“You look terrible,” I told him cheerily since I was in such a great mood. Wren had already broken up with Mason, the boy that I didn’t like. I wasn’t opposed to my sister dating, but I wanted the best for her.
“Get in here,” he barked as he opened the door wide enough for me to step through.
I stepped inside and took in the single-wide. There wasn’t any furniture yet, but I made myself at home, anyway. I admired the pictures he—we—hung on the wall before I walked down the short hall that led to a bedroom.
There was an air mattress on the ground and a sleeping bag on top of that. “Oh, I see you have the deluxe adjustable firmness bed.”
He snorted from behind me. “I think you might be enjoying this too much.”
“Well, you are the boy who—“ I turned around to discover him standing directly behind me. His frame filled the doorway. One hand was grasping the door frame, putting his bicep at perfect admiring height. “You’re the boy who—who—er...“
I cleared my throat and finally dragged my eyes up to his face. He was smirking.
“You’re a bed snob,” I finally forced out. “You probably slept terrible on that air mattress. Wouldn’t you be much happier somewhere else?”
He grinned and leaned around me, grabbing his phone from the one windowsill in the room. He didn’t back out of my space. He just stood there, brushing against me as he scrolled on his phone. When he found what he was looking for, he flipped it around to show me.
My eyes scanned the screen, picking out the words in bold. “Order shipped? You bought a fancy bed for this single-wide?”
“Should be here in two days. You didn’t really think I planned on sleeping on an air mattress forever, did you? Please. I’m not Bear Grylls.”
This was so much worse than I thought. He really was planning to stay. If he was willing to buy a new mattress to make himself at home, he wasn’t looking at this like a short stay. I had to get him out.
“Why don’t you let me introduce you to the neighbors?” My voice cracked when I spoke.
“That sounds great,” he said, his chest rumbling against my arm.
I brushed past him with the urgency of a toddler about to wet their pants. Trailerhood Initiation was already backfiring. I had to get out of the small space. I had to get him outside into my territory where I had the upper hand.
“Let’s go!” I called as I practically sprinted out the door.
He followed behind me, pausing to lock the door.
“You really don’t have to bother with that.”
“I always lock my doors.” He scrunched his eyebrows together.
I laughed and shook my head. As if locking a paper-thin door was going to keep anyone out. He was dreaming.
“Riley! Who’s that with you?”
Excellent timing. The Trailerhood busy bodies, Elise and Sam, were standing on their front deck, watching us suspiciously, even though they knew exactly who he was.
I reached behind me and grabbed Nate’s arm. “Elise, Sam, this is our new neighbor.”
I shoved him forward. It only worked because he let me. He crossed the street in front of me and stopped at the bottom of their steps. “It’s great to meet you.” He extended his hand, shaking both of theirs in turn. “You have a beautiful deck here.”
He gestured to the small porch made of treated wood that was covered with pots of fake plants. I watched in awe as Elise smiled at him, keeping her cigarette firmly clamped between her teeth. “We’ve put a lot of work into this. Have to water my plants morning and night.”
Nate would soon learn that the reason she watered those plants morning and night was because she wanted to watch everything that went on in the trailer park.
“I can see that. You’ve created quite the oasis here.” He nodded toward a particularly waxy fern. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. I’d missed his dry sense of humor. I was glad he hadn’t lost that.
“Why don’t you come in and tell us all about yourself?” Elise suggested. “Sam, go get us a cold pop from the cellar.”
Sam nodded and trotted down the steps toward an old truck bed toolbox. He opened the lid and loaded his arms with drinks.
I turned around just in time to see Nate mouth, “The cellar?” to me over the top of Elise’s head.
“Elise, Nate here isn’t much of a cook. I’m worried that he hasn’t had breakfast yet today...”
“Say no more.” Sam grunted as he walked past. “I made breakfast today.”
This was turning out better than I thought.
The four of us sat down to breakfast, and I had the overwhelming pleasure of watching them serve Nate a powdered-egg-and-Spam breakfast burrito. My smile grew with every bite he choked down.
It was fifteen minutes of pure joy on my part and sheer agony on his. Elise asked him about a million questions about himself—questions that he deftly turned around on her and got her to talk about her favorite subject: trailer park gossip.
“I hate to run, but I know you both are so busy, and Riley needed to show me around before she takes off on her busy—” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “So, so, so incredibly busy day.”
“Oh yes,” Elise agreed. “Our Riley is something else. She works all the time. We’re so proud of her and how she has made herself a little star.”
I stood up quickly, determined to cut them off. I didn’t want to answer Nate’s questions about what kind of work I did. He would get a lot of mileage out of my job choice. “Got to go!”
I tugged on Nate’s arm. “Actually, I want to hear more about your star—“
“Maybe later, if you’re a good boy.” I waved goodbye to Sam and Elise, dragging Nate out of the trailer after me.
“Friendly people.”
I side-eyed him as I marched us past
