Page 80 of Before the Night Falls

“Olivia?”

“I’m in here.” She tried to make her voice sound perky but failed miserably.

Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she sat up. Immediately, she wanted only to lie back down. Pain sliced through her head.

“Can I come in?”

She cringed at the thought. The last thing she needed was Wes seeing her puffy, red eyes and asking questions. But before she could answer, he opened the door and peeked in.

“What’s going on?” He squinted at her. “Chandler and I were getting worried. We haven’t seen you all day.”

“I’m fine. Just feeling under the weather.”

He stepped into the room and paused in front of her. “You don’t look fine.”

“It’s nothing, Wes.” She waved him off, too embarrassed to tell him how humiliated she felt, to admit how she’d made another stupid mistake.

“Did you get more roses?” he pressed.

“No—I mean, yes.” She shook her head. Those roses they’d found in Tyson’s truck bed almost seemed like something she’d gotten weeks ago. “Someone left six flowers in Tyson’s truck yesterday when we were out.”

“Oh, Olivia . . . I’m sorry.”

She nodded, unsure what else to say.

Wes narrowed his eyes, still studying her face. “Did something else happen? Did Tyson hurt you? If he did?—”

“I’m okay, Wes.” She held up her hand in a stop motion to indicate he should chill.

“You didn’t answer my question.” His tone turned steely.

“How would Tyson hurt me?” Her throat burned.

“It’s not a secret that you two have it bad for each other. You did spend all day with him yesterday.”

Okay, so it was obvious . . .

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She pressed her lips together.

Wes looked at her, questions in his eyes. Finally, he accepted her words and took a step back. “Listen, why don’t you come out here with Chandler and me? We’ll help you get your mind off of things.”

Olivia considered it a moment. Maybe being around people—her friends—was a good idea.

She finally nodded. “Okay, I’ll be out in a minute.”

When Wes left, she went into her bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face. As she looked into the mirror, she realized it would take a lot more than some cold water to fix the evidence of her pain.

Resigned, she left her room and went into the living room.

* * *

Tyson had been counting down the moments until he could return home.

His seminar had gone well, and he’d fulfilled his obligations.

But now he wanted to talk to Olivia. He’d almost called her. But he wasn’t sure their relationship was at that level yet. Instead, he got home as quickly as possible.

More than anything, he secretly hoped Olivia would be waiting up for him. However, he was probably getting ahead of himself.