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“You just love embarrassing me,” I buried my face against his chest, willing the blush staining my cheeks to leave.
“You’d think by now you’d be used to the things I say,” I felt him shrug.
I shook my head and looked up into his green eyes. “I am,” I grumbled. “But when you start saying certain things in public—” I trailed off, lifting my shoulders in a small shrug.
He chuckled, his lips lifting up into a smile. “I like to keep you on your toes…” He paused, “…actually, I prefer to keep you underneath me but that’s a different story.”
“You are on a roll today,” I shook my head rapidly back and forth, praying that the people around us couldn’t hear our conversation.
He grabbed my chin between his thumb and index finger, tilting my face up. “I promise, from now on…or at least until we get home, I’ll be on my best behavior.” He grinned cheekily.
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”
“I can be good!” He exclaimed. I eyed him. “Okay,” he paused, “I can be good if I try really, really, really, hard.”
“Stop talking and dance,” I shook my head, unable to hide my smile, and glanced down at my feet to make sure they didn’t get tangled in his.
“So bossy,” he chuckled, “I like it.”
I bit down on my lip to hold back my retort.
“Hey,” Nick appeared behind Trace and tapped his shoulder.
Trace and I stopped dancing, and he wrapped an arm protectively around my waist.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Nick smiled sheepishly, sweeping his blonde hair from his eyes, “but I was hoping to dance with Olivia.”
Trace glanced down at me and I nodded that I was okay with that.
“Sure,” Trace released me and placed my hand in Nick’s.
“Nora, would you like to dance?” Trace asked my mom.
She smiled and accepted his offer.
I watched them sway onto the dance floor before I tilted my head back to look at Nick. God, he was a giant. I felt like a midget standing next to him.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Nick whispered, glancing around to make sure my mom and Trace were out of earshot.
“I figured,” I muttered, trying to keep the bite out of my voice. Nick was a nice guy, so I needed to stop acting like he wasn’t. He and my mom deserved to be happy.
His hand flexed where it rested above my waist. We swayed awkwardly to the music, almost a foot of space between us.
“I know…that this has been…”
“Difficult?” I supplied with a raised brow.
He took a breath. “I know this has been difficult for you, Olivia. But I really do love your mom with all my heart and I’m ecstatic to be her husband. I can’t wait to bring our son or daughter into this world and become a father. Nora’s told me everything about Aaron and Derek.” I flinched at the mention of Aaron’s name. “I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through so much, Olivia. I really am. But I want you to know that I’m nothing like—”
“I know that,” I interrupted him before he could say that name again.
“Good,” he swallowed.
In the beginning, when I first learned of Nick and my mom’s relationship, I’d wondered why she was so quick to jump into dating after finally getting away from her abusive husband. But now, I understood. There’s a part of all of us that no matter what, never stops believing in the power of love. Love, makes us human. It’s what drives us.
The song changed but we continued with our awkward dance. I felt like he was waiting for me to say something, so I opened my mouth and let the words tumble out. “I truly am happy for the both of you. I can see how much you love my mom and how much she loves you, I’d be an idiot not to. I think it’s great that she’s found someone to love and she’s moving on with her life…I’m sorry that I haven’t been the most supportive person of your relationship…it’s just…awkward…I mean…you’re—” I floundered for a better way to explain but came up empty.
“I get it,” Nick smiled and his dimple appeared in his cheek. “I could be your brother.”
