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“It sounds like they got into quite the argument after I left them,” I finish.
“What is her problem, anyway?” Amy asks, a grumpy frown marring her face. “Why wouldn’t she want her boyfriend to be kind and helpful?”
“I think she doesn’t like that he is all those things to me,” I reply before adding, trying to be fair, “and I can understand that. I have ruined quite a few of their dates in recent weeks.”
“But you are his friend. He should be able to help you without risking his relationship,” Amy says like a wise, old owl.
I agree with Amy, but not wanting to get into a debate about Oliver’s relationship, I change the subject. “So now I have to sort out a locksmith to change the locks to my apartment. Luckily the only things I had thrown into my handbag before leaving were my house key, one hundred dollars, and my Starbucks loyalty card, so I don’t have to worry about that part too much,” I add, happy that I had left my full purse with all my credit cards and car keys at home in favour stuffing some cash in my small, impractical, but oh-so-cute handbag. Oh, cute handbag, I will miss you.
“I’m glad you are here with us tonight,” Amy says now. “You need a good night’s sleep so you can rally and regroup tomorrow.” She gets up and hands me an oversize T-shirt to sleep in as she gets into her own pyjamas.
“Thanks, Ames. You and your brother are my saviours,” I say as I wiggle out of my date night clothes and slip the butter-soft T-shirt over my head. With a grateful sigh, I sink into Amy’s bed and snuggle under the blanket. Closing my eyes, I finally let this day come to an end.
*****
A few hours later, I wake up, disoriented and thirsty. Where am I? I look around and see that it is still dark and Amy is snoring next to me, and the events of my disastrous evening flash through my mind. I get up and head downstairs to get some water, and maybe a snack, stumbling around in the dim light, finally letting out a relieved sigh when I reach the kitchen without incident. I open the fridge door to shed some light around the space and stand on my tippy-toes to reach for the glasses on the top shelf, when muscular arms encircle me from behind.
“Need some help?” Oliver asks right into my ear.
“Oliver!” I hiss. “You scared me half to death.” I turn to see his face close to mine, and he’s wearing a wide smile.
“I can’t reach the glasses,” I announce. “This house is built for giant people.” He grins at me even wider, shocking me further by picking me up and moving me to the side. Once he has safely deposited me back on the ground, he reaches up and grabs two glasses for us before filling them up in the sink.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asks, breaking the silence.
“Just thirsty, and maybe a bit hungry?” I take the glass of water from him. “Is there anything to eat in this fridge?” I ask with doubt, knowing there rarely is anything edible kept here, but I bend down to rummage through just in case.
“Ollie? Any snacks for me?” I ask again when he doesn’t reply, turning to look at him. Oliver is standing where I left him, gazing at me, looking from the T-shirt to my bare legs and back again. Feeling acutely aware of my state of undress, knowing that I am standing in front of him in only very small underwear and a T-shirt that keeps slipping off one shoulder, I turn back to the fridge, now looking for anything to break the tension.
“That’s my T-shirt,” Oliver finally says in a strangled voice.
I look at him, a blush spreading across my entire body. “Sorry, I didn’t know. Amy gave it to me to wear.” And then, in a lame attempt at a joke, I add, “Do you want it back?” I grab the bottom, acting like I’m going to lift it.
“No!” Oliver steps towards me, his hand reaching for his T-shirt. He slowly pulls the sleeve back up over my shoulder from where it slipped down, scorching my skin in the process. We both watch as he deliberately caresses my shoulder, almost mesmerised, the two of us illuminated by only the soft glow of the fridge light.
“It’s yours now,” he whispers in a hushed voice, still staring at where his hand just was.
After being struck dumb by what has just occurred, I finally find my voice and say, “I was just kidding, Ollie. I will give it back. It’s just for tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Oliver says, shaking his head and taking an abrupt step back from me, walking towards the kitchen door. “It looks better on you anyway,” he adds as he gives me one last searching look and leaves the room. And I am left feeling hot and bothered, aware that I will never be able to get back to sleep now.
CHAPTER 17
Oliver
I leave Lilly in the kitchen, wearing my clothes, and almost run to my bedroom. There is only so much temptation a man can take. Just seeing her there, all bare legs and tousled hair—she looked like a dream in my T-shirt. Oh, who am I kidding? Lilly looks like a dream to me wearing just about anything. And her skin is as soft as it looks. This is pure torture. I close and lock my door—ensuring I do not give in to every instinct urging me to go back out there, find Lilly, and kiss her senseless—and lie back on my bed with a sigh. It had been quite the evening.
It started with Lilly going out on a blind date. When Amy mentioned in passing that her friend was meeting up for dinner with some random guy, my stomach twisted with jealousy. This is just what Dale predicted would happen, that Lilly would meet someone else and I would miss my opportunity. And this type of man, one eaten up with jealousy—well, it just isn’t who I am. Or the way I know myself to be. I am a calm and rational person, not someone who is prone to feelings of envy and fear. So, with this in mind, I spent most of the week trying to ignore my feelings, but after a few days of torture, where I just could not stop myself from picturing her out with another man, I caved and contacted her. I didn’t have any plan in place for what I wanted to achieve with this phone call to Lilly, mere hours before her date, but I knew I had to stop her from going.
But then, seeing her all aglow with what appeared to be excitement about her upcoming date, I knew I had to rein it in a bit. Lilly, first and foremost, is my friend, and if she wants to go out with a stranger from the Internet, I have to trust her judgment to do so. So I talked myself out of talking her out of her date. And let her go out with that douche Grant, looking gorgeous in her miniskirt and slinky top. Seriously, Lilly in a miniskirt and heels is a sight to behold.
Distracted now, I get up and do some push-ups. Any way to get rid of the tension I have been feeling since I heard her voice on the answering machine. Lilly was out there stranded again, with no money and no phone. Still worked up, I flip onto my back and do some sit-ups as I picture her when I arrived to get her. I expected to find her crying and upset, but instead, she was sitting at the bar, chatting to the staff, laughing and telling jokes and making friends, like she hadn’t been dealt a rubbish hand that night. And that is the thing about Lilly. She gets pushed down, but she never stays there. Her ability to always stay happy and positive is one of the things I love the most about her.
This did change, however, when we got home and Emma let her nasty side show again. And that was it. I was done. No more homework from Emma. The relationship was over. After sending Lilly upstairs and out of earshot, I told Emma in no uncertain terms that we were over. She yelled for a bit and cursed me out, and then she left in a huff. And finally, I was released from a relationship I probably shouldn’t have been in in the first place.
Don’t get me wrong, I do feel bad about what happened with Emma. And I tried to make it work with her over the course of our relationship, but when it comes down to it, I just can’t help that it is Lilly I want to be with. And now that I’ve had that scare tonight with Lilly heading back out into the dating scene, and add that to seeing her in the kitchen just then, all rumpled in my T-shirt, it is solidified again in my mind that it is time to put aside all my concerns about being with Lilly and finally do something about making her mine.
CHAPTER 18
