21. Olivia
21
olivia
“ A re you up for a bit of a drive?” I ask as I put the last of our destinations into Hayes’ GPS. “It’s about thirty minutes, but I promise it’ll be worth it.”
“Well, if you promise it will be worth it, I suppose I can’t pass this up. Let’s do it.”
I should be a tangled mess of emotions right now based on what’s happened in the last few weeks. But hanging out with Hayes and getting to know other pieces of this sweet, sexy man, has been the best treatment for my not-so-broken heart. This is honestly better than sitting on the couch eating ice cream straight out of the container with Maggie while binge-watching some sappy show and ugly crying.
Sitting beside him now, Hayes’ hand on my thigh loosens the tension in my body, and his calmness wraps around me like my favorite blanket. I can see why he’s been named an assistant captain his first year here. Being a good leader requires a certain amount of composure when facing something as unpredictable as a storm. He doesn’t seem like the type to get rattled easily. Except when you hustle him into thinking you’re horrible at a dance game and show him up in spectacular style. I may not be a good skater; honestly, I’m not even a good dancer, but I’m excellent at lighting up those little squares as they pop up. And that rattled his cage. Mission accomplished. He practically dragged me into the hallway to devour me with the most passionate of our two kisses to date.
Am I counting kisses? Perhaps.
Am I dreaming? Dreaming would be an understatement.
Am I wishing he would kiss me right now? More than anything in the world.
Arriving at our final destination, we drive down the long hill towards Grant Park Beach. This place is breathtaking . It has a gorgeous view of the crisp, blue water of Lake Michigan, white, rocky sand lined with tiki torches, a pier to walk out and see the water up close, and a cute little hamburger stand to grab a snack.
I look over at Hayes, whose eyes are wide and full of awe. My heart swells, and I can’t stop the smile spreading across my cheeks at watching him instantly fall in love with this place like I did.
“Wow. You weren’t kidding when you said the drive would be worth it.”
“Do you remember when I told you I love finding hidden gem spots in the city? This is the best one in Milwaukee.” I beam as he parks, and we hop out to see this gorgeous beach in person.
“Olivia,” he breathes, unable to tear his eyes away, “This place is unreal. It’s…it’s beautiful. It’s like I’m on vacation.”
“Right?! That’s how I felt the first time I came here too. It’s my favorite place to sit and listen to the water.”
We step out of the car and walk towards the beach as I continue to ramble about all the reasons I love this place. “The water is too cold to swim in most of the time, but the breeze drifting off the lake is cooling even on the hottest days. There’s nothing better in the middle of the summer. The locals don’t like tourists to know about this place because it’s so peaceful and doesn’t get overly crowded.”
Hayes takes out his phone to snap some photos of the picturesque beach. “Thank you for trusting me with the secret location of this hidden beach. It’s amazing. Let me just post this on social media quickly to let all my two hundred thousand followers know I’m here,” he says with a wink.
I prepare to give him one of my famous punches, but his quick reflexes grab my hand before it reaches him, quickly pulling me towards him in an embrace I was not expecting but maybe hoping for.
“You’ve already gotten in trouble once today, sweet girl. Are you going for a record?” he murmurs with a raised eyebrow.
“Maybe I am,” I respond with a shaky breath. He stares at me with heat burning straight into me as thousands of butterflies float around my stomach. A current of sexual tension pulses between us, my body anxious to pick up where we left off in the hallway. I break the heady silence surrounding us. “Let’s go for a walk.”
We walk along the shoreline, his rough hand holding mine, before finding a picnic table somewhat secluded from the others enjoying the lake. We sit side by side on the bench facing the water, leaning our backs against the table and watching the waves crash on the shoreline.
“Can I ask you something?” Hayes asks, my body tensing at his words. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
Calm your tits, Olivia…Hayes is different . He’s not an asshat more interested in video games and getting drunk with his friends than spending time with his girlfriend.
“Sure. Ask me whatever you want.”
“Why were you and Cayden together for so long?”
That’s…not what I was expecting.
Taking in a deep breath, I calm myself knowing Hayes is just curious why we were together. So am I . “Honestly…that’s a great question.” I sigh, not feeling brave enough to face Hayes as I respond. “I haven’t had any serious boyfriends until Cayden. I would meet guys, and we’d go out on a few dates, but things would fizzle out, and we’d move on. It was fun, but it didn’t feel right. When I met Cayden, he was nice for a while. He got along well with my friends. But, looking back, there are a lot of red flags I should have seen sooner.” I grumble as I stare into the vastness of the water, embarrassed admitting all this, not only to Hayes but also to myself. “He was constantly talking about his friends and how he could never miss an event they had, or he’d be banished from their group. Who lives their life like that? And what kind of friends banish you if you miss a 4 th of July cookout?
“The last few months things got worse. I caught him lying a couple of times. Several weeks ago, he was supposed to be at work, but he called in sick. The whole day he was texting me like he was super busy, but I found out from his roommate’s girlfriend he was home all day playing video games with his roommates. He just…didn’t want to see me. I’d been trying to figure out how to ask him about it, but we barely saw each other for a few weeks, so it never came up.” I pause, nervously rubbing my hands up and down my thighs, realizing this is way too much information for me to be sharing with someone I barely know. Even if it feels like I’ve known Hayes for longer than a month. “I could go on all day about this,” I peek out of the corner of my eye, “you don’t need to listen to me ramble on about my horrible past relationship all night.”
“Olivia, it’s not too much. I happen to be a good listener. You said his name was Brayden, right?” he says as I smile and nudge him with my shoulder as a gentle thanks for the comic relief.
“Yes, Brayden. I think because it was my first long-term relationship, I didn’t know what to expect. I got into a headspace where I thought…maybe, this is as good as it gets.” My fingers tangle together in my lap, my knuckles white as I twist them together. “I wondered if this is simply what every relationship is like. I know my romance books and movies are just entertainment and nowhere close to real life, but I figured at least the person I was with would want to spend time together. Then I went down this whole rabbit trail of what’s wrong with me knowing someone who’s choosing to be with me doesn’t want to see me.”
Hayes reaches over and grabs my hands, giving them a gentle squeeze. His warmth fills me with a sweet comfort, and I let out a deep exhale at his soothing gesture, finally feeling like I can breathe again, purging all these emotions to someone who actually cares.
Hayes turns toward me, compassion flowing from his warm hands into mine. “You should never have to feel that way Olivia. And, believe it or not, I can relate.”
I blink, surprised someone like Hayes would ever have experienced someone like Cayden. “You can?”
He nods, his features softening as a somber expression crosses his face. “One of the reasons I was excited to sign with the Riders was to get away from my ex-girlfriend and the life we had in Tampa. I feel a lot of the same things. My ex, Chelsea, cheated on me. I knew something was up, but I chose to ignore the voice in my head warning me something was wrong.
“Being in the league, I obviously travel a lot. It’s part of the job that can be tough on the people you care about. You have to miss birthdays, anniversaries, and special events that are important to them. It sucks. It’s the most difficult part of the job. I always tried to find ways to arrange for special things when I’d be gone and to be together as much as possible when I was home.” His hand shakes against mine, and I interlace our fingers, reminding him I’m also here to listen.
“I thought things between Chelsea and I were good. Until I got home from practice one day and picked up her MacBook to start planning a surprise party for her birthday. There, on her screen, was a string of text messages from a contact saved as ‘Spam Risk.’ The messages were racy, but the icing on the cake was her trying to figure out how to tell me she was pregnant with his baby. My heart sunk straight to the pit of my stomach, and all I could think is w ell, cat’s out of the bag now, Chels .”
My heart drops at the pain Hayes must be going through. I want to take this grief from him, but the only thing I can think to do is grasp his hand tighter and I rub my thumb across his knuckles.
“After I confronted her about it, she blamed me for being away so much. She said she was lonely. Then she had the nerve to ask me for money to help her with the security deposit on a new place because baby daddy Brian was between jobs.
“As much as it hurt, and God, did it hurt, looking back it was for the best. She was living off my salary and trying to be an influencer. I’m not even sure if she cared about me or just thought I would be her sugar daddy and get her more social media followers.” He sighs, his head dropping back as he closes his eyes. “The timing of me signing with the Riders was a good excuse to get out of town and away from that train wreck. Get a fresh start.”
“Oh my God, Hayes, that’s awful! I can’t imagine what that must have felt like. That’s way worse than Cayden treating me like shit.”
He lets out a small chuckle. “It’s not a contest, Olivia. It sucked, that’s for sure, but like I said, I can relate. From what it sounds like, we’ve both had some shitty relationships, and it’s probably a good thing they are over,” he says, looking out toward the water again, a small smile on his face. “Had things not ended with her, I might never have moved to Milwaukee. I might never have ended up at some bar, hearing a gorgeous voice coming from the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and I wouldn’t be sitting here with her at this very moment.”
The rapid fluttering in my heart floats deep into my core at his words, my breath catching in my chest.
I can hardly find the breath to speak, staring at the ebb and flow of the water, willing my lungs to find some air. “You…you think I’m beautiful?”
He drops my hand, gripping my chin and tilting it towards him. “How many times do I need to tell you I don’t hand out compliments unless I mean them? Not only are you beautiful, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on. As if I needed another reason to want to kiss you every time I see you; you are smart, funny, and insanely talented. You deserve to be with someone who appreciates that and wants to spend time with you.”
My heart soars at his words, excitement building in my chest. “You want to kiss me again?”
“Out of that entire speech, that’s what you picked up on?” he says, laughing.
I bite my lip, trapped in Hayes’ orbit. His pull. His everything. “I only asked because…I’d like for you to kiss me again.”
I have no idea where this boldness is coming from, but it’s pouring out of me like a dam that’s suddenly broken wide open.
And there is no holding back this water.
Hayes leans toward me and places his other hand on my cheek, gently dragging his thumb across my lower lip as I shudder at his touch.
“Olivia, I could kiss these lips all day and never come up for air.” My heart races as he leans in, pressing his lips to mine. He’s gentle, delicate - cradling me as if I’m the most precious thing he’s ever held. Calming every fear, every worry, every bit of self-doubt constantly plaguing my mind. He’s kissing me with a quiet passion in my favorite spot in the city. It feels like it’s just the two of us on earth. Everything else fades away as I run my hand through his tousled hair, exploring his mouth with my tongue.
But it’s not enough.
My emotions and hormones are raging like wildfire. I need more. More of Hayes. More of this. More of everything. I pull back from the kiss, not giving myself time to second guess as I straddle him on the picnic bench. I drop my forehead against his, instantly enveloped by his woodsy spice smell. God, I could drown in this man’s scent. I lean in to kiss him as he wraps his arms around my back, pulling me tight against him.
Oh my God. I can feel his excitement pressing against me. I wiggle, just a little, to let him know, and now he’s the one moaning. Knowing I am turning him on is getting me even more worked up. I can’t stop my hips from grinding against him again, teasing both of us.
God, he feels so good pressed against me like this.
“Olivia…” He moans my name, interrupting the kiss. “I do not want to stop what we are doing for any reason. But…we are in public. And seeing as there are people on the beach, it might be a crime for me to walk back to my car with what’s happening in my pants right now.”
I giggle, letting my head fall to his shoulder. “Good point. I guess I got a little carried away there.” I bite my lower lip in attempt to hide the embarrassed grin on my face. I have zero regrets about what happened, ignoring the voice in my head, sounding a lot like Cayden, telling me I’m too much .
He leans in to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Alright, let’s get out of here. But could you walk in front of me? Kind of like a shield in case anyone sees us.”
I laugh hysterically, crawling off his lap and offering him a hand. “I’m happy to serve as your boner shield anytime.”