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By the time she finished, her chest pumped with heavy pants, and her words hung frozen in the air, too shocked to move.
Sammy stared at her, equally frozen.
Olivia covered her face with her hands, mortified for the umpteenth time in a week. What waswithher lately? The stress from work, her fruitless-thus-far apartment search, and sharing a house with her ex-boyfriend must be getting to her; she’d balanced on the knife’s edge of losing it for days now. Well, turned out tonight was the night she tipped over the edge.
The clock’s ticking filled the room once more, this time in admonishment.That’s not what I meant when I said talk,the accusing march of its minute and second hands said.
Great, now she was hearing voices from inanimate objects. She really was going crazy.
“Olivia.” Sammy’s tone was far gentler than she’d expected, and it was worse than if he’d yelled and refused to accept her apologies. “You didn’tmakeme do anything. I was the one who chose to drive to your apartment that night, and I was the one who invited you to move in—though I did second-guess myself when I saw what you did with my spice rack.” His mouth tipped up, and Olivia snorted, grateful for the touch of levity. “Apology for rearranging the kitchen accepted, though the point might be moot. You were right—we’re both living here now, and it’ll be easier if there’s a system in place. I went to The Container Store today and bought some labels and new spice jars, so you can arrange them to your heart’s content.”
Olivia’s face lit up before it fell again. “You went to The Container Store without me? What type of spice jars did you buy? What do the labels look like?”
Sammy shot her anAre you kidding me?look.
“I was just asking,” she said defensively.
She was also well aware that he hadn’t touched what she’d said about New York. Judging by the way he returned to his meal, he wasn’t planning to.
Olivia felt curiously deflated. She didn’t want to discuss their breakup per se—talk about reopening an old wound—but a part of her had been relieved for the opportunity to discuss therealelephant in the room. The one that had sat between them, immovable and unforgettable, for eight long years.
Guess it’ll have to sit there longer, because she sure as hell wasn’t bringing New York up again.
“If you went shopping today, why don’t you have a shopping bag?” she asked.
Sammy dug into the green curry. “I left it in the car. I’ll grab it later.”
“Oh.” Olivia poked at her duck. “The next time you see your mom, can you tell her I apologize for, um...”
“Flashing your breasts?”
Among other things.Her breasts weren’t the only thing she’d flashed, though hearing the word “breasts” come out of Sammy’s mouth sent a spear of heat ricocheting through her insides.
“No need,” Sammy continued. “She knows you didn’t mean to do it. She told me so today.”
Sothat’swhere he’d been all day! With his mom.
A strange relief fizzled through Olivia’s veins.
“It’s sweet you spent your Sunday with your mom.” She was half-teasing, half-serious. She wished she had that type of relationship with her mother, but if wishes were horses, yadda yadda.
Pink tinged Sammy’s cheekbones. “Yu family Sunday dim sum. It’s a tradition, though I missed the last few,” he said. “She made me promise to show up today.”
“Why?”
“Why else? To set me up with what she hoped would be her future daughter-in-law, who also happened to be my ex-girlfriend.” His mouth twisted into a grimace.
Olivia frowned.Shewas Sammy’s ex-girlfriend, and she sure as hell hadn’t been invited to dim sum. She could’ve used some egg tarts that morning, too.
Then it hit her that, duh, of course Sammy had had other girlfriends other than her. In fact, he was dating Jessica—
“Wait a minute!” She slammed her palms on the table. The takeout boxes trembled with shock. “Why’s your mom setting you up when you already have a girlfriend? Doesn’t she know about Jessica?”
Was it possible Sammy had kept Jessica a secret from his family? Maybe they didn’t want him dating anyone outside their culture, but three years was a helluva long time to keep such a secret.
The pink spread across Sammy’s face. “Jess and I are no longer dating,” he said cagily.
Olivia’s heart revved. “But I saw you together at Ishikawa.”
