Thank you to Iamme29 for the original story suggestion and outline.
~x~x~
The sun was high in the sky. Looking out the hallway window, Olivia had a perfect view of the back garden.
He
was out there again - doing what he often did on weekends. Working out.
His muscular body glistened as it rippled with exertion, sweat shining off his rich, dark-brown skin in the summer sun. Today, it was a little later than usual - he usually got his exercise done before noon. Maybe he knew she'd be watching. The thought spun in her mind, only for a voice to break through the fantasy.
"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer."
Startled by her sister's voice, she spun round - taking a moment to weigh the insinuation and her sister's amused expression. Several emotions surged at once - panic, guilt, outrage, anger. She settled on outrage.
"I'm sorry, what's that supposed to mean?" Olivia snapped at her younger sister, impassioning her defence with a look of incredulity and sincere innocence.
"Nothing," Kendra shrugged, though stifling a smile. Her amusement told Olivia that she hadn't bought the ruse. "Ok, well actually... what I'm saying sis... is that you have been standing in the window for a while - staring at that hunk next door! And yes... I know he's attractive - even though he's not my type. But your eyes are gonna fall out your head soon. You should just go over and say
Hi
- that's all I'm saying."
Olivia quickly shifted to anger. "What? Hold up - I have not been staring! I was just standing by the window, waiting for you!"
The distant honk of a car cut through the tension. Kendra glanced in the direction before making one more retort.
"Liv, it's OK! You can check out guys all you like! You're single, remember? Hell - I've got a girlfriend and I still check out the odd hot piece of ass here or there... Boy or girl! There's no harm in looking," Kendra reasoned.
Her defensive mechanism activated; Olivia wasn't about to let her sister leave with the final word. "Why do you always do this? You're always teasing me about my... And now you're making it seem like I'm some kind of prude! Or perv! Just because I'm not dating!"
Kendra, ever the more loquacious of the two, clearly looked like she was ready to go on the offensive. But she chose the more sympathetic route, at least at first. She realised she had struck a nerve with her sister and didn't want to leave on a sour note. "Oh no, Olivia. Ok look... I didn't mean to make you feel like
that
. I'm... sorry," she pleaded, rounding forward and embracing her in a big hug. "I just... I feel for you. Out here on your own - can't I be a little worried for you, big sis?"
"I've gotten used to it. It's been a year almost," Olivia sighed.
"It's lonely out here on your own - I can tell. I just wish you'd go out and meet more people. You live here, so you might as well embrace the small town life. Go out, get drunk on shit beer. Got to a barbeque while it's still warm... And for god's sake - get laid!"
"Hey! Don't you - "
"I gotta go. Love you!"
Kendra kissed her on the cheek and quickly brushed past her, before Olivia could finish her sentence.
"Damn it," she swore, unhappy to let her sister have the last word.
She heard the truck HONK outside moments before Kendra walked through the front door. Kendra's girlfriend, Xenia was hollering for her to move along, having been waiting impatiently for at least ten minutes. They had a long drive across two states and wanted to get back to campus before it got late. Then she heard the crunching of the gravel as the truck drove down the driveway and out of earshot. She was alone again.
Olivia was still irked by what Kendra had implied. That she had been ogling her new neighbor. Who did she think she was? Being two years younger than her, Kendra always seemed capable of getting under her skin.
"I wasn't... watching him," she repeated to herself, throwing a vexed look at the wall, in the direction of the yard next door. On the other side - he was probably working out again. She could almost hear his grunts of exertion. In fact, as if pulled by some hypnotic charm, she was standing by the big window again, her gaze across her yard. That's where she had seen him earlier - the big, muscular black man. That's where she'd seen him all summer long. Usually, he was in the back yard, exercising, dressed only in shorts, his muscular form tensing and flexing.
But he wasn't there anymore. He must have gone inside. Suddenly, it occurred to her that she could still hear the low grumble of the truck outside.
***
Olivia rushed downstairs and out to her front porch. As she had suspected - Kendra and Xenia hadn't driven off yet and the truck was idling at the juncture of the Close. Standing next to the passenger side of the car, talking to them through the open window was her hunk neighbor.
Maybe he'd heard Xenia honking and gone out front, only to strike up conversation with the two departing girls. At least he'd had the decency to put on some clothes.
Olivia observed from afar, curious but also anxious about what the three might be discussing - what embarrassing revelation Kendra might divulge. She and Xenia had only been visiting for a month and had managed to find a way to stir things up. Even on their way out they were causing her all kinds of bother. She wondered if they were flirting with him. As far as she could tell, Xenia was a committed lesbian. But Kendra was Bisexual - who knows what sultry impressions she was leaving on the neighbor, hoping for one last bit of fun at her big sister's expense.
The neighbor
- she still didn't know his name. He had moved in just before 4
th
of July weekend and always seemed busy working long hours when he wasn't working out his body. Sometimes he'd drive out in his big Dodge truck and be gone all day. She was never sure when he was home, except for when he was out in his garden. Or out running.
If she had to admit it, then yes - she supposed she had noticed him a few times. In fact, one could say she had been checking him out. It was hard not to. Even as he leaned against Xenia's truck, his face slightly out of view, she could see his taught muscles pressed against his tee, his physique starting to form sweat lines on his grey tee.
She could swear she'd seen him glance over at her too. At least one time, when she had been taking out the garbage and he had been in his front yard - washing his car. She was sure that he had stayed at the same spot, unmoving as her back was turned to him, his view fixed on her.
Olivia wondered if Kendra and Xenia would ever leave... and then she saw him back away, wave a hand goodbye and walk back to his house as the truck drove off. She turned around - but he had already spotted her. She was climbing back up the porch and into her house when he called out to her.
"Hey there!" She heard his voice. At that moment, as she had been walking back inside, he would have had a view of her ass. Rumours she had heard was that black guys liked girls with big butts. And she did have a nice ass. And breasts - not to mention she had been called pretty plenty of times. Truth be told, she knew she was attractive, with an ample frame that she had toned through plenty of hiking and walking. But she hadn't ever felt 'hot' in the way some of her old friends did, despite what she had been told. She had felt sexy only a few times and wondered if her last breakup had caused this lack of confidence.
She wondered how her hot neighbor saw her. On this warm summer's day, late August, she had been wearing skinny shorts, along with a small college tee and sandals. Her attire would have inspired some imagination, even if she had no reason to suspect his mind would wonder that way. She spun around quickly, as if to break any lingering gaze he might have had.
"Hi," she greeted him back, flashing a smile. He briskly walked over as she stood on her porch. Almost two months he lived next door, and she hadn't said a word to him until now. Not very neighborly.
He looked even bigger up-close. He was tall, around 6'4. And handsome - his dark complexion befitting his features perfectly.
"Hey - I... I just wanted to say - what's up?" he spoke confidently, a husky depth to his voice, "My name's Jared - I live next door. Moved in early summer but hadn't had the chance to properly introduce myself."
His eyes were expressive - a rich shade of brown - and intense. But his smile was warm and confident. He projected an effortless charm that Olivia found alluring, much to her chagrin. Naturally, his well-defined physique had afforded him a confidence around others. A closer look at his face suggested he was younger than she had thought, maybe only a few years older than her and definitely in his twenties.
"I'm - I've been... I'm Kendra's sister! Olivia - is my name," she stumbled while trying to reign in her eyes and find her words. "Welcome to the neighborhood!"
He wasn't much as muscular as he was jacked - swole even, with bulging pecs and biceps. He bore a scar on his right forearm, just below the elbow - a deep cut that had healed over time. It was perhaps his only imperfection, though annoyingly it somehow added to his rugged beauty.
Jared walked up to her and reached out a hand. Even standing lower on the porch steps, he stood taller than her. His smile warmed as she reached forward with her hand. The skin on his palm was a little rough to the touch, but there was a reassuring weight to his grip. "Nice to meet you, Olivia. Thanks for the welcome. Who is Kendra, by the way? The driver?"
"Oh! No... um that's Xenia, her girlfriend. My sister is the blonde one with the big mouth... They been visiting for a while. I've had this place... since my dad died last year," she explained, having to swallow as she spoke of the bereavement. "Kendra is at college. I'm living here for the time being. Slowly trying to renovate the place."
"I'm sorry for your loss. Must be hard living here alone - I hear the winters can be brutal."
She sighed, putting on an assured front. "Well yeah, if you're not from around here - if you're not used to it, I mean. I lived here for a bit when I was younger. Now, I got so much to keep me occupied... with this house - but I'm also working as a designer. Freelance gig stuff," she spoke, finishing abruptly and dropping her gaze. She felt a little embarrassed at the amount of information she had shared unasked for.
Jared, to his credit, nodded along - maybe looking a little tuned out - or perhaps also thoughtful about what he had just heard. "I hear you. Still - I mean this whole town... the place feels a little..."
"Isolated?"
"Yes. Lonely. But I guess you must know a few folks from town?"
"I do, I guess. It's a small town. But not too well. My parents divorced when I was ten. Dad moved out here... my sister and I used to visit often. I always liked it more than she did - at least back then."
"So, you like the isolation?"
