Go Away, Darling - Alexis Anne Page 0,7

they’d enjoyed the meal of fish guts I left behind for them. It only took five minutes to wash away the remains and get the dock back to normal. I was in the middle of stowing the hose when I decided—for a reason I still didn’t understand—to examine the dock beside mine. The one that belonged to Family With Kids.

Typically I didn’t look at this dock because the sun set in that direction and I didn’t enjoy having my irises burnt to a crisp. The dock was visible now that the sun was below the horizon. It was still older and still had a boat docked, just like the last time I looked at it.

But this time I saw it all in a brand new way. I knew that boat now.

It was the same boat that had been tied to mine earlier today.

3

Might as well swim home

Olivia

I took two cold showers when I got home. Two! And I was still hot and bothered from running into—literally I ran to him and gave him a hug—Chris Kaine. Well, technically, I hopped a boat and then acted like a fan girl and then hugged him. But those are details. I didn’t understand what came over me. There was something familiar about the grumpy guy who tried to grouch me away but it wasn’t until he went overboard, stripped off his hat, sunglasses, and long sleeved sun shirt that I realized who he was.

I had to admit I watched a lot of baseball. A lot. I always loved the sport but since Chris Kaine, a boy I’d once known, became one of the star pitchers of the Mantas, I’d started to watch every game. I knew what he looked like because the cameras liked to zoom in on his eyes when he was pitching.

I also had to admit I may have seen a picture or two of him shirtless on Pinterest.

I sipped my bourbon on the rocks and closed my eyes. How was it possible to feel hot and bothered by another human being? No, scratch that. I knew what it felt like when I was attracted to a guy. The confusing part was that it was now several hours later, after two cold showers, and I was still burning up.

And it had nothing to do with the sun.

Was it because I was surprised? Maybe. Surprise certainly did things to me. Like never wanting to eat takeout after getting food poisoning. That was a bad surprise.

But something told me seeing Chris was supposed to be a good surprise. He was funny (when he was done being grouchy) and bantered with me. It was easy to talk to him.

“Mom!” My front door opened and the unmistakable sounds of footsteps echoed through the house.

“Out back!” I didn’t get up. Lincoln knew where to find me and I was fairly sure if I tried to stand my knees would wobble. They’d wobbled on my boat all the way home and again in the shower.

Linc scrambled through the back door just as I heard my front door close. “Mom! We had the best week!” He jumped into my lap and hugged me hard around the neck.

Linc was eight and still my little cuddle bug. I hoped he always would be. “I’m glad. I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Heavy footsteps shuffled closer and closer until my ex-husband appeared in the doorway. “Hey Liv. How’s it going?”

Beau filled the entire doorway. He was a massive mountain of a man and always had been. Tall, wide, made of pure muscle, he was the new starting running back for the Tampa Bay Renegades.

“I had a good week.”

His eyes darted to my drink and back, quirking an eyebrow.

I shrugged. “Sue me.”

He smiled. “Never.”

Linc looked up. “We went to the zoo and the aquarium and to Disney! It was the best week ever!”

I knew all of this because Beau sent me pictures of everything, but it was fun to hear Linc’s version. “Which was your favorite?”

He made his eyes really wide and funny looking. “All of it!” He started back to school in two weeks and Beau was already getting busy with football season, but they took a week together before they were both so busy it would require minor miracles to get everyone together.

It was easier now than it had been when Beau played for Green Bay. Wisconsin and Florida weren’t close and dressing Linc for the dramatically different climate was a challenge. It’s hard to explain to a kid