Chapter 4
Chapter Four
OLLIE
SURVIVAL
“Do I look okay?” I ask, not for the first time tonight.
“Would you relax?” Hunter smacks my hand away from my tie so I won’t keep messing with it. “You look great.”
“Really?” I adjust my glasses, looking down at the white shirt with a festive tie and my standard black jacket.
“Promise.”
“I worry people are going to take one look at us and realize I’m lying,” I confess. “I feel like it’s written all over my forehead.”
“Hey.” Hunter grabs my bicep, pulls me off the sidewalk, and presses me up against the side of the building. “No one is going to know this isn’t real unless you blurt it out to them. We’ll go in there, have a few drinks, and chat with your coworkers before going home.”
“You know I’m prone to blurt things, right?”
He smiles at me. “I know. But if you think you’re in danger of saying anything, just say eggplant.”
“Eggplant?” I laugh. “Really, Hunter?”
My shoulders release the pent-up tension I’ve been carrying around since he picked me up earlier tonight.
This close, I can see Hunter’s playful brown eyes. A shudder racks my body at how they are fixed solely on me.
Wait, what? That’s a new feeling. Hunter has looked at me thousands of times, probably hundreds of thousands of times since we grew up together, and it’s never elicited this kind of response.
I ignore the feeling. It’s not what I need to be worried about right now.
“Got you to relax, didn’t it? Besides, we’re friends. People aren’t going to question how well we know each other.”
“You haven’t met Sharon. She’ll want to know everything.”
“Then it’s a good thing I know everything about you, Ollie. You can quiz me if it makes you feel better.”
I pin him with a look that says I want to do this but don’t want to say it because I don’t want to insult him. Like saying it is going to make it even more apparent that we aren’t dating.
“Fine,” he says. “You’re Ollie. We met when we were babies at the hospital because our moms were best friends.
You’ve had glasses since second grade and you’re a superhero movie junkie.
Soup is the only food group you care about, and though you won’t admit it, you love watching the gardening channel because it calms you down, despite having a black thumb. ”
I straighten. “Okay, I guess we’ll be okay.”
“I told you we would.”
Hunter winks at me before stepping back onto the sidewalk and heading toward the restaurant. I can’t help it—my nerves are still on edge. Mainly because of how he made me feel.
Sound filters out from the bar. Music. Laughter. The happy chatter of voices. I wish attendance at this holiday party wasn’t required. It’s probably because people like me would choose to stay home.
Even though I love my job, I don’t like being social with people I don’t know well. And after all these years, I still consider my coworkers just that—coworkers.
Hunter holds the door open and sweeps his arm out in front of me. “After you.”
“Wow. You really know how to play up this whole boyfriend thing.”
“It’s called being chivalrous.” He winks at me.
“It’s a wonder you’re not already taken,” I whisper.
Loud music practically slaps me in the face as we step inside. Our owner rented out the entire place for us tonight. Tables are filled with food, and a line of people waiting for drinks wraps around the bar .
“Want me to get us drinks?” Hunter asks.
“I’ll go with you.”
Scanning the crowd, I’m not quite ready to be on my own. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m here by myself and having to answer those questions.
“Ollie! You made it,” Sharon’s voice rings out.
I jump, running smack-dab into Hunter’s chest. He settles a hand on my waist.
“Relax,” he whispers into my ear. “Everything is fine.”
“Right,” I say more to myself than anything.
“I can’t believe we’re meeting Ollie’s boyfriend,” Sharon says.
I don’t move, still stuck in Hunter’s grasp. His hand gives me a possessive squeeze, letting me know I’m okay.
And boy, am I ever okay when Hunter touches me like that.
“Sharon, this is my boyfriend, Hunter. Hunter, this is Sharon.”
Tinsel trees hang from her ears as her sweater lights up, flashing various colors at me.
“It is very nice to meet you,” she says, sticking her hand out.
Hunter takes it, giving her a smile. “It’s nice to finally meet some of Ollie’s coworkers.”
“I hope you don’t take offense I kept trying to set Ollie up. I only want to see him happy.”
“Believe me, we’re happy.”
I turn my head back to look at Hunter, his eyes shining down at me.
Huh.
He really does look happy. Even under that scruffy beard of his, I can see happiness radiating from him.
Hunter really is a good actor.
“I can see that.” I turn my attention back to Sharon, and she looks like the cat that got the canary. “I’ll let you two grab drinks and get settled. I’ll see you around.”
With that, she’s off. No doubt to tell everyone that she just met Ollie’s boyfriend.
“Great. Everyone is going to know we’re here in about five minutes.”
Hunter laughs. “Five minutes? More like five seconds. She was giddy at meeting me.”
I smack his chest as we move forward in line. With several bartenders working, the line moves quickly.
“We don’t need to inflate your ego.”
“Ollie. I heard you made it.”
The owner of the firm, Kevin, waltzes up with his husband on his arm. They are both in tacky Christmas sweaters.
“Hi, Kevin. Raymond.” I reach around to loop my arm through Hunter’s. “This is my boyfriend, Hunter.”
“It’s very nice to meet you.”
They all shake hands and introduce themselves.
“Thanks for inviting us,” Hunter says. “Any night out with this guy is a great evening.”
Hunter presses a kiss to the top of my head, sending a fissure of emotions crashing through me. He really is laying it on thick.
“As long as you don’t go crazy on the open bar and rip things off of walls.” Kevin laughs, but I know he’s serious.
Hunter holds up his hands. “I promise. I won’t get out of line.”
“Good. You two enjoy yourselves.”
More people come up and introduce themselves to us, and by the time a bartender waves us forward, my nerves are fried.
“Two shots of cinnamon whisky and two beers,” I say.
“Coming right up.”
“And whatever he’s having.” I throw a thumb over my shoulder to Hunter.
“Those aren’t for me too?” He quirks a brow at me. “Hitting it pretty hard, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” I nod. “I need all the liquid courage I can get to make it through this evening.”
Two shot glasses are set on the bar, and I suck them down back-to-back. Hunter’s eyes go wide.
“Am I going to be picking you up off the floor later?”
“No.”
At least I don’t think so. But we’ll see. I’m already at my limit of socialization and the evening has only just begun.
I hope I can survive it.