AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I want him every second of every day and I shouldn’t be afraid of that. I shouldn’t hold back from something we both want just because of my fear. Like Nana said, I have to face it head on. I have to deal with it or I’ll never be happy. Because Tyler is the guy who makes me happy. He’s the one who makes my day brighter, and maybe he’s the guy who can help me banish my fear.
Maybe he really will always be there.
Maybe I should finally woman up and tell him everything.
My name is Olivia Warren. I’m not in love with Tyler Stone—not yet. But I am wholly, irreversibly, and overwhelmingly addicted to him.
“I love you, Nana.” I peck her wrinkly cheek. “Thank you for the ass-kicking.”
“Any time,” she answers honestly. “Did you know your dad has gone to get me salmon?”
I smile. Yep. From the store. “I know. You enjoy it, okay? I’ll call you soon.”
“Don’t bother. You’ll probably just piss me off.”
“True that. Bye, Nana.” I kiss her cheek again and turn to Mom. She immediately folds me into her arms. “Thank you, Mom. I’ll definitely call you soon.”
“Please do.” She squeezes me and then lets me get into my car. “I love you, Olivia.”
“Love you, too.” I smile and pull away from the house. I catch Nana’s wave in the mirror and wave back before rolling my window back up.
It’s an hour drive from my parents’ place to mine. At least it should be. It’s actually a long, traffic-jammed two and a half hours on the interstate before I’ve even reached the outskirts of Seattle. I fiddle with my radio, trying not to think about calling Tyler or the fact my stomach is, in Nana’s words, about to digest itself.
Lunch wore off an hour or so ago.
My skin is tingling at the thought of touching Tyler. At being near him. At the thought of hearing his voice. Every part of me is consumed with longing and it’s barely been thirty hours since I last saw him.
After a few honks and a few more fingers in the air, I pull up outside my apartment. I grab my bag from the passenger’s seat and walk into the building. Then I pick up my stack of mail from my mailbox in the lobby and flick through it as the elevator takes me up. Bill…bill…bill—oohh, shoe sale!
I smile to myself as I step out of the elevator. A quiet knocking sound fills the hallway and I look up.
At Tyler.
Sitting on the floor, his back against my door, throwing a tennis ball at the wall opposite him. One of his legs is bent up, the other stretched out. I watch him throw the ball, catching it one-handed every single time.
I open my mouth to talk to him, but he beats me to it.
“I’ve been sitting here like a fucking idiot for about four hours. I have no idea why. At first, I thought you were in. Then I remembered you went out of town. Fuck knows where. No one will tell me where or why you went. So I sat down and started playing with this. Hit your neighbor’s door a few times. He invited me in, but I said I’d rather sit here. Got hungry and ordered pizza.” He knocks the box next to him. “Sat here like a fucking teenage boy hung up on some girl he’s never gonna get.”
My chest tightens when he looks at me. I’ve never seen his eyes so empty, so dull.
“That’s what I think. You know that? That I finally found this amazing woman who doesn’t give a fuck if I’m rich or down to my last five dollars. That I finally found this incredibly sexy and confident woman who isn’t afraid of what I want. Of my desires. And that I’m going to lose her, because despite being the same, we’re so different. Yet I still can’t fucking go anywhere. I tried. Couldn’t leave the motherfucking building!” He yells the last word and turns away from me. He slams the tennis ball against the wall opposite him and ducks to the side when it bounces back. “I have no idea what you’ve done to me, Liv. I just can’t walk away from you even though I know you’re going to ask me to.” He dives his fingers into his hair and looks down.
“I’m not.”
He looks up. My hands shake, and I’ve never been more afraid of my own words.
“I’m not going to ask you leave. In fact, if you try it, I’ll beg you to stay.”
“What?” He stands up slowly.
“I’m not asking you to leave,” I repeat, walking to him. “Stay. Please don’t go. Please don’t think I want you to. I don’t.”
He cups my face and brings my lips to his. “I’m not, baby girl. I’m not going anywhere.”
I hold him tight. “Good. I’ll kill you if you do.”
He buries his face in the side of my neck. “I need you, Liv. I need you so fucking badly right now. I’m coiled tighter than I’ve ever been.”
