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Her throat bobbed. “S—sure. Of course. Um, he’s with his dad again on Friday so we were going to make pizza. Is that okay?”
“Is pizza okay? London, if you cut me open and examined my blood cells, you’d see a mix of footballs and pizza.”
She smiled, a little of her awkwardness fading away as she wrapped her arms around her waist, guiding me to the front door. “Okay. Um. Well, thank you. I… really enjoyed not having to be the one to play Mario tonight.”
Her eyes met mine.
Her cheeks were still a little flushed, and I knew enough about body language to know that the way she was hugging herself was nothing more than a small defense mechanism.
If she were anyone else, I might have kissed her right now.
Heck, I wanted to. If I’d walked into her house being attracted to her, I was sure as hell leaving it even more so. I wanted to kiss her—just once, just enough to let her know that I really didn’t mind… playing Mario.
I couldn’t, though.
I knew her boundaries on dating, and while I had a real soft spot for Leo, this wasn’t my move to make.
Not yet, anyway.
“I really enjoyed… playing Mario,” I said slowly, letting a lopsided smile take over my face. “Thank you. I’ll let you get to that shower argument now.”
She leaned against the door, smiling almost shyly. “Thanks, Ollie.”
“Pleasure was all mine.” I pulled my keys from my pocket and headed for my car, turning my head back only at the sound of the door clicking shut.
I got into my car and pulled out my phone, bringing up our text message thread.
ME: You didn’t tell me to stop flirting with you.
After hitting send, I tossed my phone on the passenger seat and pulled away from her house.
And try as I might, I couldn’t wipe the stupid fucking grin off my face.
CHAPTER NINE – LONDON
RULE NINE: PINK MAKES THE BOYS WINK. ESPECIALLY IF THE PINK THING IS YOUR CHEEKS.
“Hey, London? These were just delivered for you.”
I looked up from my laptop and froze. “What?”
Mandy poked her head out from around the bouquet of flowers. “They have your name on. Do you have a secret admirer?”
I pushed my chair back with a shake of my head. “Not that I know of, but then again, if I knew, it wouldn’t be secret. Can you put them on the desk, please?”
My assistant shuffled over and put the bouquet of pretty colored flowers on an empty part of my desk. “They’re amazing. The card is just here.”
I took the folded white card she offered me and opened it.
London,
Thanks again for dinner last night. It’s really been a long time since I had homecooked food.
Ollie
I fought back a smile and folded the card, replacing it in the bouquet, then looked at Mandy. “Thanks. Just a friend thanking me for dinner.”
She peered over at the yellow roses that were interspersed with purple irises and pink carnations. “If that friend is a male, I don’t think he wants to be friends.”
I cleared my throat, and she grinned.
“I’ll get back to work now.” She skipped out of my office and closed the door behind her.
I turned back to the flowers.
Why had he sent flowers? The dinner was a thank you to him.
Was Mandy right? Was Oliver interested in more than friendship with me?
No. That wasn’t right. He was Leo’s soccer coach. That wouldn’t be appropriate, would it?
He did get along with Leo. Leo loved him, actually. Had for ages. And Oliver was handsome and sweet and made me laugh.
He also said in his interview he wasn’t sure if he was staying in America, and I wasn’t interested in a relationship that might not last.
Oh, fuck it all.
I grabbed my phone and snapped a picture, then sent it to both my cousins and all my friends individually to see what they thought, explaining the situation.
The messages came back one by one, all promptly.
You’d think none of them had a life or a job.
IVY: Oh, yeah. He’s interested.
I started a quick tally chart on my notebook.
SAYLOR: Yup. Bang him at least.
Always elegant.
TORI: Definitely interested. Good chance to get laid.
As with Saylor, I was not surprised by that response.
KINSLEY: Oh I agree with Mandy. He’s definitely interested in you. This could be good for you!
Why couldn’t Ivy use that many words? She was my cousin, after all.
PIPER: OOOHHHHH HE WANTS YOU
My friends, ladies and gentlemen.
HOLLEY: Saylor said bang him, Kinsley likes this journey for you (she needs to lay off Schitt’s Creek) and I’m going straight down the middle. I think he definitely likes you. I also think it wouldn’t hurt either of you to have some fun while Leo is away.
The voice of reason.
Well, I didn’t think he was interested, so I was wholly outnumbered.
The idea of sleeping with him was out, though. I didn’t do that. I had never had a one-night stand in my life. I’d actually never slept with anyone I wasn’t in a relationship with.
