Olivia’s Ride(6)

My body was still humming with nervous energy. I was sitting in my living room, flipping repeatedly through the same channels in more of a nervous twitch than the need to watch anything. It was close to midnight when my phone beeped, indicating a new message had arrived.

I practically dove for my phone.



Olivia: Don’t let my dad freak you out, he is nicer than he appeared tonight. He just has a very hard time accepting that I am grown up.



No shit, I thought to myself. The guy obviously was not a fan of his daughter dating. I don’t think it mattered who the guy was; he would hate anyone.



Keeton: Really? I hadn’t noticed.



When a message didn’t come back immediately, I thought I had somehow pissed her off with my sarcasm.

But then my phone began to ring, and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw it was her.

“Hey,” I said as I lifted the phone to my ear.

“I am so embarrassed by the way he acted.”

I could hear the irritation in her voice and chuckled. “Sweetheart, if I was a father, I am more than positive I would act the same way, if not worse.”

“I don’t think you have a mean bone in your body,” she said.

“I like that you think that of me, but I do have a little bit of a temper. But only when I find it necessary,” I replied. “Is your dad still around?”

“He’s at his hotel,” she said. “He left after I called my stepmom and told on him.”

“You did not.” I laughed.

“Yep, I sure did.” She sounded proud. “Amber tore into him and he left my dorm room grumbling something about being teamed up on.”

There was a pause, and I was just about to say something to break the silence when she spoke.

“So are you still unsure if you wanna see me again?”

“What?” Had I really given her that impression?

“When I asked if we were still on for Thursday, you didn’t seem sure. So I just figured my dad had scared ya off.”

Well damn. I guess I had.

“Of course I want to go out with you again. I’d actually take you out tomorrow night if I didn’t have to work. Thursday is my next day off.” I could hear her let out a long breath and it made me smile.

It was nice to know that she wanted to see me as badly as I did.



***



Over the next week, I tried to see Olivia every chance I got. Even if it was only for five minutes before my class started, I took it.

Her father had gone back to Montana after they looked at a few apartments just off campus. He left without giving her a direct answer. It was funny listening to her ramble on about the stubborn-ass Sawyer men and their control issues. But something told me it wasn’t just the Sawyer men who were stubborn.

Olivia was a fireball; that much was obvious. She didn’t let things go easily. And the way she spouted out her opinion on pretty much anything was sometimes real damn funny.

Since our first date, we had gone out twice more. Dinner and a movie, followed by sneaking her into a club. She used a fake ID she’d had for months, but had failed to test it. She stuck to my side from the moment we entered until the time we left. Loud college kids, with even louder music; it was obvious it wasn’t her usual means of passing the time.

Tonight I invited her over to my place.

It would be the first time she saw where I lived, and I spent hours cleaning and rearranging what little furniture I had. I was fearful she would take one look and realize I was the biggest slob she ever met.

A light knock on my door made my heart feel as if it lurched forward and hammered against my breast bone.

Taking one last look around the room, I tossed Duke his bone and hoped it would entertain him long enough to allow me time alone with Olivia. Duke was an attention whore.

When I opened the door, I swear I swallowed my damn tongue. She was torturing me; I was sure of it.

Olivia stood in my doorway, wearing a short jean skirt with a baggy shirt that hung off one shoulder. A pair of cowboy boots graced her feet, and her damn smile made my knees weak.

“Hey,” she whispered, holding up a container of what looked like brownies. “I brought treats. They’re nothing like my stepmom makes, but I couldn’t show up empty-handed. So I stopped by the bakery on Knoxville.”

I leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss, thanking her as I stepped aside and allowed her to enter. Just over her shoulder, I saw Lacy exiting her apartment across the hall. She winked as she walked off.

I told her all about Olivia after our first date, when I came home in a panic thinking her father hated me. Over the following week she heard more about Olivia than I was sure she wanted to, but hell, I couldn’t stop myself.

“Now before you say anything, I’m a single guy living with his dog. There isn’t much either of us needs, so this place is lacking in the decorative department. I’m also not the most clean person, so ignore anything you may notice. Just smile and pretend it’s all good.” I shrugged as I bent down and lifted a sock I hadn’t noticed before from beneath the kitchen table. “See.”

Olivia placed the container on the counter and walked toward me, hooking her fingers into the front pockets of my jeans. Rising up on her toes, she placed her lips to mine and I curled my arms around her, pulling her closer.

“I’ve spent the last year dealing with a roommate who I swear is the devil himself. She leaves her dirty thongs on my bed just to irritate me.” I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “I know; that shit is nasty. So your socks, or even the boxers Duke is now chewing on, are the least of my worries.”

I smiled and leaned into kiss her once more but froze before my lips reached hers. The words she spoke finally registered as I looked past her shoulder and found Duke tugging away on a pair of red boxers. “Ah damn Duke, not again.”

I wiggled free and lunged at the couch as Olivia’s laughter filled the room. She stood back as I wrestled my dog, trying my best to save the pair of underwear he had somehow gotten out of the clothes basket in my room, hidden behind the door.

She crossed her arms over her chest and I looked up at her from my place on the couch. Suddenly, the fact that Duke was dominating the battle meant very little. I gave up and climbed off the couch as I walked back toward her. “You think that’s funny, do ya?” I asked as I gripped her hips and pulled her body closer to mine. She nodded as she bit on her lower lip, trying her best to hide her laughter. “That’s the third pair of boxers he’s chewed this week.”

“That could eventually be a real big problem,” she said. “Apparently Duke has a thing for your underwear.”

She looked up at me with that big smile of hers and my chest tightened. Having Olivia around was something I was beginning to rely on. Whether it was hanging at the library as we both studied or sitting in the student center, sharing a soda and a bag of chips; she was becoming part of my routine.

Now here she was in my place, and fuck if that, too, didn’t feel natural. It was scary and comfortable all at the same time.

I had spent the last few years at A&M alone. Yeah, I had Lacy and a couple friends I met along the way, but nothing felt like it did with Olivia.

“It feels good having you here,” I confessed, and she placed her hands against my abs and carefully slid her hands around my waist, pulling me closer. “I really like you.”

“I really like you too,” she replied.

Gripping her around the back of her neck, I lowered my mouth to hers and tried to convey the happiness I felt in just one kiss.

But it appeared Liv had other ideas. Her soft tongue trailed along my lower lip and I immediately flipped the tip of mine out to meet hers.

A kiss that was meant to be soft and gentle quickly became more. For a brief moment, I thought of pumping the brakes, but that thought faded fast when she sucked seductively on the tip of my tongue.

I groaned as I backed her against the kitchen counter and gripped her hips, lifting her up and placing her on the counter.

She wasted no time as she hooked her legs around my waist and held me close. Her hands roaming over my stomach, just beneath the hem of my shirt, gave me chills.

“Damn,” I groaned when she rubbed herself against my growing erection. “Liv, maybe we should slow this down,” I mumbled against her lips.

Even I thought I was a little crazy for suggesting it, but I didn’t feel the need to rush anything.

She pulled back and looked up me with her eyebrow arched in question.

“Yeah, I know; what the fuck am I thinking, right?” I said, causing her to laugh.

I looked down and realized her skirt had been pushed up her thighs, exposing the light blue fabric of her panties.

I hung my head and closed my eyes, trying my best to tame my raging boner and the voice inside me that was yelling Idiot over and over.

Her soft giggle told me she, too, noticed my struggle.

After a deep breath I lifted my head and took her face in my hands. “I just don’t wanna rush this, baby, because being with you makes me happy.”

Her smile softened as she tilted her head to the side and kissed my cheek. “You, Keeton Pearce, are a very sweet man. And you make me happy, too.”

I backed away as she lowered herself from the counter and began repositioning her skirt. Her sweet ass shimmied from side to side and I lifted my hand to my mouth biting hard on my knuckle as I fought against changing my mind.