Page 86 of Right Man, Right Time
“No,” he answers, and my heart falls. “But only because if I did, I’m not sure I’d be able to hold back.”
“I knew you were falling in love with me.”
“Jesus,” he huffs before taking a bite of his ice cream cone.
I chuckle because that’s better than swooning.“But only because if I did, I’m not sure I’d be able to hold back.”I need a comeback. “Just admit it, Taters.”
“Yup, I’m falling madly, deeply, so far in love with you, Oliana, that I can barely breathe when you’re near.”
“See . . . I knew it.”
I can practically hear his eyes roll.
* * *
“Thankyou for coming with me today,” I say as we’re in the car. “I needed the company.”
“You did?” he asks when he glances over at me while at a red light.
“Yeah . . . it’s actually the anniversary of my grandma’s death today, and I always try to do something fun.”
“Ollie,” he says, his brow furrowed as he reaches over and takes my hand in his. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Didn’t want you to join me because you felt bad for me. I guess I just wanted a normal day, you know?”
“Yeah, I get that.” He brings the back of my hand to his lips and presses a soft kiss to my knuckles. It’s new, and I know he’s doing it as a friend to reassure me that he’s there for me, but it doesn’t stop the butterflies that take off in my stomach.
We sit in silence, my hand in his as we drive through the streets of Vancouver back to my dorm. I think about the day and how I teased him awfully but couldn’t stop. How he joked around too, but not as mercilessly as me. How we shared ice cream, his arm wrapped around me protectively. How he tried to shield me from fans vying for his attention.God, he’s popular.The incident with the donkey . . .
It was a mishmash of crazy, by no means a perfect day, but in my heart, it felt perfect.
And that scares me because I feel all warm inside.
He pulls into my dorm parking lot, his hand still holding mine, and instead of dropping me off, he parks his car instead.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“I’m not going to let you be alone. I’ll come up to your room.”
He goes to exit his car, but I stop him. “No. That’s okay. You don’t need to do that.”
“Ollie,” he says, giving me a look as he turns toward me.
“I appreciate the gesture, but if you didn’t know about my grandma, would you have just dropped me off?” He goes to answer, but I add, “Don’t lie to me.”
He huffs out a heavy breath and looks away.
“That’s what I thought. Don’t treat me differently. I’m really okay. I had fun, and I appreciate you going to the zoo with me and making me laugh . . . even if it was at your expense.”
He turns toward me again and says, “No thank you is necessary. We’re here for each other.”
“Not like this,” I say.
“Yes, like this,” he answers as he cups my cheek, his warm, rough palm acting as a comfort blanket.
I lean in to his touch. “This wasn’t part of the deal,” I say.
“Neither was you showing your ass in the sauna, but that happened.”
