Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
“Right, okay, I’m there. Of course.”
“This could be a big night,” Ollie says, bouncing over to me to squeeze my upper arms. “It could be the night!”
I stare at him, not fully comprehending what he’s trying to say.
He rolls his eyes, still smiling. “Yeah, okay, play coy. But I know you still want to get laid. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to tell Toby how much you’re looking forward to seeing him again.”
Ollie winks at me, his smile broadening into a sly grin. Unease settles in the pit of my stomach, but I return the smile and try to look excited as he begins devising how we’re going to convince Evan to let us throw a real party.
I don’t have the heart to try and discourage Ollie from trying to deceive his dad. I wouldn’t even know what to say. This was our plan from the beginning; he’ll know something’s off if I try to back out now.
I just hope I can keep all the lies straight.
CHAPTER SEVEN
NATASHA
The next few days pass in a bittersweet blur of heated hallway kisses and intimate caresses whenever we find a moment alone. Tongue, teeth, hands. Evan uses every tool at his disposal to make sure I’m never left wanting for long.
Some nights, he drives to the lake house after work to join us for dinner before returning to his apartment in the city, and in the one sweet hour we have alone before Ollie gets home from work, he reminds me just how much he adores my body.
He can’t get enough, and I’m quickly becoming just as addicted to the taste of him on my lips, the feel of his hands on my hips, and the way he rocks into me like we were made for each other.
It’s almost perfect. The one thing that would make it so is if we didn’t have to hide from Ollie. Lying to my best friend, especially about something as important as this, eats away at me. Wanting Evan and being wanted in return feels like the biggest betrayal of my life.
He’s Ollie’s dad, but he makes me feel safe and desired and feminine and happier than I’ve ever been.
I know I have no right to be this happy, but things are going so well with Evan. We’ve talked about how we want to tell Ollie the truth, how long we should wait, if it would be better to tell him before or after school starts back up in the fall. In truth, we’re both terrified of losing Ollie, so we’ve agreed to continue seeing each other in secret.
But the lying gets harder every day. Lying to Ollie about his dad, lying to Evan about Ollie’s plans to throw a big party.
The knots in my stomach grow tighter and more tangled the closer we get to the weekend. Ollie’s plan worked; we’ve successfully convinced Evan to allow us to invite a few more people over this Thursday evening while he’s not around, so long as things don’t get “out of hand.” No underage drinking, no drunk swimming, the usual dad concerns.
But what Evan doesn’t know is that the guest list is actually four times longer than the one we pitched.
“You look like you’re gonna barf and you haven’t even started drinking yet,” Ollie says to me.
I load a few more beers into the cooler on the deck. “I’m just worried something’s going to get broken.”
“It’ll be fine, Nat.” He fits the lid on the cooler and then squeezes my shoulders. “We’re finally gonna have a real party.”
“Just promise me this thing won’t go past two in the morning.”
“I promise we’ll wrap things up by dawn.”
“Ollie,” I say with a tone of warning.
He laughs and kisses my temple. “I know why you’re freaking out, Nat. You’re nervous about finally losing your V-card tonight. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you and Toby aren’t disturbed.”
Guilt stabs my insides like a period cramp.
“That’s not why I’m freaking out.”
The sound of a car engine growling up the driveway averts Ollie’s attention. He pulls me into a side hug.
“Sounds like our first guests have arrived,” he says. “I promise, this is gonna be fun.”
By the time the last car pulls onto the front lawn, I’m fully convinced that this party was a terrible idea.
I make my way through the crowd of people dancing and chatting on the deck, picking up any empty beer bottles and red plastic cups I come across. Music blares from Bluetooth speakers, so loud I can barely hear my own thoughts. I reach for my phone and discover it’s not in my back pocket. Three songs later, I still have no idea where I set it down.
“Shit,” I mutter. I see my friend, Hailey, dancing down on the dock and make my way over to her.
“Do you know what time it is?” I ask her.