32. Olivia
Chapter 32
Olivia
Landon reached for my hand and entwined our fingers as we walked along the pier. The cool breeze off the ocean was a welcome reprieve from the heat. We had been “official” for two weeks. In that time, I'd finally decided to stay in Magnolia Grove and resigned from my job in Atlanta. The bakery was thriving. My best friend was home for good. And the ghosts of my past didn’t haunt me like they had for the last several years. Magnolia Grove felt like home again. In my gut, I knew it was the right move. If I was being honest with myself, I’d known for a while, but I just couldn’t let go of the life I’d built in the city to escape the problems I'd run from six years ago. This sense of peace I felt now was what I’d been waiting for to finally settle on a decision. Now there was just one more hurdle left to overcome.
Lyle.
Landon and I had been sneaking around with each other for the past couple weeks. He still hadn’t been able to reach his brother, and we were both growing tired of pretending like we weren’t together. We couldn’t even go out in town and had to drive at least an hour in any direction whenever we wanted to go on a date. We had everyone convinced he was working on my house just so no one would question why his truck was frequently in my driveway. The first time someone confronted him about being there, he told them he had to replace my toilet. After that, it turned into a full-blown bathroom remodel, so nobody would suspect what we were really up to since he kept coming back. Occasionally, he carried in random supplies; that way it would look legit if any nosey neighbors were watching. Unfortunately, that meant he could never stay over. We couldn’t risk someone noticing his truck parked outside my house all night.
The stress of hiding our relationship from everyone we knew was starting to weigh on us, and we needed a reprieve. A day trip to the beach was the perfect solution. It was far enough from home that we wouldn’t run into anyone we knew, but close enough to drive there and back in a day and still have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves.
“Are you ready to learn how to fish?” Landon asked once we reached a spot on the pier he found satisfactory.
“Yep!” I replied excitedly. I had never been fishing before and was excited for Landon to teach me. He set up his pole and baited his hook. I wrinkled my nose at the stinky bait, and he chuckled.
“Here, I’ll show you how to cast it, and then you can try.” He demonstrated how to cast his line, then began reeling it in. “You’ll feel a tug on the line if something gets ahold of your bait,” he explained as he wound the line in and showed me what to do if that happened. Once he had the line reeled in completely, he handed it to me. The weight of it felt foreign in my hand as I gripped it awkwardly. I started to do what he'd shown me, but he placed a hand over mine, halting me.
“Wait,” he said, trying to suppress his mirth at my clueless attempt to cast the line. Slipping behind me, he grabbed both my hands and adjusted my hold. “Like this,” he instructed, his hot breath whispering over my ear. I shuddered despite the heat surrounding us. The hard planes of his muscular chest pressed into my back, and I fought the urge to lean into him. “Now bring your arms back and throw them forward. Like this.” He went through the motion with me for practice. “This time, depress this button with your thumb to release the line.” I did as he instructed with the guidance of his hands on mine. The line went sailing and dropped into the water several yards away.
“I did it!” I bounced excitedly on my toes, and laughter rumbled up his chest, my enthusiasm amusing him.
“Good girl,” he said just loud enough for me to hear. The deep timbre of his voice made my stomach clench with need. Every time he said that it was like a bolt of pleasure straight to my core. I leaned into him, turning my face so I could see him, our mouths mere inches apart.
“You can’t say things like that to me in public,” I warned.
“Why not?” he challenged.
“Because it makes me want to do bad things with you.”
“Fuck,” he growled, and I felt him grow hard against the small of my back. “You’re lucky we’re not alone, and I don’t want an audience the next time I put you on your hands and knees.” I shivered at the prospect, and he sucked in a sharp breath. “You like that idea, don’t you?” he asked, a teasing lilt to his tone.
“No,” I denied, even though the thought of a little exhibitionism caused a thrill to race up my spine.
“Liar,” he accused with a chuckle.
We spent the next couple of hours fishing off the pier before grabbing lunch at one of the local restaurants overlooking the water. My phone buzzed from my pocket as we reached our table, and I pulled it out to find a text from Honey.
Honey: Hey, babes, what are you up to? Wanna hang out?
Guilt washed over me, and I chewed on my lip as I contemplated how to respond. I’d blown her off more than once since Landon and I had started seeing each other. I hated that I couldn’t tell her why or admit that there was something going on between us. She suspected, especially after admitting Landon had kissed me in the pool, but I never confirmed her suspicions. It was too risky. I trusted Honey, but she was human. If she let it slip, and it got back to Lyle… I didn’t even want to think about what would happen.
Me: I’m not home right now, but I’m free tomorrow. Want to bingeThe Vampire Diaries again?
Keep it vague. Deflect. Offer an alternative. That had been my method for avoiding Honey’s questions, and so far, it was working.
Honey: Sure! I think it’s supposed to rain all day anyway. I’ll bring the popcorn and Junior Mints.
Me: Sounds great!
I sent my reply and placed my phone on the table, releasing a sigh as I hung my head in frustration. This was getting old, and I didn’t know how much longer I could hide the truth from my best friend.
“What’s wrong?” Landon asked, and I looked up to find him watching me, his brow knitted with concern.
“Nothing,” I said, not wanting to bring up our predicament again. He was trying. He’d reached out to Lyle several times with no luck. Still, I couldn’t help but feel like he was ashamed of us. I was his little brother’s ex-girlfriend, after all. To make matters worse, everyone still believed me to be responsible for the wreck that had nearly killed Lyle and crushed his dreams of becoming a football star. What would people think if they found out Landon and I were together?
“Talk to me, Liv. I can tell something is bothering you.” I blew out a long breath and settled on the truth.
“That was Honey. She wanted to hang out, and I had to blow her off again, but I couldn’t tell her why.”
“I’m sorry,” he said regretfully. He disliked the deception and secrecy as much as I did.
“I’m just tired of feeling like your dirty little secret,” I admitted. He recoiled, and I immediately regretted my word choice. He blinked away his surprise and leaned forward, gripping both my hands in his.
“You are not my dirty little secret,” he asserted, and I read the sincerity in his eyes. “You’re just mine . I don’t care if it’s wrong. I don’t care what people will think. But I do care how this will impact my brother. He needs to hear it from me and no one else.”
I swallowed past the emotion clogging my throat. It was like he had read my mind with that declaration. Warmth spread through my chest at the sincerity in his words and his gaze. It was clear he cared about me.
But he would always care about Lyle more.
After lunch, we grabbed our towels and umbrella and headed down to the beach where we spent the rest of the day. Dinner was a combination of fried oysters and shrimp nachos we devoured at the bar while listening to live music. Despite our earlier conversation, we managed to have an amazing day. We didn’t have to hide what we were to each other. We could touch and kiss openly without worrying about someone reporting back to Lyle. It was so freeing, I wanted to do it again next weekend.
It was late, the sun long set, when we returned to Magnolia Grove. The streets were quiet and mostly empty. Flashing lights came into view as we turned onto my street. I leaned forward in my seat, trying to see where the lights were coming from. My pulse picked up speed as we neared my house, and a knot formed in my gut. Somehow, I just knew those reds and blues were coming from my driveway.
“What the hell?” Tension filled Landon’s voice as my house came into full view, and we caught sight of two cop cars parked in my driveway. Two uniformed officers stood next to my car, notepads in hand while they spoke to Mr. Green, the neighbor from across the street. Landon parked at the curb in front of my house, and we both hopped out. Landon stalked across my yard, and I had to jog to catch up to him.
“What’s going on?” Landon asked, but before they could answer, I saw the damage. I gasped at the sight of my vandalized car. The tires were slashed and the word “whore” was carved down the driver’s side.
“Ms. Duprey,” one of the officers greeted, “we got a call from your neighbor about twenty minutes ago alerting us to someone on your property. They saw the perpetrator with what looked like a crowbar about to smash in the windshield. Mr. Green yelled at them and scared them off.” He nodded to my neighbor, a man in his late sixties who wore a bathrobe and house shoes.
“I’m just glad you weren’t home, Olivia,” Mr. Green said, worry filling his soft gray eyes. “Whoever it was, they were on a mission, and you could’ve been hurt.”
My entire body trembled with fear, and Landon wrapped a comforting arm around my middle. He pulled me into his side protectively, and I curled into him.
“Do you have any idea who it was?” Landon asked, and the officers shared a look.
“Mr. Green didn’t get a good look at the guy since he was wearing a dark hoodie, but he was at least six foot tall, lean, and fast on his feet, but there was a slight limp to his gait.” Landon stiffened next to me. We were both thinking the same thing.
Lyle.
I hated that was where my mind immediately went, but it made sense. He never came out and said it, but I knew he suspected Lyle was the one who had vandalized my bakery weeks ago. The same word that was now carved into the side of my car had also been written on the note found wrapped around the brick that was thrown through my window.
“Livy!” a voice called, and I looked up to find Honey running across the yard from her grandparents’ house. Landon released me and stepped away. Honey threw her arms around me, her panting breath stirring the hairs at my nape. “What happened? Minnie woke me up to tell me the cops were over here.”
“Someone trashed my car,” I said and turned in her embrace. She loosened her hold and followed my line of sight, gasping as she took in the extent of the damage.
“Who would do such a thing?” She turned back to face me, and her gaze drifted past my shoulder before settling on me again. Realization sparked in her features, and a quiet “oh” fell from her lips. This was the confirmation she needed that Landon and I were, in fact, together.
And she was thinking the same thing we all were.
Lyle knew too, and he wasn’t happy about it.