Chapter 28
Nate
She probably fell asleep early.
Simple explanation.
She just fell asleep. Didn’t see my texts. Or my calls.
I don’t have anything to worry about.
All the time I’ve spent with Olive has been another level of perfection.
It’s so easy with Olive, and I’m falling deeper for her every day.
The way I feel with her reminds me of how my dad described how it was with my mom.
And even though the panic I felt at the possibility of losing Olive, like I lost them, is still present, the fear of giving up on what this could be scares me more.
And the sexual chemistry. I’ve never felt anything like it with anyone else.
I haven’t been with a lot of women, but I also haven’t been a monk.
So, I feel like I have enough experience to compare it to, and I’ve never been turned on by almost every interaction, no matter how innocent.
Maybe it’s just the honeymoon phase, but regardless, I plan on taking advantage of every opportunity she gives me.
Which I was hoping would include tonight.
Sighing out a breath, I flip onto my stomach. I eventually drift to sleep with thoughts of Olive as my lullaby.
Olive is still frustratingly silent when I pack the next morning. I aggressively zip my suitcase closed and freeze as a thought occurs to me. What if something happened to her brother? Maybe she had to fly home immediately to take care of him.
Guilt for even feeling the tiniest amount of annoyance that she didn’t answer me floods me.
I’ll be the biggest, most selfish dick if that’s the reason she didn’t answer me.
Honestly, I hope she decided she hated me after I left for the show last night rather than something terrible happening to her brother.
Then, at least, she would just hate me and not be sad because of her brother.
Olive has felt way too much sadness when it comes to Benny. She deserves not to feel that ever again.
When I try to call her, it rings a few times and then goes to voicemail.
Before I even hang up, I’m out the door and stalking toward the stairs, figuring they would be quicker than the elevator.
Just as I’m about to push through the door, Ian steps into the hall.
“Where are you going?”
I debate lying to him, but decide there’s no point. “Olive isn’t answering my calls or texts, so I’m going to her room to see if she’ll open the door.
He frowns at me for a beat. When he doesn’t say anything, I’m about to leave, annoyed to be delayed in my pursuits. But then he says, “That’s disappointing. You were almost giving me hope that all that lovey-dovey bullshit was real.”
I scoff, even more frustrated. I want nothing more than to believe this is real. “I gotta go.” Slamming my palm against the door much harder than necessary, I jog the few flights to Olive’s floor.
Unsure who I’m more annoyed with right now, me or Ian, I glance around the hall before knocking softly on the door. I can’t hear any sounds, but I call out softly, “Olive, it’s me. I’ve tried to call you. Open up.”
I can’t tell if my ears are playing tricks on me, or if I really hear movement inside the room, but the door never opens. I knock a few more times but finally give up. If I knock any longer, I’m bound to get security called on me by one of the other guests being disturbed by the sound.
At least I’ll know in a few hours if she had to fly home for an emergency.
If that were the case, all of her focus would be on her brother.
But I can’t help the disappointment gnawing at me that she wouldn’t trust me enough to want to lean on me or confide in me about what’s happening.
I thought we had really moved our relationship along over the last few weeks, and she would feel comfortable coming to me with this kind of stuff.
But maybe that was just wishful thinking.
I stand in the lobby, impatiently waiting for everyone else to join me. Ian is upstairs escorting Jenny while I’m directing luggage and flight staff to the waiting SUVs.
But no Olive. Yet.
I glance down at my phone. Still no calls and texts.
When I hear the faint ding of the elevators from across the lobby, my gaze lifts as Olive steps off the elevator.
Relief washes over me like a cold bucket of water.
Something may have still happened, but at least it wasn’t bad enough that she had to fly home immediately like before.
When she gets closer, I rush over to her. There are dark circles under her eyes and her features are drawn. There’s something very obviously wrong.
“Olive, I’ve been trying to call and text you. I was worried something happened with your brother.”
She rolls her lips over her teeth and presses them tightly together before releasing them. “Sorry, I didn’t get back to you today. I was busy.”
I rear back a little at her flat tone. “Busy?” I ask incredulously.
She narrows her eyes at me. “Yes, Nate. Busy.”
I cross my arms over my chest. Hurt fills me. I’m unsure how to approach this, but I figure honesty is my best bet. “Look, I know we’re still new, but I want you to talk to me. I can tell something is upsetting you.”
She shakes her head, misery filling her dark eyes. “It isn’t important. I just needed to take care of some things before we flew out today. And I didn’t sleep well, or really at all, last night.”
As I take in her bland answer, a realization hits me.
She doesn’t care about me the way I care about her.
I would tell Olive anything. When it comes to her, I’m an entire library of open books.
Maybe I’ve been fooling myself into thinking she felt the same way.
Hell, maybe she viewed me as a distraction while on the road but never intended to take this further and has just been playing me the whole time.
Maybe Ian was right. This is all bullshit.
I nod and reply, “Okay, vehicles are here to take us to the airport.” Stepping to the side, I allow her to pass and gesture to the doors. “If you want to head out, they’ll get your luggage loaded up. We’ll be leaving shortly.”
Her features fall even more than they were before.
She hesitates to move, chewing on her bottom lip.
Being close to her, I can see her bloodshot, red-rimmed eyes.
As much as she wants to lie to me, whatever is bothering her is very important, since it made her cry enough to leave the evidence on her face for me to see.
Her eyes squeeze shut for a breath before she locks them back on me. She opens her mouth to say something, but then changes her mind and closes it with a loud exhale. Without another word, she walks away from me, leaving me reeling.