Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“You could have talked to me. You could have fucking sent me a text, or called, or even fucking waited until we were together to ask me about it.”
“I’m sorry. I just—”
“It’s all good. There’s no hard feelings,” I cut her off.
“Bax.”
“Night, Olivia.”
“So that’s it? You’re just done?”
“Babe, you threw in the towel without even giving me a chance to explain, and even before that, you had an escape plan.” I drag my eyes off her and continue walking away from her, which is difficult.
“I didn’t have an escape plan.” The quiet statement has me slowing. “And you’re right, I should have asked you about Julie. I just…” I hear her drag in a breath before I turn to look at her. “The guy I was dating before I moved back here cheated with a coworker, and I put that on you, which wasn’t fair.” Her chin wobbles. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.” Shaking her head, she drops her eyes from mine and turns back toward Kourtney’s house.
Fuck.
“Olivia!” I call out, and she turns to look at me over her shoulder.
“It’s okay. Like you said, no hard feelings. Right?”
“Olivia.”
Fuck, I watch her walk away, wondering if I should just let her go, but Sage’s words play through my head. I know eventually, we’d end up right back where we are, and I’d regret the time we missed out on because of my own stubbornness and the delusion that I have the power to stop the inevitable. With a deep breath, I close the distance between us, and as soon as she’s within reach, I grab her wrist and turn her around to face me.
When she tips her head back to look up at me, and I see the tears in her eyes, I hate myself a little for being part of the reason she’s upset.
“I’m a dick.” I cup her face in my hands and smooth away the wetness from under her eyes. “I should have told you about the situation with Julie before she could get in your head.”
“It’s not your fault.” Her fingers knot in the material of my shirt as her eyes slide closed, and another tear escapes from between her lashes. “She just seemed so sincere.”
“I’m sure she did.” I wrap my arms around her, tucking her against my chest, and rest my chin on the crown of her head. “She’s a bitch, baby.”
“Yeah,” she whispers, rubbing her face against my chest. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. I should have talked to you.”
Tangling my fingers in her hair, I force her head back. “No more apologizing. It’s done. She doesn’t get anything more.”
“Okay.” She swallows.
“You ate dinner at your parents’?”
“I tried, but I couldn’t,” she admits, and thinking about her so upset by what Julie said that she couldn’t even eat, my anger toward Julie intensifies.
“How about we order something in and watch our show?” When I get her nod, I turn us back toward Kourtney’s house.
“Are we staying here?”
“No, you’re staying with me, but you need to pack a bag unless you left your shit at my house this morning.”
“I didn’t,” she mumbles, so I follow her in and sit on the edge of her bed, ordering us dinner while she gets her stuff together. As I’m hanging up with the restaurant, a text from her dad comes through, asking if she made it home okay.
Shit.
I text him back, then grab her hand when she's passing me to go into the bathroom. She smiles softly, but I can still see the tension from the situation in her pretty features.
“I’m almost done.”
“I know.” I pull her to stand between my legs and capture her waist in my hands. “I just need to tell you that I talked to your dad earlier.” Her eyes widen. “I called to see if he heard from you, and he let me know you were at their place for dinner.”
“Okay.”
“He asked me if something was going on between us, and I couldn’t lie, not when he asked me straight out.”
“What did you tell him?” she asks nervously.
“That we’re spending time together and getting to know each other.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me not to fuck up.”
“Oh.” She rubs her lips together. “That’s not so bad.”
I give her waist a squeeze. “I just wanted you to know in case he brings it up.”
“He didn’t, not even when he walked me out to my car when I was leaving, but I’m going to have to tell my mom. She’ll be upset if she hears it from him.”
“You can call her when we get over to my place.”
She nods, then bites the inside of her cheek as her gaze roams mine. “I… I’m going to have to figure out how to tell Liam.”
“I’ll talk to him when you’re ready for him to know.”