Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
RHETT
I get all the way to the main road before realizing I never asked Olivia where she lives.
Guilt washes over me for convincing her to get on my bike in the first place—she was obviously scared of it. Plus, I have an ironclad no girl rule for the bike that I’ve upheld for nearly four years. Just like everything else in life, I’ve had to learn the hard way that I have no business being responsible for anyone else. I mean, no one’s ever gotten hurt from getting on the back of it, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reckless. More reckless than I care to admit, especially to someone as good and sweet as Olivia.
Shame clenches tight. Serves me right for getting involved in any of this in the first place.
It’s not that I have a thing for her—I know damn well to stay out of Saddlebrook Falls when I’m looking for the company of a lady. This town is full of people who have made a mockery of my family over and over and over again—it would be blasphemous against everything I stand for to start crushing on some girl who exists right in the heart of it all. Everyone knows her mother’s café is practically a hub for the gossip-obsessed old birds who’d sooner snicker and laugh about an old man when he’s down than try to help. It’s a wonder they don’t burn on the spot when they walk into their cherished church every Sunday morning.
I can’t stand to think too much about the hypocrisy of it all. As if these people haven’t experienced their own shit.
Olivia’s always been nice enough, but I could never trust someone like her. I don’t know what came over me tonight . . . I guess hearing the words almost didn’t swipe and just a waitress coming out of her loser date’s mouth sent a violent wave of fury through me so overwhelming, I didn’t realize what I was doing until it was already done. And while kicking that guy out of the bar was well worth it—and helped to siphon out some of the hostility that’s been brewing in me for months—seeing the shock and hurt on her face was jolting enough to make me wonder if I’d done the right thing.
She waited for you , I silently counter. That has to count for something, right?
As pissed as she is at me for ruining her night, she still stayed.
It spins something loose inside of me, something long wound tight, and I’m not sure what to make of it.
“Hey,” I shout over the rumble of the bike, hoping she can hear me. “Where am I taking you?”
I feel her shift behind me, her arms squeezing tighter around my waist as she leans her head forward over my shoulder. “What?!” she shouts back.
I turn my face toward hers as far as I can while still keeping my eyes on the road. “Where am I taking you?” I try again.
“It’s good, thanks!” Her chin swipes across the shoulder of my jacket as she pulls her face back.
A low laugh spills out of my mouth as I slow the bike down. There’s a turnout up ahead where I can pull over and get her address. Carefully navigating the bike over crumbling asphalt onto the loose rock of the wide shoulder, we come to a stop and I brace the weight of us on both legs. Before I can even turn the engine off, Olivia is climbing off the back of the bike.
“Careful!” I shout, suddenly terrified she’s going to burn her leg on the engine. She’s wearing jeans, thank god, but still—the last thing I need is her getting hurt, especially after I promised her she wouldn’t.
“ Wow ,” she exclaims as she stomps over gravel, shaking her arms out around either side of her, completely oblivious to my warning. “That was incredible!” She looks at me with eyes full of wonder, and even through the bulk of my helmet, her beauty nearly knocks me right off the bike.
“What was?” I ask, moving my focus back to the bike as I turn the key and shove the attraction away.
She waves a hand around. “ That . You. The ride.”
I’m almost ashamed at the sheer pride roaring to life inside my chest at her words. “You liked it?”
“ Liked it ?” she repeats, tipping her head back like she’s about to howl at the moon. “I loved it! Can we go again?”
I try like hell to hold back a laugh, relieved that this harebrained scheme of mine isn’t going as badly as I thought it might. “Of course we’re going again,” I confirm, nudging the kickstand back down. “You think I’m going to make you walk from here?”
She shrugs like she’s only just realizing we’re pulled over in the middle of some country back road along the edge of town. “Why did we stop?” she finally asks, squinting at me.
“I don’t know where you live.”
Recognition sparks in her eyes. “Oh! Right . Erm, you know that little street behind the gazeb—” She stops short, as if she accidentally let something slip. I know damn well about the rumors, the ones about me and that gazebo, but I’m sure as shit not getting into any of that right now. Instead, I stay quiet and wait for her to keep going. “Um, Turnip Lane. My house is at the end of it.”
“Great.” I nod. “I know where that is.”
Instead of getting back on the bike, Olivia simply looks at me. The silence between us seems to stretch all the way to the line of dense trees beyond the ditch, and then she takes a deep breath. “Thank you,” she finally says. “For . . . for making Tony leave. And taking me home.”
“So you admit to dating assholes?”
She scoffs, her defensiveness sharp like a whip. “I never said Tony wasn’t an asshole. I just . . . it’s not intentional.”
“Being an asshole?”
“ Dating assholes,” she clarifies. “I’m not good at this. I-I’m honestly not much of a dater, like, at all . But I’m trying to put myself out there, and you happened to catch both of my first real attempts at it. Clearly I’m not having much luck.”
I lean back in the seat of my bike, crossing my arms over my chest. “Why are you trying to put yourself out there?”
Olivia looks away, gaze lost somewhere down the road. Her shoulders curl forward in a way that makes me think she’s bracing herself for something uncomfortable, and it sends my blood pulsing on some primitive instinct to be alert. “I don’t know,” she starts. Her teeth rake against her bottom lip, and I zero in on the movement. “I guess I feel like I might be missing out on something, you know?”
I consider her words. Truthfully, I’ve dated plenty—if you count casual flings and one-night stands. I’ve never let myself get too serious with anyone because I don’t think any of that relationship shit is worth it, but . . . A thought rips through my mind, sudden and blaring and brighter than anything I’ve felt in a long time. “Maybe I could help,” I rush out.
Her face twists into sheer confusion as she looks back at me, and the effect is damning. Fuck , the last thing I want to do is make a fool of myself, but something about the idea of Olivia Danvers experimenting with dating puts me on edge. “Help?” she parrots.
“Yeah.” I shrug. “Why not?” When she doesn’t say anything, I follow up with, “You lookin’ for a husband?”
Her brow furrows. “God, no. I’m just . . . dating. Trying to have a little sense of adventure.”
I can’t help the grin that splits my face wide open. “Well, peaches, you’re in luck, because I have a mean sense of adventure.”
She shifts her weight to one foot, scrutinizing my face. “Are you making fun of me?”
I drop the grin. “No,” I say, shaking my head firmly. “I’m not making fun of you. I’m just offering a solution.” Embarrassment crawls up the back of my neck as I try to make a case for this. “Look, I don’t want to see you taken advantage of by dipshits like Tony or Trey?—”
“Trent.”
“Trent, whatever. If you’re just looking to get out on the town and have a little fun, I can help with that.”
Anticipation unfurls in my chest when it looks like she might actually be considering it, but then something in her eyes flares. “I’m not having sex with you,” she says haughtily.
I almost choke on my tongue, the night air brushing against the sweat at my temples. “I never said I wanted to have sex with you. Jesus, woman.”
She nods, accepting that answer. “So, a few dates? Just until I clear out some of my proverbial cobwebs?”
“I’m not exactly sure what that means,” I rebound. “But yeah, I’ll take you on a few dates. Why not?”
Even as I say the words, all the reasons why this is a horrible idea come charging through my mind like a stampede of wild mustangs. I’m the last person Olivia should be tying her good name to. If anyone in town knew she was going out with me, she’d never hear the end of it. It’s not like I even have time for something like this—lord knows there’s enough going on at home. I don’t need any distractions, especially a five-and-a-half-foot smokeshow who’s already getting under my skin.
But the thought of her spending another second listening to some asshole convince her that she’s not worth it is something I can’t seem to stomach. I’m not sure why I care so much, but I do. It calls to mind all the times I may have taken a girl for granted, acting like I was above it all—I hope I never made any of them feel the way I imagine Olivia felt tonight, hearing that bullshit.
“Okay,” she finally says. “How many?”
“How many what?”
“Dates,” she says.
“Oh, uh, I don’t know. As many as it takes for you to feel more confident, I guess.”
She nods again, and I exhale my relief. I feel like I’m in school again, trying to pass some obscure pop quiz. “When?”
“I work the bar most nights,” I say, “but I’m off Thursday.”
She props her hands on her hips. “I work at the café Thursday, but I’ll be off around seven?”
“Okay, I’ll pick you up at eight.”
A smile spreads wide on her face, and it feels like a beam of sunlight shot straight to my gut.
Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous.
I motion for her to get back on the bike. “It’s late. I should get you home.”
She lurches forward. “Right, okay.”
I start the engine as Olivia takes her spot behind me and try not to think about her legs spread wide against my hips or the way she pulls herself close to me. For some reason, being around her these last two nights has sent me into a tailspin, and I know it’s time to regain control before I do something stupid.
But then she presses her chest against my back and my mind spins like a top. “By the way,” she yells over my shoulder, and I tilt my ear toward her. “I love this bike!”
My chest puffs and I smile like an idiot. I carefully navigate through the back roads of town, lit only by the full moon above and bright stars that feel like prying eyes to what I know might be about to become a treacherous secret, and I bring Olivia home.