Stupid Girl(65)
“Fine. Then tell me who he is.”
My gaze drifted to the space between my feet. “I met him my first day here. He’s a baseball player. From Boston.”
Seth was silent for a few seconds. “Are you guys dating?”
I let out a gusty sigh. “Yes.”
“Does he know?”
I knew he meant details about my senior year, and about what had happened with Kelsy. “No, he doesn’t—”
“Olivia, Jesus.”
I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Hey, my break’s over. I’ll call you back tonight.” I pushed off the sill and found my pack. “Please don’t mention it to Mom and the others. I swear he’s a good guy. Okay? Please?”
“Godalmighty, sis,” Seth breathed. “Okay. Call me back tonight.”
“I love you,” I said.
“Love you, too.”
As I stashed my phone in my pack, I ground my teeth. Great. There’s no telling how long it’d be before the rest of the Beaumonts would know about not only the vulgar words on my truck, and Kelsy at Winston, but about me dating Brax, too. In a normal life at least half of that wouldn’t really be a big deal. But my life stopped being normal about a year ago. Hopefully, Seth could hold his tongue for a little while longer. Truly, it was a big IF.
For the rest of the evening my thoughts ran rampant, scurrying across my brain like five thousand beetles rattling around in my skull. My head hurt. One second I felt okay, like the whole incident that morning was over and didn’t really bother me. The next second brought thoughts of Kelsy and high school crashing down over me. Not having talked to Brax all day probably aided in that headache. I couldn’t wait to get off work and just … see him. The thought of it eased my mind, and I pushed through my tasks at the observatory. I’d just stepped out of the break room at the end of my shift when Noah Hicks stopped me in the hall. His expression was grave; I knew he knew. And he knew I knew he knew.
“You should’ve told me,” he said. His smile was warm, genuine, and it softened his eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I shifted the weight of my pack and smiled. “You know us geeks are targets for pranks like that,” I said. “I’m already over it. But thanks.”
“Olivia that was no typical prank,” Noah clarified. “But if you change your mind, I’m all ears.”
I returned the warm smile. He was nice, personable, and I could see it in his eyes. He sincerely meant it. “Thanks, Noah. I appreciate it.”
“I think you’re a lot tougher than you look,” he called after me.
I threw a grin over my shoulder. “I try to be anyway.”
As I made my way to the entrance, butterflies kicked up in my stomach in anticipation of seeing Brax. For a moment I wondered if he’d even be waiting on me; I hadn’t heard any more from him. Worry clawed at me; worry that maybe he’d heard something about me. Or that Kelsy had told him something I should’ve already told him myself. Maybe he’d decided I was too much drama, too high maintenance? The butterflies turned to ache as I pushed open the doors of the observatory and stepped outside into the night air. What if Brax had decided I just wasn’t worth all the trouble?
Beneath the street lamp next to my truck, I saw him, straddling his motorcycle, waiting for me, and my pent up breath and worry eased right out of me. He looked up and was off his bike, jogging toward me in that easy lope that I never tired of watching, and my eyes drank in the sight of his long muscular legs closing the space between us. My heart sped up as he grew close, and at the last second, just before he reached me, he flipped his ball cap around, bill to the back, and gathered me in his arms. His body enveloped mine, and his scruffy jaw buried against my neck. I sank into him, my arms slipping around his waist and marveling at the muscles bunched there. When his lips settled over the skin of my throat the erotic gesture sent a shiver down my spine, and I melted a little more. How had I come to crave this with him? To so vehemently crave Brax? What was even more astonishing was that he seemed to crave me, as well. In less than a month? Could it even be real?
“I thought I was going to have to come in and drag your ass out,” he said against my skin. His mouth moved to my jaw, then my chin, then grazed my mouth. Then, he pulled back and looked at me with those light, ethereal eyes. “Let’s get outta here.”
Sliding the pack off my shoulders, Brax led me to my truck. “We’ll take my bike,” he said, and waited for me to open the door.
“Where are we going?” He hadn’t mentioned the incident from this morning. Hadn’t mentioned Kelsy. And I hadn’t heard of any fights or trouble after Brax took off this morning, determined to get to the bottom of the vandalism on my truck. What had happened once he’d left me?