Chapter 22
Nate
Olive: I’ll let you know.
I’m not kidding when I say I need to know she’s safe. I would prefer to make sure she was safe in person, but I’ll settle for a text.
The party is winding down around me, with only a handful of guests remain.
I told my sisters and their significant others that I would drive them home so they could drink and enjoy themselves without stressing about getting home.
If it wasn’t for that, I probably would’ve left a while ago.
Not because I’m not enjoying celebrating my best friend’s happiness, but because I’m tired, and it would be nice to worry about Olive in the privacy of my own home.
Heaving myself out of the chair, I make my rounds, saying goodbye to a few people and herding my sisters and their partners to my vehicle. It takes too long, but I eventually get them loaded in, and we’re on our way.
Lori is in the front seat with me. “What day do you fly back out?”
“Monday…why?”
“We’re going to have Pamela, Joseph, and the kids over tomorrow. You should come, too.”
I glance over at my sister. “Yeah, okay. I’ll do that.”
Pamela’s slightly slurred voice booms through the car. “Bring your girl!”
A heavy sigh leaves me. “We aren’t quite at the point where we’re inviting each other to family get-togethers.”
Especially considering she hung up on me and barely answered my texts within the same hour.
But as irrational and crazy as it sounds, I would love nothing more than to have her meet everyone.
That need is confusing to me, considering I’m usually fiercely protective of my family, both blood and chosen.
Even though I never doubted for a minute that it would eventually happen for me, I was always hesitant to bring women I was seeing around.
I wanted to make sure it was a sure thing before doing that.
And it never was, so my family has met very few women. But Olive…I want her to meet my family.
Lori squeezes my arm and smiles at me. Forever the mediator between me and our oldest sister, she changes the topic and distracts Pamela from badgering me further.
Forty minutes later, I’m climbing back into my vehicle after dropping off Lori and Brian last. It’s blissfully silent after being surrounded by people for hours, and I feel like I can finally take a full breath.
I’m backing out of my sister’s driveway when my phone starts ringing through the speakers.
My stomach dips when I see the name and connect the call. “Olive?”
“Not quite, lover boy.”
“Cade. Why are you calling from Olive’s phone?”
“Olive is in the bathroom, so I don’t have a lot of time, but we’re about to head home. Are you familiar with…” He names a popular restaurant.
“I am.”
“Great, can you be here in fifteen? I was going to put Olive in a rideshare to go home, but I think you’re the better option.”
There’s no fucking way I want Olive riding home with some stranger after drinking.
“I’ll be there in ten.”
I lied. It took me eleven to be slowing to a stop outside the restaurant.
I spot Cade and Olive standing down the sidewalk a little ways from the door.
Rolling forward, I make eye contact with Cade through the windshield.
He nods and gives me a small smile before I stop in front of them.
My windows are tinted so they can’t see in, but I watch Cade gently usher Olive toward the car.
She starts to walk to the backseat, but Cade indicates she should get in the front.
Confusion plays across her beautiful face where I’m watching her in the side-view mirror until she relents and waits for him to pull open the door.
Cade throws me a wink as he pulls her forward.
Olive lifts her gaze, and our eyes meet when she has one foot on the running board. Her body freezes, eyes narrowing, before she whips her head in her friend’s direction. “Goddamn it, Cade.”
All she gets in response is a shrug and a smirk.
“Get in, Olive. I’m taking you home,” I command.
It’s my turn to get her glare. “Don’t tell me what to do, Nate.”
I want to remind her she didn’t seem to mind it the other night, but I resist the urge since that might be counterproductive.
“Olive, let him take you home,” Cade coaxes.
She hesitates before finally agreeing. “Fine,” she says, her teeth clenched. Once she’s inside, Cade tells her one final goodbye and slams the door.
Her annoyed exhale is deafening in the silent car. I want to kiss the annoyance right out of her, but instead, I say, “Put your seatbelt on.”
She harrumphs but does as I requested. As soon as I hear the click of her seatbelt, I ease off the brake and merge back onto the street.
I steal a glance at her as I slow to a stop for a red light. “Are you going to give me directions, or would you prefer to come to my place?”
Tilting her head in my direction, she lifts an eyebrow. I’m relieved she looks somewhat less disgruntled than when she first realized I was the one driving. “I’ll give you directions.”
I nod.
It’s only a few moments before she asks, “Why are you doing this?”
I cut my eyes over to her. She’s watching me intently. “Doing what? Giving you a ride home?”
She shrugs, as if that isn’t what she’s asking, but confirms, “Yes.”
I puzzle out how to answer her, but go with the truth. “Cade called me to come pick you up. Besides wanting to make sure you did, in fact, make it home safely, since I wasn’t entirely convinced that you would actually text me, I wanted to see you.”
She shifts in her seat to stare straight ahead, giving me directions in a soft, distracted voice.
Anxious energy battles with the lust forming inside me from being close to her again. Her scent. Her voice. Her energy. All of it threatens to drive me insane with desire for this woman.
Much sooner than I’d like, we’re pulling into her apartment complex parking lot. She gives me directions to which building is hers and is already unbuckling before I even park my car. I lightly grasp her forearm to still her. “Wait for me to open the door for you, please.”
I swallow hard when her lips part on a pant, and her tongue darts out to wet them. “Okay,” she whispers
With that, I jog around the front of the vehicle and open her door. I offer her a hand as she scoots out. Closing the door behind her, I lock the car and place my hand on her lower back.
“Nate, you don’t have to walk me all the way to my apartment,” she says with less venom in her tone than she had earlier. I internally celebrate that small victory.
“Yes, I do. I said I wanted to make sure you got home safely. The parking lot isn’t your home.”
She doesn’t respond as we continue toward her building.
When we get to the stairs, I indicate she should go ahead of me.
I hold back a groan when my face is almost even with her ass.
The image of me sinking my teeth into one of her juicy cheeks has my dick springing to life.
This woman’s curvy, thick body is my walking wet dream.
When we’re standing outside her door, Olive turns to face me, keys dangling from her fingers. Her gorgeous, expressive, dark eyes staring up at me. I don’t want to leave her tonight. I want to stay right here. With her. Even if we don’t have sex, I just hope she wants that as much as I do.
“Nate, I—” Her inhale is loud in the night air. “Do you want to come in?”
Abso-fucking-lutely.
“I would very much like to come in.”
A small, shy smile lights up her face. As she quickly unlocks the door and pushes it open, I follow her inside, shutting and locking the door behind me.
She slips off her shoes before walking into the living room to turn on some lamps.
When my shoes are also off, I step farther into her apartment.
It’s clean and tidy, but her furniture is obviously dated, but it’s cozy.
I immediately feel at home here. I walk over to a group of pictures hanging on the wall.
There are quite a few with Olive and Cade, but there are just as many with Olive and another man I don’t recognize.
I tamp down the jealousy that flares through me.
I pivot to find Olive standing in the living room, watching me pensively.
The light from the lamps highlights the fatigue weighing on her features.
I’m not sure how she’s going to react to what I’m about to say, but I refuse to leave here without at least trying.
“I want to stay the night. Nothing has to happen, but I want to stay with you.”
She bites her lip as I wait for her to hopefully agree. Finally releasing her lip, she takes a half-step toward me. “I want that too.”
My shoulders drop in relief. Since she looks like she could use some sleep, I hold out my hand for her. “Let’s go to bed.”
There’s no hesitation as she takes it, her palm electrifying mine at the contact, and leads me down the short hall. When I see that there’s another bedroom, I ask, “Do you have a roommate?”
What I think might be sadness passes through her eyes as she looks at the door, “Kind of. That’s my brother’s room.”
“Is he here?”
She shakes her head and pulls me into her bedroom, and I let the topic drop.
Her room is similar to the rest of her apartment, with its older, eclectic mix of furniture and decor.
Except it’s a little emptier and lacking the personal touches the other rooms seem to have.
It makes me sad that the room that’s all her own lacks her warmth.
If she were mine, I would want her to put her mark on every room so that she feels what I feel when I’m around her. Comfortable. Happy.
She retreats into her closet to put on pajamas, and I brush my teeth with the extra toothbrush she handed me.
When she goes into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, I strip off my suit jacket, pants, and shirt.
I would much prefer to sleep naked next to Olive, but I leave my boxer briefs on.
After folding my clothes and setting them neatly on the chair in the corner of her room, I climb under her covers to wait.
The door creaks open. My eyes find Olive, the light from the bathroom highlighting her.
Her face is clear of all her makeup, and her long hair is braided, cascading over her shoulder.
I shift in the bed to make my growing reaction to her less noticeable.
As she walks toward me, my heart rate increases with every step.
Lifting the covers, she lies down next to me, and I scoot down so I’m on my back next to her.
I stare at the ceiling, unsure of what to do next, when the bed shifts.
Her breath tickles my arm, and I turn to my side to face her.
She has her hands tucked between the pillow and her cheek, staring straight ahead, not meeting my eyes.
As I run the back of my finger down her cheek, her eyes flutter closed.
She’s breathtakingly stunning, even with the ever-present pain still evident in her dark eyes.
I wish she’d let me in. But if this is all I get from her, I’ll take it, at least until I can convince her to let me in fully.
“Nate…” Her breathless voice hits me right in the groin.
With my hand on the back of her head, I press my lips to her forehead. “Get some sleep, Olive.”
She rolls so her back is toward me, and I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her luscious body closer.
Her skin against mine is as soothing as it is electrifying to my system.
I resist the urge to move my hips against her softness.
I can tell the moment she realizes how hard I am for her because her muscles tense.
“Nate?”
“Just ignore that. It seems to be a recurring problem I’ve learned to live with since I met you.” I pull her tighter against me. Her huff of a laugh has me smiling against her hair. “Goodnight, Olive.”
“Goodnight, Nate.”