Page 28

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olivia

“ O kay, girl. Spill it,” Maggie says as she pours the first of our brunch bottomless mimosas. “I need to hear all the details because I know something happened. You are glow-ing Liv.”

She’s not wrong. I feel like I am glowing, flying, or dreaming. Maybe all three.

“Maggie…it was the best day of my life. I don’t know what’s happening to me.” A smile so big my cheeks hurt stretches across my face. “I took him to lunch, we went to an arcade bar, then Grant Park Beach, and, somehow, I ended up in his bed this morning with a spare key to his apartment.”

Maggie stops mid-sip, the glass still at her mouth, staring at me with her eyes almost bulging out of her head. She chugs her entire drink in one swallow and pours another, downing that one too.

“Ummm…what?! I’m sorry; who are you, and what have you done with my dear, sweet, innocent best friend Olivia?” she screeches. “I’m going to need you to fill in some of the details between the start and the end of this literal day date. I assume we can call it a date now?”

“Well, since he said, ‘you’re mine’ to me last night in a sultry voice after he got me off, I guess we can call it a date,” I say with a smirk as I hide my face behind my own glass.

“OLIVIA! WHAT?” Her mouth opens and closes without any words coming out, and I’m a little concerned her eyes may never close again. “Oh my God! This is better than any of my romance novels. He actually said, ‘you’re mine’? Holy. Shit. Does he have any friends?”

“I mean, he has a whole team of hockey players, but I think most of them are married. Who knows, maybe he has a brother, a cousin, or a neighbor. We didn’t get too into family details last night.”

“Well, of course not; he was too busy getting all up in your business. I have never been more jealous in my entire life. Wait a minute. Did you say he got you off? As in, he got you off off. You didn’t have to act your way out?”

“Yes, he did, and no, I didn’t,” I say very seriously as I tip my glass toward her.

“Oh my God. Wow.” Maggie leans in closer, glancing around before eyeing me with a salacious smirk. “Tell me about Hayes Jr. What’s it like?”

“Maggie!” I gasp, heat flaring in my cheeks, doing a quick check of the brunch crowd around us, thankful no one is looking our way. “ No. I am not going into detail about the monster residing between his legs.”

“I knew it! Your smile is too big for him to have had a teeny weenie,” she says, leaning back as we both cackle as the mimosas hit our empty stomachs.

“We just had a great time. The conversation flowed so easily. It’s like he gave me this gift of not having to be anything but myself around him. He’s nothing like Cayden. I had to work so hard to feel like I was living up to his standards and not upsetting him. But with Hayes? He keeps telling me to be myself. To be confident. To be proud of my voice and my songs. He even laughs at my jokes.” I swirl my glass, watching the bubbles dance. “I bet he would let me do the dance to the power play song at the games.”

“Liv, I am so glad Cayden is out of your life. Have you heard from him at all?” she asks, sounding concerned.

“No, I haven’t heard from him. Honestly, I’m…relieved. I thought I would be more upset about it, but I felt like something was up with him too. Cayden was a different person near the end, and now Hayes has come along and literally swept me off my feet, and I’m like…teenie weenie who?” I say, and we both cackle again, both of us shaking and holding our sides as we gasp for air between fits of laughter.

“I’m so happy for you, Liv.” She finishes her drink, glancing at me through her lashes. “No offense, but Cayden was a Grade A prick. I never liked the way he treated you,” she says with a regretful look on her face. “I should have spoken up before now, but I wanted to support you as your friend, and I didn’t know how.”

Reaching across the table, I squeeze her hand with mine. “It’s okay, Mags. It’s not your fault. When you’re in a bad relationship, it’s hard to see the things that are wrong from the inside. It’s always easier to see the red flags from the outside. I would have blown it off had you said something anyway. Too caught up in his toxic chaos. We should make a pact to tell each other when someone is dating a giant douche. Maybe we have a code word we can say to let the other one know there might be some red flags.”

“Oh my God, that’s perfect! We are totally doing this. What should the word be?” she says, bouncing in her seat a little too excitedly.

“It has to be something we don’t use very often. If we used the word mimosa, we’d never be able to date anyone,” I snort, taking another sip.

“True. How about dongle?” she suggests, and we both burst into a fit of laughter again.

I raise my glass to hers. “A toast to never having to use the word dongle!” We cheers and knock back another round of mimosas.

As we continue to enjoy brunch, I fill her in on some more of the details. She doesn’t need to know every single second of our ‘sordid’ yet romantic day, but I do want to get her opinion about one thing. I can’t shake the fear crawling through me every time it pops into my head.

“Mags…when Hayes was leaving this morning, I almost said…it,” I painfully admit, scrunching my face, nervously tapping my fingers on my glass. She’s going to think I’m a complete lunatic.

“Wait, what?” she blinks, “Like it it? Like ‘the L word’ it?” she asks stunned.

“Yep. I recovered and said, ‘I loved spending time with you yesterday,’ but now I’m panicking. I think I may have freaked him out. It’s way too soon to say that, right? Cayden would have left me the moment I even hinted at that.”

“Well, he’s not Cayden, that’s for sure.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she bites her lip, not meeting my eye. “Did he act weird after you said that? Do you think he picked up on it?” she asks.

I rub my hands down my thighs, shifting in my seat. “I mean, he seemed okay. I think? He just smiled and said, ‘me too,’ then told me goodbye and left. He said he’d text me when he got to Dallas, but I’m not exactly sure when that is. So, I’m sure I’ll be in ‘Olivia freak out mode’ until I hear from him,” I reply. “I just hope he doesn’t pick up on the clingy thing.”

“Olivia Marie Brooks. You are not clingy. A boyfriend who doesn’t want to spend time with you does not make you clingy. That is the stupidest term ever created and should only refer to plastic wrap food covering. Whatever frat boy douchebag made that up should hang by his testicles until he apologizes,” she says, and we laugh at the mention of testicles. Maybe we should slow down a little on the champagne.

I shrug my shoulders looking down at my fingers tapping out a rhythm on the table. “I know. It’s just hard to shake after hearing it for so long.”

“Liv, let me ask you a quession…quesssstion?….ques-tion,” she slurs. I think it’s time to cut her off from the mimosas . “You almost said it, so my question is, is it true? Do you think you love him?”

Do I love him? Is it possible to love someone I barely know? This man has done nothing but treat me with kindness and respect and seemed so genuinely bummed to leave me this morning. This man who left me a freaking spare key to his apartment after spending one day with me.

“I think so…” I say, almost like a question, with a cringy smile on my face. “Am I crazy? How can I love someone I’ve only known for a short period of time?” My heart is racing, the sound of silverware clanging filling the restaurant. It’s not that I need her validation to be with Hayes, but God am I an approval whore.

“First of all, he seems awesome, Liv, and from the look on your face, I’d say you are madly in love with him. I, for one, am over the moon happy for you. You deserve the world, and you finally have someone willing to give it to you. Second, as to how this can happen so fast. You are amazing, Liv. Cayden never knew what he had, and it seems like Hayes does. Shit, if you had a dick, I’d marry you!” Her cheeks flush as she pushes her glass away. “Damn, these mimosas are strong…” Maggie refocuses on me, her face softening with a smile. “Sometimes the stars just align. Who are we to question it? You’re so lucky, Liv. It’s beyond time you got someone good to love you.”

“You are the best bestie a girl could have,” I say as I raise my glass to her again.

“To besties!” she says, lifting her water as I finish the last of my mimosa.

I jolt as my phone buzzes on the table. “It’s Hayes,” I say, looking up, my eyes as wide as can be. Holy shit, he’s actually texting me when he said he would.

“Fuck yes! This is great! I am so glad he texted you while we are still at brunch. What does it say?!” she says in a loud ‘I’ve had a lot of champagne’ kind of way.

“Shhhhh. Mags keep it down!” I say, darting my eyes around to see several people glaring at us. Guess we won’t be coming back here for brunch. I read the text out loud to Maggie, my heart in my throat.

Hayes

Hey gorgeous. Just got to Dallas. Miss you already.

Maggie snatches my phone out of my hand, her thumbs flying across the screen before she passes it back with a smug smirk.

Olivia

Hey handsome! Glad you made it safely. Miss you too.

I huff, opening my mouth to chastise Maggie when another text comes through.

Hayes

You get out of the apartment okay? Steal anything good?

Olivia

Just your giant TV. You didn’t need that, right?

Hayes

Lol. Did you take the TV to brunch with you?

Olivia

Yeah, I paid a creepy old guy in the parking lot to watch it for a couple hours. He told me I had nice legs.

Hayes

Good move. And he’s not wrong. But tell him to stay away from what’s mine.

Olivia, I wanted to tell you something…

“What’s he saying now?” Maggie asks, interrupting my happy Hayes bubble.

“I don’t know!” I scream back at her, the blood draining from my face. “It’s the little typing dots; they keep starting and stopping!!” We both wait with bated breath, Maggie’s nails clicking along the table as she drums her fingers. I slap my hand over my mouth as the text comes through. Tears blur my vision and my pulse races as I read the text over and over. Does this mean what I think it does?

“What did he say, Liv?! I’m dying over here!”

Hayes

I wanted to tell you I loved the time I got to spend with you yesterday too.

Olivia

Hayes

We’re on the bus to the hotel now. I’ll call you later once I get settled in my room for the night.

Olivia

Okay. Loved getting these texts from you.

Hayes

Love getting texts from you too, sweet girl

“Ohhhhhhhh, this man has it bad for you, Liv! He totally loves you too!” she reaches across the table to give my hand a squeeze. I squeeze it back, so grateful she’s here to share this moment.

He heard me almost say it. And he’s not running away. He’s not scared. He’s not afraid to commit. I know we both got out of complicated relationships, but what if all that bad stuff led to where we are right now? What if we needed to get our hearts broken to truly find the person who would cherish it? If that’s truly the case, then it’s not too fast at all. I cradle my phone to my chest, blinking away the moisture in my eyes as I look at Maggie . I think I am seriously falling in love with this man . Thursday cannot get here soon enough.