strands going in all directions from bedhead. I cringed at the sight before sweeping all of the strands into a messy ponytail.
It was about to be noon, the sun at its highest and brightest. Perfect timing.
The lake was completely silent as I stepped out onto my back deck with a glass of water and a pair of black sunglasses hiding my eyes. The bright light was an enemy to my sensitive senses. I was secretly thankful that I had burned through the remainder of my beer, otherwise I would probably be in danger of indulging again to keep away the thoughts of how George Spaniel was no longer a few feet away from me. Not to mention I’d soon have random strangers taking his place.
I groaned at the thought as I leaned back in the lounge deck chair, stretching my legs comfortably out and propping my hands behind my head.
The lake was like a perfect, still mirror. Deep, drinkable blue that reflected the snow-topped mountains that grew in the distance. It was my personal heaven.
Laughter broke the silence. My perfection. I jumped, propping myself up on my hands as I stared in the direction of the noise. There were three men making their way down the dock at the other cabin, laughing cheerfully with one another. Behind my sunglasses I squinted, trying to make out faces. I had been positive there was no one at the other cabin.
Heat washed over my body the second I realized who they were. The group that had gone into the convenience store the other day. The man who had towered over me, and taken my breath away beneath the force of his stormy gaze. I wrapped my fingers tightly around the arm rests of my chair and stared harder, trying to make sure I wasn’t just going crazy. Maybe I was seeing things. Maybe I was still asleep. Hopefully.
The one with the blonde hair turned on the dock, put his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun, and then pointed across the distance that separated us. My entire body froze as all three of them turned to stare in the direction of his pointing finger.
“Shit, shit, shit,” I started mumbling under my breath.
I needed to get off the dock. I needed to get away from their sightline. I probably looked like a crazy person, staring at them like I was before they had even noticed me.
At least they were too far away to see the beat red shade of my humiliated face. I lifted myself quickly out of the lounge chair and took off in a speed walk back to my cabin, without looking back at the men on the other dock.
This was the worst possible outcome for the rest of my summer. Three out-of-town boys who had probably never even stayed in a cabin were going to be living right next door for the next few months. And one of them was, as I had already experienced, a total asshole.
I was cringing to get away from them.
The cool air of the inside of my cabin smacked against my sun-warmed body as I slipped inside. “Shit!” I yelled at the walls of the kitchen. I couldn’t have picked a more perfect nightmare for myself.
I turned on my heel and peeked out the glass of the back door. They had already forgotten about me and were staring out towards the mountains. Good.
I needed someone to talk to. Within a minute I had found my phone. To my surprise, it only rang twice before my best friend answered.
“Meg?” My voice was a whimper.
“What’s wrong?” She knew immediately that something was up. Which was exactly why she was the first person I would always call in any situation.
“I think the rest of my summer has gone to hell.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My new neighbors are here,” I groaned. Saying the words aloud made my throat constrict. There were many reasons I had fled from the New York City lifestyle; and the men who were living next door were one of those reasons. To make things worse, I could feel my palms getting sweaty, and a tight coil forming in the pit of my stomach as I thought back to the jerk I had run into at the store. The way the navy blue suit had clung to his broad shoulders, the arrogant glint in his bright eyes.
Megan laughed on the other line. “And what’s so bad about that?”
“They’re jerks,” I spat out quickly. “They came into the Quick-E Mart the other day and just…Meg, one of them is a complete ass.”
“But what did he do? Are you just being dramatic?”
I sighed. “No! He pushed into me. He acted like he owned the place. Like he owned the world.”
“Oh.” She paused. “Is he cute?”
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“So he is.”
Despite myself, I laughed. “Yes. He is.”
“I don’t see the problem then,” she teased me.
“Did you forget the part where I said he’s a huge asshole?” I rolled my eyes. When it came to men, Megan was next to impossible. She was always pushing me to be more inviting to men, to go on more dates, to explore. I knew she just wanted to see me happy and in love, but I had never been the relationship type. My father, and my old life, had ruined the appeal of love for me. I didn’t believe it.
“Who cares? You’re going to have to eye candy for the next two months.” She pressed me on.
“I’d be happier if they weren’t here,” I grumbled, almost annoyed by Meg’s persistence.
“You know what I think?”
I didn’t need her to go on. I could guess exactly what she was thinking. But I played into it, like a good friend. “What do you think, Meg?” I couldn’t help but to be a little sarcastic.
“I think you should go introduce yourself.” I could hear the delight in her voice. She had always gotten so much pleasure out of pushing me into the arms of handsome strangers, even though I had never seen anyone she’d set me up with for more than one date. I was guilty of one night stands with strangers. Sex was what I understood. Not relationships.
“I think that’s a terrible idea.”
“No, Wren, it isn’t. You’re the one who lives there. Go be neighborly.” Megan pressured me, the familiar stern tone in her voice.
“He’s a jerk,” I reminded her stubbornly. I didn’t want to go meet him, or his friends, or be nice to them. I wanted them to leave. I wanted the lake to myself for the rest of the summer. For the rest of all time.
“Maybe he made the wrong impression.”
I groaned. “No way. He’s some rich boy, I can tell. He has no idea how to be nice to people, because he’s probably never had to be.” It wasn’t the first time I had met his type. Rich city boys who thought the world revolved around them, and that everyone walking on it was there to serve them. It made me sick to my stomach to think about.
“You should at least try,” she pushed. “I bet it could give you some inspiration with your writing.”
Of course she would take it there. She knew I was struggling to write. She probably didn’t even really believe what she’d just said, she just needed another reason to use to push me towards meeting my new neighbors.
But she was getting to me.
“Maybe,” I caved.
“No maybe,” she wasn’t done yet. “Go do it. Today. The longer you wait the more awkward you’ll feel.”
“I guess.” I had wandered back into my room, and with Megan on speaker phone, I’d changed out of my bikini and into a pair of jean shorts and a white tank top.
“Please, Wren. I really think this will do you some good.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll go over there now.”
“Perfect!” Megan was squealing with delight. “Wren?”
I put the phone back up to my ear. “What?”
“Can you put something cute on before you go?”
I looked at myself in my mirror. “I already did.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
I snickered. “I’m not getting dressed up to say hi to this jerk. You can’t make me do everything you want.”
“Fine,” Megan groaned. “At least you’re going to go. I gotta go to a meeting, Wren. Be a good girl…pretend it’s research for your book.”
Laughing, I gave her a quick goodbye before hanging up the phone and tossing it onto my bed. She was ridiculous.
There was no point in waiting any longer. Delaying the inevitable would only make me go crazy. I took a deep breath, smoothed the stray hairs of my pony tail, and went to go greet my new neighbors.
I pulled open the front door and he was standing on my porch, his hand raised to knock. I jumped out of my skin at the surprise of seeing him so suddenly.
“Shit!” I screamed and threw the door slammed closed between us.
My heart was pounding in my chest. Through the glass window of the door I could see the thin grin spreading across his face as he stared back at me. There was a tiny dimple in one cheek when he smiled like that. My thighs tensed at the sight.
Trying to keep my composure I reopened the door. I knew I was glaring at him when I muttered a quick, “Sorry about that.”
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” his voice was a deep rumble, a lion’s purr, as he continued to grin down at me.
“Sure,” I shrugged. I wanted to play it off, act like it had never happened. I was suddenly feeling very foolish, and very hot.
He stuck his hand out. “I’m Axton East. Your new neighbor.”
I shook his hand. “Wren Harding.”
A flash shot through the cold arctic blue of his eyes. “I wanted to apologize to you.”
My eyebrows crinkled as I regarded him skeptically. “For?”
“That incident at the store,” he threw a thumb over his shoulder, pointing in the vague direction of the Quick-E Mart.
“Oh,” I nodded. “It’s fine.”
“No,” he interrupted me sharply. “It wasn’t fine. I was a jerk.”
I could feel the heat rising up to my cheeks. He made me feel like I was under the desert sun, my body weak and thirsty. “You were.” I admitted without remorse. I wasn’t going to let him off of the hook that easily.
He laughed, a sound that was rumbling and dark and short-lived. I wanted more. I wanted to be the reason to hear that laugh again. I leaned against the edge of the door, trying to keep calm. But he wouldn’t stop staring at me, his gaze unflinching.
“But you’re not always a jerk?” I broke the silence between us, predicting his own excuse.
“Not always,” he smirked.
“Good.” I was withering under his stare. I needed to get back inside. I needed to put my head under the cold water faucet again.
“I just wanted to clear that up,” Axton shrugged and took a step backward. Unaware of what my own body was doing, I leaned forward, following after him. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you.”
His smirk told me he was referring to when he had seen me sunbathing. My face flushed again.
“Maybe.” I could have slapped myself for saying something so lame.
His thin lips twisted at the corners, another knowing smirk as he gave me one last look before stepping off my porch and walking back to his own cabin.
The moment he was out of sight the breath rushed back to my lungs and I quickly shut my door and leaned my forehead against the cool glass.
Maybe Megan had been right. Maybe I needed to explore.
Maybe I could learn to forget how much of an asshole Axton East had been when I first met him.
For the sake of my book.