Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Hidden Gems
I pull up in front of Oliver’s house early Sunday morning.
Tina and Ryan are supposed to pick each of us up, but since I suspect that Ryan might be popping the question today, I have an ulterior motive for coming here.
I know that my last conversation with Oliver didn’t end well, but there was a time when he was willing to cooperate with me.
I have to try to talk him into getting Ryan to delay the proposal.
He’s rubbing his eyes when he answers the door. When he sees that it’s me, he frowns. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to pick you up.” I hold up the two cups of coffee I brought as an offering to get me in the door.
He looks from the coffee to me. His eyes narrow. “I thought we were riding with Ryan and Tina.”
“We are, but why make them stop at both of our places when we can just take off from their house? Besides, I already told Tina that I could pick you up.” I smile, waiting.
His gaze settles on the two coffees again.
He somewhat reluctantly opens his door wider so that I can come inside.
Only then do I notice what he’s wearing.
My eyes wander down his white tank top and land on his plaid boxer shorts.
My gaze freezes there. My eyes go wide and my breath hitches.
I only look long enough to realize he’s in his underwear, but the two seconds that it takes still feel way too long.
My face flushes. I stare at the floor while I hand him his coffee.
He takes a sip. My gaze rises up from the floor, and I sneak another peek without meaning to.
I knew he had nice arms, but even his shoulders and chest look muscular in this shirt.
I manage to refrain from allowing my gaze to dip any lower.
The first thought that springs to my mind is that he’s hot—and who knew his shoulders would make me think that—and then I cringe that the thought even crossed my mind.
It’s such a waste that a guy like him has a body like this.
He’s annoying and rude and inconsiderate of anyone but himself.
I thought guys are supposed to lose their attractiveness when their personalities are so unlikeable.
My eyes return to his. I’m startled to find him watching me. I wonder if he knows that I’m checking him out, or if my glance over his body was brief enough that he missed it.
“Like what you see?” He makes his pectorals dance. I guess I have my answer.
“Your nipples are hard,” I tell him. “Must be cold in here.”
His amused smile fades. He looks down at his chest. “Leave it to you to notice something like that.”
I take a sip of my coffee, then decide that I’m done wasting time. “Is Ryan proposing today?”
“We’ve been over this,” he says. “I’m not telling you anything.”
I should have known he was going to be difficult.
His refusal to answer is as good as a confirmation for me, but also tells me that he isn’t going to cooperate.
I can’t let Ryan’s proposal happen, though.
I head for a bookshelf in his living room.
I slide his books over, looking behind them to see if I can find where he hid the ring.
“Priscilla,” he says with a sigh. “What are you doing?”
“Where is it?” I ask. I decide that it’s not in the bookshelf. I move on to the kitchen. He follows me in and leans against the refrigerator, watching with a smirk as I open each of his drawers and cabinets.
“You’re looking for the ring?” he guesses. “Do you really think I would hide it in the kitchen?”
I roll my eyes. I walk past him to the other side of his house where I’m guessing his bedrooms are. He’s right behind me as I make it into his hallway.
“Don’t go in there,” he warns as I start to push open a door.
I pause. I look at him over my shoulder, my eyes narrowing. “Why not?”
“Just… don’t.”
I ignore his warning and go in anyway. As soon as I’m through the door, I stop in my tracks, surprised.
Not because there’s anything inherently wrong with the room, but because of how nicely decorated it is.
It looks like all of the furniture came straight out of a catalog, was put in here, and never touched again. Even the bed is perfectly made.
I look back over my shoulder at Oliver. “Is this your room?”
He nods without saying anything. I turn back to the room, taking it in.
I went out with a guy once who took me back to his place, only for me to find out he didn’t have an actual bed.
He slept in a hammock strung up in his room.
Needless to say, I didn’t stay long. Another guy just had an air mattress on the floor along with some mismatched furniture.
After the hammock guy, the air mattress guy seemed like an upgrade.
I’m realizing now that maybe my standards were a little too low.
This makes me wonder why Oliver doesn’t want me to come in here. It’s not like he has anything to be embarrassed about. Unless it’s not embarrassment he’s afraid of…
The ring must be in here, I realize. I step up to his dresser and open the top drawer. I lift some of his shirts, but I don’t see the little box.
“Come on, Priscilla. Stop it.”
I ignore him. I move on to the second drawer.
“It’s not in there,” he says.
I continue to ignore him and look through it anyway. When I get to the third drawer, he steps up next to me and pushes it closed before I can get it fully open.
“I’m serious, Priscilla. Stop it.”
My eyes widen. I look down at the drawer. “It’s in there. Isn’t it?”
I try to open the drawer again, but he keeps his hip pressed against it. “No. It’s not.”
“Then why won’t you let me look in there?”
“Because what’s in my dresser is none of your business. Get out of my room.”
I hold my ground, one hand on the drawer, and my eyes on him, daring him to stop me.
After a short battle of wills that gets us nowhere, I take a step closer to him.
He stays put, even as I bring the front of my body within an inch of his.
His face remains serious as I bring my hands closer to his hips.
He watches me, unmoving, waiting to see what I’m doing.
His throat bobs up and down as my fingers make contact with his waist. I’m surprised he hasn’t pushed me off of him yet.
When he’s least expecting it, I pull the drawer open and grab the first thing I see: a notebook. I take it and run to the other side of his room before he realizes what I have.
“Is this what you were hiding?” I ask.
He looks at his drawer with a frown, then spots the notebook in my hands.
He dives toward me, but I already have the notebook open on some page in the middle.
There’s some kind of handwritten message.
It’s a story, or maybe a poem. I only have time to read one single line in the middle of the page: Eyes like dark chocolate.
He snatches the notebook out of my hands and closes it. His face is red.
“What is that?” I ask, laughing.
He doesn’t look amused. “How much did you read?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Not much, but… whose eyes are you eating?” I laugh again. “Was that a poem? Did you write that?”
I didn’t know it was possible, but his face turns even redder. “I told you not to open that drawer.”
“You also told me you would let me know when Ryan plans to propose and now you’ve backed out,” I remind him. “I figured you must mean the opposite of whatever you say.”
He goes to his dresser and drops the notebook back inside, then closes the drawer and stands in front of it.
“Come on,” I beg. “Let me read a little more.”
He crosses his arms. “No.”
“Okay. Then help me stop Ryan. You promised you would.”
He raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t promise I would help. I never should have said anything. You’re getting way too involved and…”
He stops himself, but we both know what he wants to say. Obsessive. My skin prickles. I feel hot.
“Whatever Ryan has planned can’t possibly be as good as Tina’s plan,” I tell him. “I’ve already put so much time into this. I mean, come on. A basketball game?”
Oliver smirks. “Why should I care? I guess I’m not as invested in this as you are.”
I’m so frustrated I could growl. I want to believe that he cares more than he’s letting on and he’s just being stubborn.
“Because he’s your best friend,” I remind him. “And you’re friends with Tina, too. Don’t you want them both to be happy? She doesn’t even have the right manicure to show off the ring.”
He rolls his eyes. “I don’t think anyone is going to care what color her nails are painted.”
I hold my hand out to show him my nails. “This is what she got.”
He frowns, looking at my fingers. His eyes go wide. “Is that sperm?”
“What? No!” I take my hand back, holding it with my other hand like it’s been tainted by his words. “These are ghosts.”
I look at my nails to confirm that they look the same as they did when I left the salon a couple days ago. They’re still the same ghosts. Except… wait. I gasp. “Oh no.”
How did I not see this before? The little white ghosts against the black background look just like sperm.
“Are you kidding me? These are supposed to be ghosts.” I slap my palm over my face. “No wonder my accountant was terrified of me. I can’t believe Tina didn’t notice either.”
Oliver raises an eyebrow. “Tina got the same thing on her nails?”
I snort out a laugh. “Yes.” Then I groan. “See? This is exactly why Ryan can’t propose today.”
He shakes his head. “She could just have her nails redone and take a picture later if she needs a photo that badly. Besides, Ryan isn’t proposing today. You can calm down.”
I narrow my eyes. I’m not sure I believe him.
“Now get out of my room,” he says. “I need to get dressed.”
I’m reminded that he’s standing next to me in his boxer shorts. My gaze begins to dip down, but I fight to pull my eyes back up to his. He watches me, his expression hard.