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Chapter Twenty-Three:
Spilling the Tea
Mia
With as crazy as date number one was, I was understandably nervous when I stared down at Ollie’s text.
Ollie: 1:30. Meet me at Hazel Park. Bring your A-game.
‘A-game.’ Díos mio.I knew that park at least, it had a gorgeous view: tall, green trees with leaves that touched the ground, a huge pond in the center and ducks everywhere. They had signs asking people not to feed them, but it was obvious no one listened because there were far too many living there for it to be a coincidence.
I didn’t know what Ollie could have planned there, but to be safe I threw on some comfortable jean shorts, Converse, and a grey cotton t-shirt. I didn’t want to be in a dress if that happened to be the day all those ducks decided to band together and wipe out the humans.
The visual made me laugh as I said goodbye to the boys, but my smile faded as I saw Jago. I didn’t know what was going on with him, and as much as I’d hoped he knew he could talk to me about anything, I wasn’t so sure he did. It made me wonder what he and Ollie talked about outside the diner, but I hadn’t pushed either of them to spill. I was sure I could get Ollie to tell me if I wanted to, but something about the fact that he didn’t on his own made my chest tighten. He had Jago’s back as much as mine, and if I needed to know something, I’d know. This was something personal, and although I had a feeling I knew what it might be, I wanted Jago to feel safe enough to express himself on his own.
It was obvious he wasn’t there yet.
I pulled out of my neighborhood and I put on some salsa music to calm my nerves. Something about Malo on a warm afternoon relaxed me, but I was sure it had to do with those drives my father would take me on. He had a blue classic Corvette he’d take out every Saturday, and my sister and I used to argue about who’d go with him and who would stay home to take care of Mom. I loved my mom, but those few hours cruising with Dad were some of my favorite times. He was a man of few words – in fact, he never said more than a few sentences on those drives – but he was the one who got me comfortable with silence.
There was beauty in silence if your mind was truly quiet enough. I just couldn’t remember how that felt anymore.
When I arrived at the park, I was a little more emotional than I meant to be, but thinking of my parents always did that to me. Losing a parent is one of the hardest things, but losing both in the same month ... devastating. It simply wasn’t something a person got over; it was just something they learned to live with.
I pumped myself up with Suavecito and imagined my Oliver singing to me, then got out of my Suburban with a smile. My man was waiting, and I wasn’t going to make him wait any longer — that was, until I saw his set up. Then I started contemplating making him wait forever.
He’d taken one of the tables by the pond and set up a tea set, an actual china tea set, with a big pot and dainty little cups and saucer plates to put them on. The giant weirdo was arguing with a duck that had gotten a little too close to his plate of cheese and crackers, and from what I could tell, the duck was winning.
He was ridiculous, all of him, and goddamnit was I falling for him.
“I must have come to the wrong park, goodbye.” I pretended to leave, but Ollie was right by my side in a second.
“Wait! Come on, just sit with me. Don’t let the bastard little ducks win.”
“Bastard?” I chuckled, giving in almost instantly and taking a seat across from him. “Okay, ducks don’t win. What is this, Ollie? Did you already own this tea set or did you buy it just for this?”
“I plead the fifth,” he said cryptically. “We’re going to play an extremely inappropriate game the proper way ... literally.”
He held out his pinky as he took a sip of tea, and I couldn’t have argued with him if I tried. He truly was one of a kind. “Okay, Papí, what's this inappropriate game?” I took a sip as I waited, happy the tea tasted amazing and nothing like the one Dinora liked to drink.
“Never Have I Ever, but only shit you’d never tell your parents or kids. No PG questions. Deal?”
“Yep, definitely at the wrong park.” I didn’t attempt to leave this time, though. I didn’t have any secrets from Ollie, not anymore. “Okay fine, me first. Never have I ever—” my eyes flicked around us as I thought — “gave a blowjob in a park.” I had though, so I took a drink and raised an eyebrow at him.
His eyes flashed as he squirmed. “Do ballparks count as parks?”
“Mmhm.” I watched him drink without judgment. “Oliver Bishop. We have some more stories to share, hmm?”
“Seems we do,” he agreed. “And I’m happy to share, just not yet. Never have I ever been tied up during sex.”
I didn’t drink this time, and I was shocked he caught me with one this early on. “I never trusted someone that much,” I admitted.
“That’s exceedingly understandable. I like to move too much to be tied down, and I like to be touched too much to tie my partner down. I get why people do it, it’s just not my thing,” he admitted. “I’m fucking needy in bed.”
“Good thing I love when you touch all over me.” I smiled and took a moment to think about my next one. “Never have I ever joined the mile high club.” I didn’t drink, because I’d only been on a plane once and I was a child.
“Fuck. You did that cause you know I had a jet.” He sighed and sipped again. “I only have to sip once, right?”
“Yes! For all the million times, huh?” I tried hard not to be jealous of all those people that touched him before me. “Your turn.”
