Authors: Sophie Lira
I fucking hate this. All of it. I hate that basic human compassion is so absent in her life. I’m assuming no one has ever done anything nice for her, aside from Natasha. That she thought no one would go this far to help her doesn’t make sense to me. Her fucking brother won’t even attempt to call Natasha or me back when we both explicitly stated what happened to her.
By someone who used to be his friend.
I might kick his ass for not being on the first flight here.
Olivia strokes the side of my face, wiping away a tear I didn’t even know had fallen. Cam looks between us and gets up. He kisses the top of Olivia’s head and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. The silence is screaming at me to say something. I don’t know how to make this better.
“I shouldn’t have let you leave like that.” Another set of tears swim behind my lids as I clamp them shut. “Olivia, I’m so sorry. I should have … ”
“Stop.” She takes my hand. “You’re here now.”
And I’ll never let you leave again.
***
My doorbell rings as I set a small bowl of oatmeal on the counter for Olivia. She yawns and weakly takes a bite. She’s been hopped up on serious medication since she was released from the hospital two days ago and can barely stay awake for more than an hour at a time. I grab my shirt off the edge of the couch and pull it on. A soft knock taps again as I unlock the door and pull it open. Helena smiles at me, holding a giant basket of stuff.
“Is she awake?” Her mouth twists into a smile, and I’m sure Olivia is going to be thrilled to see her. “I’m sorry to drop in like this, but Aubrey gave me your address. I wanted to see how she’s doing. I’m so worried about her.”
“It’s okay, really. She’s eating breakfast.” I open the door wider. “Come on in. Do you need help?”
She shakes her head. “I’m fine.”
Aubrey’s been coming over daily with Zach. Noah even stopped by with some flowers and Reese’s peanut butter cups since I told him they’re her favorite. The outpouring of support has been awesome for her mindset. Natasha video chats with her nearly every second she’s awake. Olivia hasn’t said so, but I think she expected that no one would care this much.
“Darlin’, you have another visitor.” I smile as I walk back into the kitchen and her head darts up.
Helena gasps a little and I turn around. Her eyes well with tears and she drops the gift basket on the counter. “Oh, sweetheart!”
“Stop, I’m okay. Thank you for coming over.” Olivia smiles and slides off the stool. It’s heartbreaking to see her struggle like this. Helena draws her into a soft hug and holds her close, rubbing her back.
“Come on, sit down.” Helena leads her over to the couch. “Kyle, can you bring over the basket?”
“Sure.” I take the gift and place it on the coffee table.
“What is all this?” Olivia eases into the corner of the couch and plops onto the cushion. “You didn’t need to get me anything.”
“Nonsense. I made all of it. You get the Petaltails healing special.” Helena takes her hand. “Aubrey helped me make all of the ointments and gels. Then your gorgeous friend, Natasha, made all the packaging and sent it to me.”
“Helena, you’re the best. Thank you.” Olivia’s bottom lip trembles. “Kyle, can you give us a few?”
“Sure.” I walk over and place a soft kiss on top of her head. “I’m gonna go take a shower.”
I sit on my bed, dropping my head into my hands. The only thing we found out was that Braden called a few big clubs asking if there was a birthday party for an Olivia. I have no idea how he could have possibly narrowed down his search enough to find her. But I guess when you’re dating someone for five years, you can kind of figure out these things regardless if you’re a shithead.
Maybe one of his boys saw her around and he knew she was in New Orleans. Aside from the money, he must have a really huge reason to go this far. To hurt her. I can’t wrap my head around anyone carrying that much of a vengeance.
I need to tell her everything soon before she asks. I won’t be able to hold it in again if she prods. The truth is clawing itself out of my mouth. Between Miles and this, I’m sure she’s going to leave for sure. I just hope Natasha can get enough common sense into her to stay. To see our point of view that she’s okay and he’s locked up.
After Helena leaves, Olivia curls into my side on the couch, unleashing a monstrous yawn. I pull the blanket higher, tucking it behind her. Her eyes flutter closed and I turn down the volume on the TV. Even though Helena only stayed an hour, she’s totally drained. “Liv … ”
“Yeah?” Her eyes droop as she looks at me.
“When you woke up at the hospital, the doctor called me your boyfriend and I didn’t correct him.” I wrap my arms around her tighter. “I know I shouldn’t have assumed, but I—”
Olivia cuts me off, pressing her lips to mine. She kisses me slowly and carefully, taking my face in her palms. I shift, making sure I don’t cause her any more pain. Her forehead rests against mine for a moment. She won’t look at me, but the tension in her body is like cement.
“Ask me,” she whispers.
“Will you go steady with me, m’lady?” I force a laugh, hoping to cut through whatever unease she’s feeling.
“Of course, kind sir.” She giggles and kisses my cheek. Her head leans on my chest, making her look even more beautiful than I’ve ever seen her.
Our semi-fucked, pent-up emotional relationship can’t move forward if we don’t lay everything out. I need to know what he did. I need to tell her the gritty secrets of what really happened during my accident and after. Stuff I didn’t even tell Cam. We need to talk about it all.
My mind races, replaying this week over and over. I feel like something will always be waiting for her. Like she’s destined for heartbreak because nothing for her ever ends well, but I’d do anything to keep her happy and free from harm.
I don’t want her to run from what we have. The weirdest part is, no matter how hard I try, I don’t know why I fell so hard, so fast. Why her getting beaten up by a ruthless piece of shit made me realize I love her. Maybe it’s everything about her I love, and when I didn’t have it for a few days, I realized how much I missed it.
Or, maybe she’s like baseball. No matter how good I am, I always have to be on my toes. Always expect the unexpected. She always gives me the rush of the unknown … and that’s the worst thing to anticipate.
Chapter Fifteen
Shrink
Olivia
I flip off the water and lean my head against the ceramic tile, breathing in the hot steam. It takes all the remaining strength I have to pull open the frosted sliding glass door. Two fluffy blue towels sit on the edge of the counter. They’re still perfectly warm from the dryer thanks to Kyle’s never-ending thoughtfulness.
I lightly pat myself dry, not applying too much pressure to my ribs. I pick up the T-shirt I stole from Kyle’s dresser and bring it up to my nose. Even though his beachy cologne is all gone, the softness from overwashing makes me feel a little bit more comfortable. I pull on my don’t-give-a-fuck undies, bright purple briefs with sunglasses all over them, and a pair of my socially acceptable black yoga shorts. I stifle a laugh as I put on his shirt because it hits midthigh and looks more like a dress.
At least I finally took a really long shower and Kyle doesn’t have to pretend like I don’t smell anymore. Using the edge of the counter for support, I ease myself onto the closed toilet seat. I take the wide-tooth comb again and start at the ends of my hair, lightly raking through the tangles. Every time I get close to my scalp I wince because my bruises are still tender.
How the hell Cam fights for a living is beyond me.
After another ten minutes of giving myself a migraine, the knots are gone and I drop the comb against the granite. It takes another few minutes to get through putting my hair in a low braid because a ponytail is out of the question. I stare at my reflection in the semi-fogged mirror. My cheek is still puffy and I now have the lovely tinge of green around my bruises.
At least it’ll compliment my eyes.
There’s a part of me that still can’t believe this actually happened. I spent months convincing myself Braden had moved on, that I meant nothing to him anymore. It was like the moment I fully let my guard down, he showed up.
On my fucking birthday, of all days.
There’s a herd of elephants in the room right now. Thoughts of what Kyle and Natasha wanted to talk about on my birthday won’t leave. Maybe it was something stupid; I have no idea. Braden hadn’t contacted me since I left Shreveport. Nothing. How could he have possibly found me?
I do an elegant waddle-slash-limp into the kitchen. Kyle rearranges the stack of twenty yogurts in the fridge because that’s all I can fucking eat, it seems. The fluorescent orange bottle of horse-pill pain meds illuminates with a blinking
“Take me N
AOOO
!”
sign. I dump two in my palm and down them with some orange juice.
“You okay?” Kyle turns around, nodding me over.
No.
“I need a hug. And for this to stop killing me.” I wave my hand around my face for emphasis. I want to be with him more than anything right now. I want his touch to replace the past week of hell and make me remember how good he is, how he would never hurt me.
“I can do that.” Kyle consumes me in his warm frame, kissing the top of my head. “I hate this. You do realize if he ever gets out of jail and comes near you I’m going to rip his fucking head off, right?”
“Can I see?” He tilts my chin up.
My chest constricts. I’ve refused to let anyone see the carnage, even Natasha. I raise my arm as far as I can and turn toward him as he lifts the side of my shirt. My entire side, from armpit to my hip, is a kaleidoscope of blue, purple, red, pink, and yellow, covering my mermaid tattoo like leprosy.
“Shit.” His jaw clenches so tight it pulses against his cheek. He eases my arm down and I wrap my arms around him, hugging him.
“I’m freezing,” I choke out, shaking my head. Goose bumps shiver through my skin as the air conditioning pumps through the giant open space. I’m on the cusp of an earthquake. My body is a fault line bound tightly for way too long. I just need all of this to be out in the open so we can move forward.
“Liv, what’s going on?” His eyebrows pull together.
“We really need to talk. Kyle, we can’t push this away like it never happened. I’ve been trying to for days and you always change the subject.” I swipe his hoodie off the chair as he grabs the divinely soft fleece blanket his mom sent me a few days ago. Kyle sits next to me as I ease into the couch.
“We really don’t need to talk about that now. You’re still recovering.” His words are so rehearsed I can almost see him reciting them in the bedroom mirror.
“Yes, we do. What did you want to tell me on my birthday?” I look at the mug of lukewarm coffee sitting on the table like it contains all the answers.
“It was dumb.” He swallows hard.
“You’re lying.” My chest heaves and my heart rate picks up. “Just tell me or I’ll go stay with Natasha.”
Even though I don’t want to.
“Uhm. You can’t stay with her. Olivia … Please don’t get mad.”
Here we go.
Kyle sighs and scoots closer, wrapping his arm around me. “We found out who carjacked Natasha right after it happened.”
I
knew
I should have prodded more the past few weeks. “Why didn’t you just tell me when you found out?”
“Olivia, baby—”
“Don’t!” I shriek, recoiling away.
Baby, what did you do?
You’re going to pay for this, baby.
I push off the cushions and take a few steps. I need to calm down. I need to rationalize. Kyle jumps off the couch, nearly in tears. But it won’t stop. My mind won’t stop. That stupid term of endearment is going to haunt me forever.
If you ever leave me, I’ll find you, Baby.
I’ll always be one step ahead of you, Baby.
“Olivia!” Kyle takes my hands, his eyes exploding with fear as they search my face. The strong, confident guy I’ve fallen for so hard, so fast, looks like a toddler afraid of the monsters in his closet.
“He, he would.” I hiccup, taking long, deep breaths. “Don’t ever call me baby. Ever.”
“I won’t, I promise.” He takes a step forward, and when I don’t recoil, he wraps his arms around me.
“Who was it?” I want to get this over with so I can move past it. But my intuition is screaming this is about to be worse than anything I could have ever imagined.
“Olivia, I’m so sorry,” Kyle says into my hair as he holds me tight. “It kills me I couldn’t tell you about Natasha and Miles, she wanted to tell you herself. I should have been truthful and I wasn’t. I love you so much, and this is the worst thing I could have done to you.”
This is so
not
the time for love. “What? Who is Mi—”
The light bulb shatters.
You have got to be FUCKING kidding me.
“Miles! You mean Braden’s cousin from Kentucky? That Miles? He’s the
random guy
who carjacked her?” I pull away, tears spilling from my eyes.
I didn’t even think about him. Ever. How stupid am I?
“We didn’t want you to get scared. Please, Olivia. We didn’t do this to hurt you.” He takes my hand but I back away. “Natasha moved to Baton Rouge and is rooming with Marcela, Cam’s cousin. Everything is okay.”
“Seriously? She
moved
and no one told me?” I can’t look at him. Nausea roils in my stomach as I register the things Natasha said on my birthday before I left for the bar and the way Kyle acted after we kissed.
“They’re looking out for her. To protect her.” He knew this is exactly why I was scared. He had to know it was more than Braden being a bastard.
“I can’t do this right now. Kyle, I can’t believe you guys.” I can’t get over him lying to me. It wasn’t an act. He was different. I’ve turned from someone starting over to a pitied girl who apparently can’t handle the truth. I’m waiting for Jack Nicholson to come out and ream me out for thinking otherwise.