Page 52 of Baby, It’s You (Clairesville #1)

Hunter

I was editing some skate footage for a local brand, my insomnia getting the best of me tonight, when my phone lit up with an incoming call.

Seeing that it was Olive, I instantly felt concerned.

She usually doesn’t reach out to me late, and especially not in the past few weeks.

I knew something was bad, and from the sound of her voice on the call, today didn’t go as planned.

Her voice was curt and distant on the other end, almost robotic.

And I surmised all that before she even mentioned the reason for her call.

My stomach drops now as I pull into the parking lot of Whiskey Jane’s. It’s pouring down rain, but I can see Olive outside. I park next to her and jog over to her driver’s side where she’s leaning against the door.

“Why are you standing out in the rain?” I shout as it pours onto us.

“I was hot in the car,” she says back. “It won't start.”

“Do you think it’s the battery?”

“Yes,” she responds, still robotic in her responses.

I stand next to her, just as drenched now. “I have cables. Let’s see if the rain will die down a little bit before we jump it. Just to be safe.”

Olive nods her head and crosses her arms. She’s staring at her feet, her body language completely closed off.

“Let’s go sit in my truck while we wait.”

“No. I need air,” she quietly responds.

“Okay.” I stand next to her, waiting to see if she wants to say anything else. A few minutes later she speaks.

“Tripp is selling the bar for two million dollars. He said the land is worth more now. He even laughed in my face when I asked him about buying it.”

Anger consumes me. I clench my hand at my side. “That piece of shit.”

Olive continues, “He said he has known about our attempt to raise the money this whole time. That it only helped him sell the bar for more money. He goes under contract tomorrow with the investor. The bar will be closed in less than a month.”

She sounds like she is reading off a script, not describing her own life. She’s detached. The way she is acting scares me; her lack of emotion with everything she tells me paralyzes my own thoughts.

“Are you okay?” I ask, instantly feeling like a dumbass because of course she’s not. Who would be okay in her situation right now?

Olive shrugs her shoulders. “Oh well. We tried.” She looks up at me blankly.

“Olive, we can raise the money. Let’s figure this out. I will help you.”

She starts shaking her head quickly. “No, no. This is over, there’s nothing else to be done. This was my problem, and you did your best to help me.”

I try to reason with her. “Let me help. Maybe I could get a loan?”

Olive recoils back from me. “ No , Hunter, stop. Stop trying to save me!” she yells out and turns away. “It’s done.”

I refuse to let her give up. I know she means more than just the bar when she says this; she means us, too. She’s trying to push me away.

She is still standing with her back to me, looking across the street, when she says, “I’m moving.”

“What?” I whisper breathlessly. The earth feels like it’s dropped out from below me.

She turns back towards me and speaks softer now, a note of sorrow in her expression. “Curls, I’m leaving. I’m going to move to Atlanta to live with Ivy. I need to figure my life out now.” I can't believe my ears as she continues, “There’s nothing left for me here.”

“You have me,” I quietly say.

“Yeah, and if I stayed here just to be with you, you would leave me, too, one day. Everyone leaves me eventually,” she tells me.

“Don’t you get it? No one has ever chosen me in my life.

” Her voice raises with every word. “My dad didn’t stick around, and my mom never cared enough to put me first instead of her love life.

I was always a choice to them, not a priority.

The people that were supposed to love me more than anything in the world didn’t give a shit about me.

This has caused me to feel neglected and unattached towards other people.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t get close to anyone.

Wouldn’t allow myself to feel love. The only person I really let in was Jane, and it took years for her to crack my hard exterior.

" She throws her hands in the air. “Now look at where that got me. I let someone love me and now I’m more alone than ever. I lost my job, and I am trying to figure my life out without her. I’m a lost cause, Hunter. You need to forget about me.”

I grow angry now. “That’s bullshit, Olive, and you know it. You have so many people that love you. Ivy, Rob, Missy, Mr. Ray, Mrs. Sonjia, Rick, Johnny.”

She stares at me and seems taken aback at my burst of anger. The only other time she has seen me upset is when I punched Dennis, but I can't stop the passion as the words pour out of me.

“Olive, I love you . I choose you. I want to be with you every second of the day. I can’t stop thinking about you and it’s driving me insane.

I want to be the person you call home. I want to kiss your soft lips and hold your beautiful face close to mine.

I’m out of my mind every time I leave you, trying to think of any excuse to come see you.

I would never abandon you.” My voice cracks with emotion as I say it a second time, “I love you.”

She stands looking at me, speechless as the rain continues to cascade down on us.

I don't stop talking, “I know you love me, too, Olive.”

She nods her head slowly, like she’s in a trance, her eyes finally shining with a hint of emotion. “I do,” she whispers, the phrase pouring out of her lips, like a confession.

Hearing those words, I step towards her quickly, and she meets me halfway.

Our lips meet instantly, both of us kissing each other with longing.

The emotion between us encompasses me. Olive grabs at my hair as I frantically kiss up and down her neck.

I breathe in her floral scent and groan.

Her admission that she loves me fills me with warmth, even though we are both soaking wet.

I never want this moment to end as she draws back and whispers to my mouth, “Be with me one time before I leave.”

“Don’t leave me,” I plead.

She looks at me, her large eyes filled with sadness. “I’m not the girl for you, Hunter. Please just be with me tonight.”

Before I can respond and tell her that she is wrong, that she is the only girl for me, her lips crash back into mine.

Her kisses become more sensual and deepen, and my own need for her takes over before my brain can tell my heart to stop.

I know it will hurt even more when she leaves, taking this next step together. But I can’t seem to care.

I pull back, running my thumb over her plump bottom lip, as I softly tell her, “Okay, Olive.”

I realize the rain has stopped so I walk her to my truck and grab a picnic blanket from the back seat. It’s the same blanket we sat on together at Onilley Lake and the thought doesn’t leave me as I lay it out in the bed of my truck. I turn to her and sheepishly say, “This is all I’ve got.”

Her lips crash back into mine in response and I can’t help but moan as she starts to feel for my body under my shirt.

I pick her up in my arms and gently lay her in the truck bed.

I climb on top of her, and I lean over. Looking down, I push a damp strand of hair out of her face and gently kiss the tip of her nose.

She giggles softly; her eyes finally look full of life as she pulls me towards her.

“Thank you for everything, Hunter. I will never forget you,” she whispers into my ear. My throat is tight with emotion, so all I can do is nod in response.

Then I make love to the woman I cherish under the stars.