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“Technically, phone tracking isn’t illegal in Texas. There are gray areas, sure. Besides, I’m off the clock right now. Consider it me giving you friendly advice.”
“‘Friendly advice,’ my ass. You’re still gonna charge me for the consult.”
Elliot’s laughter echoes through my phone. “Damn right I am. But you’ll thank me for it later.”
I’m not so sure about that one. Olivia’s trust in me is already on thin ice. I can’t even tell her now that I need to put a tracker on her phone, because I didn’t tell her I was going to meet Holly in the first place.
I groan, burying my face into my hands.
One step at a time. If it helps to keep Olivia safe, then it’ll be worth it.
16
OLIVIA
“One little, two little, three little butterflies, four little, five little, six little butterflies, seven little eight little, nine little butterflies, ten butterflies for you!”
Violet’s laughter peals through the nursery. I’ve got her on the floor, playing among a pretty pastel set of cotton butterflies that I’ve been touching to her nose and gliding through her hair. They were actually a gift to her from Reese for her birthday. He said that a girl with a name like Violet, as sweet as she is, was bound to attract butterflies, so she might as well get used to them.
His complete one-eighty turnaround still astounds me. Going from a cocky, self-centered hockey jock to a soft, loving father who confronts his fears about parenthood head-on…
Fucking him one time after basically breaking up with him doesn’t change everything, dummy.
The thought that flies through my head is in Quinn’s voice. I cringe, hating the way it brings me down instantaneously. It was beyond dumb to sleep with Reese. If I lost everything, the one truth that I could’ve clung to was being steadfast in my convictions. So much for that, right?
Reese is the only man that can unmake me the way that he does.
As I play with his daughter, things feel more normal than they have in weeks—and that’s dangerous. I know Reese—or at least, I think I do. He’ll come back, acting like everything is normal, like there isn’t still an ocean of uncertainty raging between the two of us. And what am I supposed to do about it? Push back, knowing damn well I’m weak when it comes to holding back the tide of my feelings for that man?
Holly comes to mind. Is she like me? Drawn to Reese in an impossible way that she can’t shake? Maybe that’s why she popped back into his life after more than a year of silence. Maybe she wants him the way I want him.
Thinking of her, of them together, makes my stomach hurt. A wave of nausea crashes up through my throat.
“Oh, shi?—”
I swallow back the urge to retch. It’s been a long time since I’ve had such an aggressive bout of anxiety that it flips my insides up on themselves.
Picking up Violet, I tuck her in her bassinet with all those little butterflies of hers. I leave the music on and she’s content to be alone as long as she has some kind of distraction.
Dipping downstairs, I get myself a cold glass of water. Still, it doesn’t soothe the nausea like I wish it would. My stomach turns, angry, like it’s fighting to get out. A rush of lightheadedness has me bending over the kitchen sink. My throat is tight. A sharp, acrid sensation pokes and burns as I choke up bile and spit it into the stainless-steel basin.
“Ugh…”
“Olivia?”
I startle. I hadn’t even heard him come back into the house. I turn my head just as Reese comes running over to me. His hand is warm and comforting when he presses it to my back. He rubs there, stroking between my shoulder blades like it’s natural for him to take care of me.
“Sorry,” I mumble, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “I just… got a little nauseous, that’s all.”
“You eat something weird?”
“Maybe. I think it’s just nerves.”
Reese pulls back. His eyes are full of concern. “Did something happen?”
His tone is more alarmed than I expect it to be. Part of me wants to tell the truth. There’s a lingering agony in me that wasn’t shaken by us fucking each other silly.
The other part of me doesn’t feel well enough to argue, so instead, I say, “I totally forgot to get dinner started.”
