7. Tessa
Tessa
There was a delicious soreness between my legs when I woke up the next morning. I couldn’t complain. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d ever had this much sex in my life, but there was something about Oliver that I couldn’t resist.
I sat up, noticing Oliver was already out of bed, and frowned. I’d expected to wake up together like we did yesterday.
Standing up, I grabbed my silky robe from where I’d hung it, wrapping it around my body and tying it closed.
When I got to the kitchen, I found Oliver standing in front of the stove, Snowball sitting next to him, her nose in the air.
“What are you doing?” I asked him, wrapping my body around his naked torso.
He hummed. “Making you breakfast.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I insisted, tracing his abs with my nails before running them down to the v that pointed towards his boxers.
“Tess,” he warned.
“What?” I asked, innocently. Like I hadn’t just been trying to put my hand down his pants.
He turned his head to glare at me.
I sighed. “Fine.” Letting go of him, I hopped up on the counter next to him, watching him flip the bacon in the pan. “Smells good.”
“I’m making eggs, too.” He pointed to the container. “How do you want them? Fried, scrambled, sunny side up?”
“Fried is good with me. But cook the yolk all the way through.” I scrunched up my nose. “I hate runny yolks.”
“Noted.”
I liked this. The casual intimacy. I reached over with my foot, rubbing the back of his calf. “I expected you to still be in bed with me when I woke up,” I admitted.
“Sorry,” he said, looking up from the pan to stare at me longingly with those beautiful green eyes. “I wanted to take Snowball out and get food started before you woke up.” Oliver leaned over to kiss me. “I figured after last night, you’d have worked up an appetite.”
“Mmm.” I was starving. “Thank you for taking her out. You didn’t have to do that.” She was my responsibility after all.
Oliver shrugged. “I don’t mind. And she’s such a good girl. Aren’t you?” Snowball wagged her tail from where she sat.
I laughed. “Keep that up, and she’s going to be demanding bacon. You’ll regret it when she starts howling at you.”
He chuckled, taking the cooked bacon out of the pan and cracking eggs into it. “I guess I can deal with two high maintenance girls for now.”
“Hey.” I pouted. Not that I could really deny it. I had my nails done always, loved going to the salon to get my hair done, and spent a lot of time in the makeup chair on sets.
Oliver squeezed my thigh. “It’s okay, honey, because I’m perfectly happy to maintain you.”
I squeezed my legs together. Fuck, that was hot. “Fine.” I stuck my tongue out at him. Then something occurred to me. “Don’t you have to go to work?”
“Eh.” He shrugged, flipping the eggs in the pan. “I brought my laptop with me. I can work remote for today. The office doesn’t mind.”
“That has to be nice,” I said. “Being able to work from anywhere.”
“Probably. Can’t say I’ve done it much. I’m a creature of habit, like most engineers. Besides the occasional day working from home, I’m normally in the office.”
I really didn’t know that much about what he did. “Tell me more about your job,” I asked, nudging him with my foot again. “I feel like you know a ton about mine, and I’ve never asked.”
He blinked a few times. “You really want to know?”
I nodded. “Yeah, Oliver. I want to know.”
So, over breakfast, sitting across the table from each other in Matthew and Noelle’s breakfast nook, he told me all about his job as a software engineer.
How he developed and designed programs and did maintenance on others.
I didn’t understand a lot of it—I went to college for acting, and I definitely wasn’t someone who knew anything about coding or computer programming.
But I liked hearing him talk about it, how passionate he was about his career. The joy on his face was contagious.
Once breakfast was all done and cleaned up, he looked at me. “What do you want to do today, Hollywood?”
I grinned. “I have some ideas.”
My ideas, of course, meant we didn’t get out of the shower and dressed for a few hours after, and once we finally did, I sat on the couch, starting to look through my script for my next project, when Snowball barked. Just one singular bark, but enough to get my attention.
I looked at her, patiently wagging her tail by the front door. “Do you want to go for a walk, hm, girl?”
Snowball yipped again in response.
“Okay,” I said, turning around to find my boots. “Let me just grab a coat and your leash and then we can go.”
“I’ll come too,” Oliver said, closing his laptop. He’d taken over the kitchen island with his computer, and I had to admit, it was kinda sexy watching him work.
He’d pulled on a pair of jeans and a hoodie after we’d gotten out of the shower, and I was already mourning my eye candy.
I frowned at him. “But you have to work.” He’d already logged in way later than he should have.
He shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m all caught up on everything. Besides, I can spare an hour or so for my favorite girls.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek.
My chest warmed. “Favorite girls?”
“Well, yeah. But don’t tell Noelle.”
My stomach sank at the thought of us keeping this from my brother and his new wife—Oliver’s cousin, I tried to remind myself. If this was going to end badly, I hated the idea that we wouldn’t be able to go back to being friends.
Because I liked being friends with Oliver. But I liked whatever this was even more.
“Ready to go?” He asked, grabbing his coat.
I shoved my arms into mine before clipping Snowball’s leash on her collar. “Ready.”
He extended out his hand, and I laced my fingers through his, just like we had at the wedding. They fit together perfectly, and it made my heart ache for the future.
I wished we could have one.
Leaning my head on his shoulder as we started our walk around the block, I enjoyed the crisp, cool air, and the leaves crunching under my feet.
I’d always loved the Pacific Northwest—growing up in Washington, one of my favorite activities on a rainy day was to sit curled up in my favorite chair, watching the rain come down outside as I read a book or worked on memorizing lines.
Being back here for the wedding reminded me of how much I missed it.
I loved living in Los Angeles, but I truly thrived on my trips to Portland to visit my brother.
“It’s so beautiful here,” I said, looking up at the trees.
“Yeah,” he agreed. But when I looked up, I found him looking at me, not the world around us.
I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach, but it was hard.
“Do you miss it?” Oliver asked. “When you’re not here?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “When I get really homesick and remember that the only real family I have left is here. Or when a day really sucks, and I get a drink spilled on me at work or don’t get a part I really wanted. But I love my life there, too. I love acting.”
I wished I could have both.
He squeezed my hand. “I get it.” Oliver looked down at Snowball, who was calmly walking along side me. “I know it’s different. I’ve always lived here. But there’s always a part of me that’s wondered, what if.” He shook his head. “My life is here, though, so.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
His life was here.
And mine was there.
And that was how it was going to be.
Pulling on my favorite white sweater and pair of jeans the next morning, I stood in front of the mirror, brushing through my blonde hair. It was strange to be here and not have anywhere to go or anything to do.
It was completely different from my pace of life in LA, where I was constantly going out for casting calls or auditions, plus working at the restaurant.
Though, now that I’d landed a television show—as the star—all of that would change.
I hoped. Sure, we’d already filmed the pilot, and the executives had green-lit it for a full first season.
But that didn’t mean it would be successful.
I hoped it would, because I really, really loved the role. It was a romance, and I loved my character.
Oliver slid in behind me and pulled me in tight against his body, distracting me from my thoughts.
“Hi,” I murmured, reaching up to cup his cheek as I stared at both of us in the mirror. At how good we looked together. Something I’d never really considered before, but now, it was all I could think about.
“Hey.” He kissed the crown of my head. “I have to get going to work.”
I sighed. “Are you sure you can’t just work from home until I go back?” I gave him a fake pout.
Oliver laughed. “Baby, I didn’t get anything done yesterday. If I stay here, I’m going to lose my job.”
“Fiiiine.” I tried to keep pouting, but it was hard when he spun me around and kissed me.
I looped my arms around his neck. “Have a good day at the office.”
We kissed again, and then he headed out. I headed downstairs, plopping on the couch and pulling out my phone to find a text from my brother.
Matthew
Hey.
Tessa
Hey! Why are you texting from your honeymoon?
Just checking in on my sister. How’s everything going there?
It’s good. Soaking in all the fall weather. Might go buy a pumpkin just to carve it.
Can I leave it on your porch?
I hope you don’t think that was me asking permission. I’m definitely leaving it on your porch.
Whatever you want, Tess. You know I don’t mind.
Noelle wants to know how Snowball is doing.
I sent him a photo of the dog, curled up at my feet.
She’s good. We’re good. Everyone’s good.
We’re?
Me and Snowball. Duh. Who else would I be referring to?
So Oliver’s not there?
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Oh, we’re playing it like that, are we?
Enjoy your honeymoon with your wife and stop texting your little sister, dork.
Thanks, Tess. We owe you one.
Love you.
Love you too, Matty.
I looked down at Snowball, who whimpered at my feet.
“Should we go on an adventure, Snowie?”
She barked excitedly, and I got up, grabbing my shoes, and headed to find the perfect pumpkin.
“Are you going to carve that at some point, or is it just going to sit on the counter for another few days?” Oliver asked me a few days later as he set his stuff down on the counter, home from work.
I stared at my perfect pumpkin. “I haven’t had the inspiration yet.”
He laughed, picking me up and pulling me into his lap. “The inspiration, huh?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding like this was a very grave and serious matter. “It can’t be just any design. It has to be perfect.”
Oliver placed a kiss to my neck. “What ideas have you come up with so far?”
Scrunching my nose, I flipped through the list of ideas I’d compiled in my phone.
“Snowball—of course. An emmy—because we’re manifesting.
The Hollywood sign, because, you know. Or…
” I shrugged. “I guess a normal jack-o-lantern maybe. I don’t know.
It sounded more fun in my head than it did when I actually got it home. ”
He laughed. “You just don’t want to dig all the pumpkin guts out, do you?”
I batted my eyelashes at him. “Forget the pumpkin. I have a better idea.”
“What’s that?”
Brushing my lips over his ear, I whispered, “Take me to bed, Oliver.”
“With pleasure, Hollywood.”
I tried to remind myself that this was just fun. A distraction. Just a physical connection and nothing more. Sometimes he made it hard to remember that.
But I was leaving soon, and none of that was going to change.