43. I’m Not Immature, I’m Goofy There’s A Difference
CARTER
“ I got one !”
“What? Lemme see.” I try to take Olivia’s fishing rod from her, but she twists away.
“Back off!” she yells, kicking her leg out, splashing water up at me. “You’re gonna let it get away!”
“No I’m not!” I reach for the rod again, but she dashes down the stream, reeling in her line as she goes. “I know how to reel in a fish, Olivia !”
“I’d believe you if I’d seen you do it, Carter !” She’s got her tongue out, poking the corner of her mouth as she works, grunting, reeling, and when that salmon breaks the water, she a-ha ’s, an arrogant beam spreading across her face. “What’s that now? Four for me, zero for you?”
“Shut up.” I slosh water up at her, but she just giggles. It’s kinda maniacal and a little scary. “It’s ’cause I let you use my good rod.”
“It’s ’cause I’m better.” She winks. “At using this rod and the one in your pants.”
“ Ollie ,” I muse, half gasp, half guffaw, creeping toward her. “I’ve never been so attracted to you as I am right now.”
“You’re always attracted to me,” she murmurs, focused on prying the hook from her salmon.
This is true. Always. Always, always, always.
Though there’s definitely something about standing in a stream, water up to her knees, her teensy denim shorts soaked through from all the splashing she’s been doing, holding a fish that’s, like, a third of her height in length that makes her especially sexy right now.
Olivia grunts, lugging the big fish up, and when she slings it across her arms, she grins at me. “Can you take a picture? So you can always remember that I don’t just kick your ass at beer pong, but at salmon fishing too.”
There’s a rumble of protest in my throat, but it quickly spirals into a laugh as I snap her picture over and over again, and when Olivia sets the fish free, I wade over to a large rock and take a seat.
She sinks down beside me, sticking her head over my shoulder. “Did you just add that to your secret spank bank folder?”
I tuck my phone into my pocket. “Yeah.”
“It’s a little… different than the normal pictures you put in there.”
“You look hot as fuck. Your legs are all wet and your smile is as cocky as mine.” I lean into her, the tip of my nose grazing hers as my teeth press into my lower lip.
“I mean, if you wanna take off your clothes and let me fuck your throat right now, I can take a picture and add that one, too, pip-squeak. We don’t have any outdoor pictures. ”
“That’s not true. I took a picture of you between my thighs on your balcony last week.”
“Oh yeah. Fuck. I ate like a king that day.” I nudge her shoulder with mine. “And stop calling it mine . It’s yours too. Not just the balcony, the whole damn house.”
“Not yet, not officially.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s been yours since you first stepped into it.”
Her cheeks tint pink. It’s adorable she still blushes sometimes. “Carter.”
“What? You belong there and you always have. It’s yours, whether or not you’re waiting to officially be out of your house and never ever sleep anywhere but our bed again.”
“Never ever?”
I brush a kiss across her lips. “Never ever ever .”
For the first time, Olivia stayed at my house last weekend while I wasn’t there. She was all nervous about it, but there’s something about knowing she’s puttering around my kitchen, lounging on my couches, sleeping in my bed while I’m away.
It’s been a month since she agreed to move in with me, and we finally listed her house last week.
It sold in thirty-six hours for 25 percent over asking price because Vancouver real estate is on fire right now.
It doesn’t close until end of June, which means I’ve got another six-ish weeks to go of Olivia pretending like she’s only “sleeping over.”
I can’t wait to build our home together.
“You know,” I say, leaning into her. “Cara and Em’s wedding is that weekend.”
“Mhmm.”
“So we’ll be too busy to move. And you’ll be too busy hiding from Cara for at least two weeks before that.”
“This is true.”
“So maybe you should move in now.”
“Hmm…” Olivia’s lips purse, thumb skimming her chin like it’s something she needs to think long and hard about it.
Ha. Long and hard. That’s what she—no. No, Carter. Be more mature.
Olivia’s gaze narrows on mine. “Are you thinking something dirty right now?”
Pressing my lips together, I shake my head. “Nuh-uh.”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m about to spend all summer with you, you know. Feels like I should soak up all this personal space before you invade it.”
A growl rumbles in my chest.
That thumb keeps skimming, and then she raises her palm in a half shrug. “Plus, you only have seven fireplaces, and I was kinda hoping for an e—” Her words dissolve on my tongue as my mouth takes hers, and I lift her, setting her on my lap.
My palms scrape over her thighs, her hips, and I hug her to me. “Stay, please.”
Olivia takes my face in her hands, warm brown eyes sparkling in the sun.
“I don’t want to rush the move itself, only because you’re in the middle of play-offs.
I want you to focus on that, not getting me moved out of my house.
And it’s the end of the school year. I’ve got exams and wrap-up to work on for these kids.
” She kisses the corner of my mouth, right where it’s tugging down.
“But I’ll stay, Carter. We can worry about moving things later, or a little bit at a time, when time permits. Okay?”
“Compromise?”
She nods. “Compromise.”
“And I get to keep you forever? Can it start tonight?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No.” I grip her waist as I leap to my feet and spin her in the air. “ Woo-hoo !”
Olivia giggles, slinging her arms around my neck. “Are you ready to eat?”
My stomach takes its cue, growling. “Always.”
I carry her out of the water, where she takes a seat on the blanket we laid out earlier, right on the edge of the shore, and I start to get the fire ready in the pit.
“You know,” Olivia starts, “it’s crazy because I grew up on a lake, but I’ve never had a shore lunch before.”
“Really? My dad and I had them all the time.” It’s why we’re here after all.
My dad’s birthday is this week, and he used to take the entire week off work.
He’d pull me from school for two days, then my sister for two days, followed by whisking my mom away for a long weekend.
We’d finish on Sunday night, all of us, together at his favorite restaurant.
He spent his birthday doing the things he loved most with the people he loved most. For him and me, after hockey, it was this.
Hiking, fishing, lunches on the shore. I mentioned it to Olivia a week ago, how it was one of my favorite cluster of days each year, how I haven’t done it since he passed, and the next morning she called me to tell me she’d taken a couple days off.
I fucking love her so much it hurts.
“I know it’s not the same, Carter, but are you…” She trails off, and when I glance over my shoulder, she’s fiddling with the edge of the blanket. She clears her throat. “Are you having fun?”
My heart tugs in my chest. “I’m having so much fun here with you today, Ollie. It makes me feel like he’s right here with us.”
Olivia smiles. “I think he is. Always.”
“I think so too.”
I get to work on lunch, filleting the salmon Olivia caught earlier this morning. She wanted to pack sandwiches in case we didn’t catch anything, but I didn’t let her. I was too confident. Turns out she should’ve been the confident one.
I place the foil packets over the coals and step back, taking a look around.
The small campsite is exactly how I remember it, hidden within all the greenery, plush brush and old, towering trees.
The sunshine filters through the branches, making the stream sparkle, and birds sing on a continuous loop.
It’s as pristine as it always was, aside from the odd camping gear left scattered and forgotten on the ground, like the fire extinguisher lying ten feet or so from the fire pit.
I pick up the narrow, white canister. The label tells me it’s one that sprays water, and the gauge says it’s still got some life left in it.
“Hey, Ollie, look.” I hold the canister between my legs and aim the hose outward. When she meets my gaze, I squeeze the handle, a stream of water spraying out in a fine mist as I swivel my hips. “It looks like I’m jiz—”
“Yes, Carter, I know what it looks like.”
I set the canister down and lean against the trunk of a tree, flicking my brows up. “You wanna go back in the bushes? I can empty my load in your—”
“For fuck’s sake, Carter. I know your dad didn’t teach you this on one of your many fishing expeditions.”
“No, he didn’t.” I chuckle, taking a seat beside her on the blanket as years of memories come flooding back, memories I’ve spent years wanting to forget. I don’t have a clue why, not when they’re incredible as these.
I wind an arm around Olivia, and she settles into my side. She’s warm beneath the May sun, and she smells like coconut and lime, the sunscreen she made us both wear.
“He taught me how to set up my rod, how to knot my hooks and bait them. He taught me how to skate, how to puck-handle, how to take a slap shot. He taught me how to turn my shoelaces into bunny ears and tie them, how to make my mom’s favorite dinner to get her to stop being mad at me when I messed up, how to work hard and save money.
He taught me how to be a good son, a brother, and a friend. ”
“And a partner,” Olivia adds.
“He taught me how to love. I know how to love you so well because I watched him love my mom so well, love me and my sister so unconditionally. Does that make me a good partner? How much I love you?”
“Mhmm. But there are so many reasons you’re a good partner, Carter.
You’re fierce and loyal. You’re patient and kind and the most passionate person I know.
You never give up, and you’re so proud of me all the time, and it helps me be proud of myself.
I’m a more confident person than I was six months ago because of the love you show me. ”