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Oliver: Let me know if it lasts longer. It will be dark soon, and I don’t want you walking home alone.
Avery: Okay. I’ll let you know when I get out. Can’t wait to meet you in person!
Oliver: I can’t wait to meet you either, love.
My heart meltsat his term of endearment. He’s been calling me love on and off for the past week, and it always has my insides turning to goo. Does he feel something, too, or is it an English thing?
I silence my phone and tuck it into my bag as an older woman walks to the front of the room and calls for everyone to take a seat. I pull out a notebook and a pen to take notes and try to push thoughts of Oliver from my mind as I listen to everything I’ll need to know for the next five months of my life.
I can barely concentrate for the whole orientation.
I’m about to meet Oliver!
The thought keeps popping into my head, and I smile to myself. When I catch myself doodling his name and a heart in the margins of my notebook, I know I need to get it together. I can’t have him kicking me out or making things awkward at home.
The meeting lasts longer than I thought, and the sun has set when the instructor finally dismisses us. I tuck my notebook and pen in my bag and pull out my phone, smiling when I see I have a message from Oliver.
Oliver:Don’t even think about walking home alone, love.
My stomach dipsat his protectiveness. I bite back a grin at his concern for me and type out a quick reply.
Avery:The meeting just ended.
Oliver: I’ll be there in five.
I texthim the building name, and he sends a thumbs up.
Avery:I’ll be the girl out front with the bright red hair.
I walk outsidewith the rest of the students and wander down the front steps, waiting for a car to pull up out front.
I don’t have to wait long.
My breath catches in my throat, and my heart is about to race out of my chest when a black BMW pulls to a stop in front of the building.
This is it. I’m finally meeting Oliver.
I take a hesitant step forward. My breath comes out in a rush as the car door opens and the hottest guy I’ve ever seen gets out.
“Avery?”
FIVE
Oliver
She’s a goddess.
Bright red hair, flawless pale skin, vibrant green eyes that shine in the light, and pert curves. All wrapped up in a pint-size body that has my mouth watering. I step out of my car, watching her over the hood as she surveys me.
“Avery?”
“Yeah, you must be Oliver,” she says with a small smile as she rounds the hood and pulls me into a quick hug.
She smells like oranges and paper. My arms lock around her, wanting to hold onto her forever. She pulls away and I reluctantly let my arms drop, following her around the car and opening her door for her.
“Such a gentleman,” she teases, winking at me as she climbs inside.
The truth is, I’m not much of a gentleman. My job regularly means I have to be the bad guy, deciding who gets laid off or fired and who remains employed. I was a scrawny little guy in an all-boys boarding school. I’ve never had to be nice to a girl before, but something about Avery has me dying to treat her right, to see her face light up when I do something for her.
