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What new angle was this he was playing? Part of why I’d raced away from the table was my certainty he would probably go into some kind of caveman routine about Moose. Oliver was so concerned about appearances, but he was also insanely jealous. Drunk Oliver had to be even worse. But he’d barely spared the other man a glance.
The entirety of his attention had been on me. And my belly. As if Moose’s exuberant greeting held no bearing on our lives.
It didn’t.
If Oliver had asked me to go home with him, to talk or otherwise, I would’ve said yes. How could I not? He preyed on my heart—and the rest of me—with a skill no other man ever had. I didn’t want this rift to continue between us. All I wanted was for him to tell me he cared. Not just to insinuate it, but to say the actual words.
Yet he was showing me in his own way. The origami. His speech about the knot. The way he so carefully touched my stomach. He wasn’t indifferent, and he wasn’t just suggesting marriage for propriety’s sake. There was more there—on both sides.
I just didn’t know if I would live long enough for him to fully acknowledge it.
By the time I made it back out to the table, Oliver and Seth were squabbling about something involving point spreads—proof Oliver had to be drunk, because he wasn’t interested in sports most of the time—and Kelsey was holding court with both Moose and the man Seth and Oliver had come with.
“There you are,” Kelsey said, smiling broadly. “I’ve been setting up dates for us. Well, not date-dates,” she amended when Oliver seemed to take an interest in the conversation.
I smiled to myself. I didn’t want him to act like a jealous jerk, but it was nice to know he cared. That he was paying attention even while he was engaged in a friendly battle with his brother.
Nothing was nicer than that.
“Hi, I’m Dare.” The attractive, shaggy blond-haired guy with Oliver and Seth leaned forward to shake my hand. “You’re Sage?”
“I am. You work at the car place. I knew you looked familiar. I’m pretty sure my spark plugs are dirty.” Someone growled, though I couldn’t say if it was Kelsey or Oliver.
Perhaps both.
“Sure. C’mon in whenever is good for you. I’ll fit you in.”
“I just bet,” Oliver said darkly.
Drunk or not, some things never changed. And thank God for that.
“So, dates, huh?” I asked brightly. “I mean, not sex-related dates, but what exactly?” I only barely resisted slapping myself in the face.
Sweet mercy, would I ever stop talking while I was ahead? At least when I was with Kelsey, it was a competition which of us would say the more inappropriate thing.
Kelsey smiled as she plucked a peanut from the bowl. “Just friendly get-togethers. All of us. Who doesn’t need friends, right?”
“Sure.” I exchanged a look with Oliver, and Lord, if my nipples didn’t poke right through my sweater, it wasn’t from lack of impetus.
That man was going to set my damn panties on fire.
“Not that you need any more male friends, since you’re already knocked up. Oh shoot, Sage, I’m sorry!” Kelsey glanced around as if just realizing where she was—and exactly how many people could hear her—and shoved the bowl of peanuts at Dare. “Nuts?”
A giggle escaped me. My life might be screwed up right now—so screwed up—but I’d made a new friend. We probably shouldn’t go out in public together though.
“Oh, congratulations are in order then.” Moose went to give me another hug, and I danced away from him into Seth’s arms before he could. Moose’s hugs had always been awesome, but no need to wave a large pregnant woman in front of a bull.
The bull being Oliver. Which wasn’t entirely wrong, because even with my lack of experience, the dude was built. And I knew this because I’d looked online.
Hey, adult movies were vital parts of a woman’s sexual education. Especially if she wasn’t getting any. Like right now.
“Thank you, Moose,” I said brightly, clinging to Seth as he drew me in for a hug. “Just had to hug my new brother-in-law—I mean, not because of Oliver, but he’s married to my bestie, and she’s like my sister. Dear God, get me out of here,” I mumbled into Seth’s shirt as I buried my face.
Seth laughed. “It’s really true? Oliver confirmed it, but holy shit.”
“He’s telling people?”
That was big. We weren’t married and he was sharing it anyway.
