Okay fine. So, he had a job. I should have realized that since he was at the market today in the back. “Maybe not all of you,” I replied.
“Maybe not,” he agreed, grinning as he kept his eyes on the road. “Tell me, are you always this judgmental or is this just a special case?”
That stung, perhaps because it was true. I was judging people I did not know simply by the way they looked and the noise they managed to create down the street nightly. “I think this is a special case,” I said.
He laughed again. “Good to know. I’d hate to think you were always so damn uptight. Kind of reminds me of the ladies at my gramma’s church.”
I had wondered where his grandmother was today, since it was obvious Lloyd was married to a younger woman since his daughter was in high school. I didn’t know the details or anything but that was my assumption. “Are your grandparents still married?” I asked then and instantly wished I hadn’t. That was rude and nosey.
He shot a glance my way then but he didn’t appear offended. Simply amused. “Yep,” he replied then waited a moment before adding. “You’re wondering about Hazel, aren’t you?
If Hazel was the girl from today then yes, I was in fact wondering about Hazel. I felt bad for admitting it though. However, his family tree was rather complicated.
“Hazel was the product of a bad situation that happened at the market. One of the field hands that Pop hired ended up raping one of the younger girls that worked as a cashier at the market. She was only fifteen and she got pregnant. The girl’s parents went to Gram’s church and they don’t believe in abortion. They decided to let her have the baby but put it up for adoption. A lot of shit happened. The family moved because the girl needed special care for the trauma she had been through. This town and all brought back too much. Anyway, long story short, my gram and Pop adopted Hazel. She’s been theirs since the day she was born.”
Wow. That was not at all what I’d been expecting.
“We’re here,” he announced then, snapping my thoughts from his story to the present. Rio had pulled the Jeep into a sandy gravel driveway that belonged to a two-story white beach house. There were several vehicles parked outside. I recognized two of them. The blue Ford truck and the red Mercedes convertible.
“Whose house is this?” I asked, not opening the door to get out.
“Mine,” Rio replied and I jerked my gaze from the house that sat directly on the beach with a wraparound porch and balcony in front of me to look at him.
“Yours?” I asked not sure if he was joking or not.
He smirked. “You look like you don’t believe me,” he replied.
“Well, if your pop pays you enough at the farmer’s market to afford a one-point-five-million-dollar house then I might need to come apply for a job.”
He opened his door then and started to move to get out. “I live here with two other friends.”
“So y’all rent this place?” I asked, still doing the math in my head and not seeing how three people in their early twenties could afford this place.
“Two of us rent, one of us owns it. That isn’t important. Just get out of the Jeep,” he replied then did as he told me to do.
I reached for the handle and got down out of the vehicle. The noise level here was much different from their friend’s house down the street from Gran’s. All I heard was the ocean waves breaking against the shore. At least this was where Rio lived so there wasn’t a chance of Saul asking me to leave.
Rio walked around the Jeep and glanced up at the balcony and the open double doors. “it’s too damn hot to leave the doors open. I don’t want to pay my half of that electricity bill,” he grumbled then looked back at me. “Why are you so nervous?” he asked me then.
I had just met this guy today, but I felt oddly comfortable around him. “I’m not good with people. At least new people. I prefer to keep to myself,” I told him honestly.
“Stepping out of your comfort zone,” he said. “Impressive.”
I stopped walking then and stared up at him. “No, it isn’t. I’m doing this because you said you would tell me what you meant by my gran not sending those tool boxes to Lloyd for the reasons I thought.” I didn’t want him to forget there was a reason I was here.
He smiled just as he looked away from me. “I know,” was his only response. “Still fucking impressive.” Then he continued toward the steps leading up to the door.
He had shared something personal with me in the Jeep about his aunt, but he hadn’t even hinted about what he had been referring to earlier today. I didn’t know how my coming to this party did anything for him. He was clearly not using me to make anyone jealous. He wasn’t attracted to me. This entire thing made no sense but yet here I was walking in the door of his house and into his world of wealthy friends who may or may not want me here.
The inside was even nicer than the outside. I may have guesstimated how much this place cost incorrectly. There was a possibility this was closer to two-million and who in the heck owned it?
“Rio!” a female voice called out in greeting. “I made your favorite Long Island mix but you’re late. It’s already gone.”
I looked to the left where a wide-curved staircase came from the second floor. The girl was standing near the top of the stairs, leaning over the railing with a tall glass of what I would assume was a Long Island iced tea. Her dark blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun and she was wearing a black bikini. The suntan oil was still on her skin and she looked as if she’d just come inside from tanning.
“Thanks, Kay Kay but you have to hide that shit from Drake. Whoever has the double doors open on the balcony up there tell them to close the damn things or they can pay the fucking electric bill,” he replied and then glanced at me not waiting on her response. “Come on,” he said.
I followed him through the open entrance, straight down a wide hallway that led into a large open living room. It had two levels. I could see on the lower level there was a massive white U–shaped sectional sofa that set in the middle of the room with a couple I didn’t recognize sitting closely on the far-right side talking. There was no one else down there but them. I lifted my gaze to the vaulted ceilings and exposed wooden beams. Ceiling fans that hung down from the top seemed to be on high speed but I wasn’t sure they did much good in a room this size. The entire back wall was floor-to-ceiling windows. I could see a few people out on the back deck. The sun would be setting soon and the view outside was going to be beautiful. I understood why everyone would want to be outside.
A well-stocked bar set off to the right of the first level of the room, once you were completely inside and could see it. In front of the bar itself sat three stools. The brunette that Drake had brought to Signed Sips was sitting on the middle stool, wearing a black zebra print bikini. I was overdressed in my blue sundress.