Chapter 23
Robbie
Olivia was going to kiss me. There’s no doubt about it. After my sister so rudely interrupted us, we all carried our trees and rode the tractor back to the main area where our trees got shaken, drilled and tied up. Once all of them were in the back of my truck, we had to make a detour to drop them all off at both my parents’ and Michael’s house.
Two hours later, we’re finally back at my house and we just brought the tree inside. While I grab some water to fill the tree stand, I see Olivia fidgeting with one of the couch pillows. We haven’t said much since our almost-kiss, mostly just working together to get the tree situated.
I want to kiss her so badly, but if I start, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop.
“Ready to decorate?” I say once I finish filling up the tree stand.
“Yeah, let’s do it.” She perks up. “Any specific way you like to decorate it?”
“I usually start with the lights and garland, and then go from there. Let the vibes take over.”
She feigns surprise. “I’m sorry, you don’t have a twelve-step plan on how to decorate this tree? I’m disappointed in you, Bobbert.”
I straighten and point at her with the tree topper. “I had a twenty-four-step plan, but I’m trying not to scare you away.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Impossible. You’re stuck with me, Bobbert.” She holds my gaze for a beat longer and I can see the soft smile that is tugging at her lips.
Stop focusing on her lips. For now.
We spend the rest of the afternoon listening to Christmas songs and decorating not only the tree, but also the rest of the house. My Christmas lights were already up and once it got dark we went outside and turned them on. I opted for no color this year, so the lights are a mix of soft and bright white and they range from icicles dangling from the porch, to snowflakes wrapped around the pillars.
It’s been snowing all day, and there’s a thin layer of snow on the ground. It makes the house look like a picture-perfect holiday card. The giant blue spruce wreath on the front door is decorated with a single red bow, and there is more greenery we placed around the window sills.
“It’s beautiful,” she says as she takes it in.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I say and wrap an arm around her shoulder, giving her temple a soft kiss. “Thank you. For being here. You’ve made this holiday extra special.”
Olivia wraps her arm closest to me around my waist and rests her head on my shoulder. I squeeze her tight against my side and rest my own head on top of hers. We stand there like that for a minute until I feel her shiver.
“Come on, let’s go inside and make some hot cocoa,” I say, letting go for a second before reaching down and grabbing her hand. We walk to the front door, but after climbing the few steps to the porch, I tug on her hand so she stops with me.
“Olive,” I say to get her attention. Once she turns her beautiful green eyes on me, I smile and look up at the mistletoe. She follows and I immediately see the confusion on her face turn into excitement. Her eyes go wide and she looks back at me with a smile.
“When did you do this?”
I give her a grin. “When I sent you to the truck for the wreath. I was very quick and sneaky about it,” I whisper.
Her smile is infectious and I can’t help but return it. So we stand there, under the mistletoe, grinning at each other. I’m still holding her hand, so I tug on it again and pull her into me. As soon as our bodies collide, everything around us goes still.
She is everything.
From the moment I saw her, she’s been a beacon of light. When I’m away from her, I’m glued to my phone, waiting for the next text or call. Waiting for her to complain about her job or to tell me about her day. The fact that I get to be the person she confides in makes my heart soar. I’ve always craved that kind of connection with someone in a relationship.
We’re so close our foreheads are touching and I bring my other hand up to her face. My fingers are cold, but so is her cheek as I gently caress it. She leans into me more and our noses brush. This is it.
As I bring my lips to hers, I hear gravel crunching and a set of bright lights blinding us from the driveway. We both break apart a few inches and look to the side.
A car stops and I can’t make out who it is until they turn off their headlights. Ash jumps out of the driver’s side and Elias, Jordan, and Alice follow. Why are they all here?
I groan and drop my head between Olivia’s head and shoulder. She lets go of my hand and pats me on the back. I give her neck a quick kiss and quietly say, “I can’t believe this happened again.” Then I pull back and glare at my so-called friends and sister.
“What are you all doing here?” I say, sulking.
“Oh, cheer up, Grandpa,” Ash says. “We came to see how you decorated. Plus, it’s Olivia’s last night in town, we wanted to hang out. You can’t just keep her all to yourself,” he says with a damn smile on his face. Asshole.
“I sure can. Don’t you know it’s rude to show up uninvited?” I say back with more bark than bite.
“I tried to tell him we should just leave you be, but he won’t listen,” Eli says, hands in his coat pocket.
“I also tried to stop him, for the record,” Alice supplies, as she comes up to give me a quick hug before doing the same with Olivia.
“I was enjoying a game of Overwatch when he kidnapped me,” Jordan offers.
Great. I guess it’s “friends’ night” in. I contemplate telling them to hit the road so I sigh and give Olivia a longing look and a pout, but she’s smiling and giving everyone hugs. As we all head inside, I realize how important this might be for her. She doesn’t have many friends, and the fact that mine accepted her so quickly and made her part of our group must make her happy. How can I deny her that?
We spend the whole night playing board games, drinking mulled wine, and talking about anything and everything. Elias shares stories from his hometown in Finland and Olivia asks him lots of questions about his family and how he got interested in playing goalie.
Alice and Jordan seem to be in their own little bubble for most of the time, chatting and laughing. I’ll have to find out what’s going on with them. Is he interested in my sister?
Ash is unabashedly loud and flirtatious, asking Olivia lots of questions as well. I don’t know if he’s doing it to rile me up or if it’s just his way of being friendly, but he keeps finding ways to touch Olivia. Whether it’s to grab her arm to get her attention, or take her hand to “admire” her rings. My fingers are aching from clenching them so tight the whole night.
Olivia must notice my change in demeanor because once we finish the board game we were playing, her hand finds mine under the table and she laces our fingers together. That one small touch makes me swallow the tight knot in my throat.
Somehow, she knows exactly what I need to make me feel better. I squeeze her hand to let her know I’m okay and when I look up, I see Ash giving me a smirk and a wink. Bastard.
Once we’re all thoroughly buzzed, we move to the couches in the living room and put on a Christmas movie. We’re all laughing at Clark Griswold’s shenanigans and by the time the movie ends, both Olivia and Alice are asleep on the couch the three of us are sitting on. Beans is curled in Olivia’s lap next to me and Caramel is napping in his cat tree. Ash is passed out on the loveseat he’s sharing with Elias, who is shaking his head at him. Jordan is almost asleep on the oversized chair, one leg dangling off the side.
I guess we’re having a sleepover. “Hey Jordan, can you pick Alice up and bring her to the spare bedroom?” He jolts at my question and stands up, hesitating for a second before leaning down and gently picking up my sister.
I pick up Beans and give him a few pets even though he’s clearly mad at me and giving me a death glare. I deposit him on the cat tree below his brother. Then I move back to the couch to get Olive. Her lips are partly open and she’s sound asleep. One strand of hair is covering her right eye so I gently tuck it behind her ear.
I put one hand around her back and the other under the back of her knees and gently lift her off the couch. Her head immediately finds my shoulder to rest on and I start walking down the hall. I think about letting her share a bed with Alice, but I don’t know if she would appreciate that. While she enjoys physical touch, at least with me, Alice sleeps like a star fish and is a big cuddler. So, I take her to my bedroom instead.
I set her down and she immediately burrows into my bed. Fuck. The sight of her here, in my space, makes my heart constrict. What I wouldn’t give for this night to have gone differently. While I love my friends, I would have liked nothing more than to kiss Olivia and for us to spend the night alone, preferably together in this bed.
Instead, I give her temple a soft kiss, tuck her in and go back to the living room.
Jordan is back as well and I give him a nod in thanks but he’s avoiding my eyes for some reason. Is he afraid to tell me he has a crush on my sister? If he’s trying to hide it, he’s doing a very poor job, and frankly, I’m offended that he wouldn’t tell me. While I am protective of my sister, I’ve known Jordan for years. He’s family, and I know in my bones that he’s a good guy and would be perfect for Alice. But it’s not my place to say anything or intervene.
“I’ll go grab some pillows and blankets. Can one of you open the sleeper sofa?” I say and move to the linen closet in the hallway. When I come back, Ash is sprawled out on the loveseat and Elias is placing a bottle of water on the floor next to him. Elias, ever the caretaker. He seems to have a soft spot for Ash, but I’ve never been able to figure out if it’s more than friendly. Outside of telling me he went through a breakup two years ago, right before moving to the states, Elias doesn’t talk about his dating life. Or his sexuality. While Ash will proudly tell us about his recent sexcapades, Eli is more private and keeps to himself.
“It’ll be a tight fit, but the three of us can share the sleeper sofa,” I say.
“The chair was actually pretty comfortable,” Jordan says and grabs a blanket and a pillow and folds in the oversized chair.
I turn off all the lights and after Elias puts a blanket over Ash, he joins me on the sofa bed. “I’m sorry we ruined your night with Olivia,” he says.
“It wasn’t ruined. I think she really needed it and seemed to have a lot of fun,” I say in a whisper.
“Have you thought about any potential consequences if you two start dating?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know there are no clear fraternization rules, but it could be frowned upon to have a relationship with a referee. Especially one that officiates so many of our games.”
I’m quiet for a moment. I haven’t thought about that, no. Elias continues. “I’m just saying, while you might be ready to retire, this is just the beginning of her career. If someone were to be punished for fraternizing, it wouldn’t be you.”
“Are you telling me not to pursue anything with her?” I ask with a bit of an edge in my voice.
“I’m telling you to think it through. Make sure it’s what she really wants. Communicate. Trust me, it’s better to be honest about your expectations ahead of time,” Elias says with sadness in his voice.
“Are you speaking from experience?”
He pauses, then says, “Yes.” The conversation is over once he turns on his side, away from me.
I hate that he’s right. If I pursue anything with Olivia, we both need to be on the same page about what we want.