I must have fallen asleep because when my eyes opened, it was dark. My surroundings had mostly vanished but I could still hear the ocean.
“Hey!” a voice called out over my music. “Are you serious with that?”
“With what?” I asked.
The shadow of my neighbor came into view. He’d taken a few steps closer… enough that the light next to the door lit gave him a slight yellow tinge.
“It’s midnight,” he said.
How could I have fallen asleep for so long outside? Traveling must have worn me out and the long bath must have relaxed me.
“Oh,” I said.
“So, can you turn it down?”
I fumbled for my phone, managing to increase the volume with my finger before dropping it on the ground.
“Dammit,” I said dropping to my knees. It must have landed screen side down because I couldn’t find it.
“Jesus,” he said stomping over. He picked the phone up and handed it to me. “Here.”
I swallowed hard as I took it from him, still on my knees. My eyes shifted upward. He was only inches away and I was at hip level.
My heart was pounding. He was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen in my entire life.
“I’m sorry,” I said getting to my feet. I took a step back. “I didn’t realize. It seems I had fallen—”
“Just keep it down, okay?”
His eyes were focused on mine. The intensity of his gaze felt like it was melting my insides. I could barely even remember what he was doing on my back porch.
“Sorry?” I said shaking my head.
“Keep the music down,” he said. He said each word slowly and carefully as though he didn’t think I understood them. He pointed at his shirt. “I’m a busy man. Why don’t you head out into town? Lots of places to hear music. Dance.” He looked me over before meeting my eyes. “Whatever floats your boat.”
“I’m just here to relax,” I said as if I needed to explain myself to him.
His eyes held some kind of power over me. And for the life of me, I couldn’t stop imaging him with his shirt off.
“Oh shit,” I said looking down at my phone. The screen was cracked. I tapped the screen hard and as far as I could tell, it was still working. “I’ll have to get a new phone now.”
“There’s a place in town that can fix it,” he said.
I looked at him. “I’m Olivia.”
“Frankie,” he said blinking twice slowly.
“Nice to meet you,” I said daring a smile.
“I need to shower and I’m beat,” he said. “Please keep your relaxing down to a minimum.”
I twisted my fingers together. “I didn’t even know I was—”
“Well, you were,” Frankie said. “It’s a rather secluded area but not that secluded. Be mindful of your neighbors.”
“Well, I didn’t know I had any,” I said.
“Be more observant.”
Were all men assholes? The more Frankie said, the more he reminded me of Danny. Everything I said was wrong.
“You don’t own this place,” I said sharply.
I almost let out an audible gasp at the words that had manage to find their way out of my mouth. I never would have dared say that to Danny or I would have definitely regretted it.
“If I want to listen to music, I’ll listen. I’m a paying customer,” I said crossing my arms.
Frankie’s lip curled at one end. “I can always put a call into the main office.”
“They won’t throw me out,” I said confidently.
“Sure about that?” Frankie said cocking his head.
“Yes,” I said narrowing my eyes. “Didn’t you say you were tired?”
Frankie held up his hands. I wasn’t sure if that had meant I’d won. He didn’t say another word as he walked away, letting his cabin door close with a loud bang.
My adrenaline was pumping. It stopped the second I looked down at my phone. I was going to text Hope and Tori about the incident but the cracked screen had made my brief moment of victory poof into nothing.
I sighed and walked back into my cabin. Closing the door hard and locking it behind me.
6
Frankie
Even in the shower, I couldn’t shake her image from my mind. After going through an awful divorce with Maria, there was no way I was going to allow another woman into my life.
I scrubbed myself roughly with the bar of soap. Showers after helping with custodial work never felt long enough.
I turned off the water and toweled off. It was hard to ignore my growing dick but if I allowed my mind to go there, I was afraid there would be no turning back.
What was her name? Olivia. Beautiful Olivia wasn’t what I needed. Although I didn’t know what the fuck I needed.
Peace and quiet. A day where I wasn’t called in to fill in for someone else so I could work on finding a lawyer that could help me get to see my daughter.