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“I do like hugs,” she says with a soft laugh.
“Well, then,” Blake says before scooping her up and hugging her too. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Why don’t you both go hug your wives?” I grouse and possessively slip my arm around Olivia’s waist.
“Any time, day or night, little brother,” Blake tells me.
“You boys. Really, it’s okay. I’m going to look at the other cabins now.” And with that, Olivia slips away.
I turn to my brothers. “Now look what you did. You chased her off.”
“She seems capable of taking care of herself,” Byron says, giving me a pat on the back.
“She’s pretty much perfect,” I tell them.
“That’s a big change from what you said a month ago,” Byron retorts.
“Yeah, a lot can happen.”
Byron nods. “I agree with that.” Yep, a lot is definitely happening here.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Olivia
“I don’t like to admit when I’m wrong,” I say as I sit back and enjoy my s’more. “But I can do it. I might have judged you too harshly for past deeds. We all make mistakes.”
“What does that mean?” Tyler asks.
“It’s nothing.”
“Obviously it’s something or you wouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Why don’t you tell me what made you decide to build this camp?” I really want to get the focus off of me. Tyler’s quiet as he gazes into the fire, the embers casting shadows on his cheeks, making it impossible for me to read anything from his eyes.
“I thought it would be a good project,” he answers.
“Come on, Tyler. I spoke to one of your managers while you were meeting with your brothers. He said this is a nonprofit project, and you’ve donated all of the funds to build it, to get it started, and to ensure that it keeps going. That’s not something a person does on a whim.”
I shift in my seat. Tyler isn’t turning out to be the person I thought he was. Have I become too cynical over the years? I was hoping he was rotten so I could justify hating him. That doesn’t say a hell of a lot about me.
“When I was a kid, life wasn’t always the easiest,” he finally tells me.
I’m taken aback by this response. It certainly wasn’t what I expected to hear. He’s always been wealthy. When I met him, he lived with his guardians in a smaller home, but later I found out who he really was — what he was worth.
Once I found that out, I wasn’t surprised he dumped me as a friend. I wasn’t up to his standard of living. So to hear him say his young life wasn’t easy doesn’t make sense.
“I have a hard time believing you ever had it rough,” I admit.
He turns to gaze at me. “Believe what you need to, Olivia. I know it’s your way of holding yourself back, and I’m not going to convince you I’m somebody other than what you’ve prejudged me to be, but there’s more to a person’s character than first meets the eye.”
“Maybe I’ve made certain judgments, but you have to admit you have the party-boy reputation going for you,” I remind him. Not to mention he enjoys screwing a woman and tossing her out.
“I worked hard to cultivate that image,” he says. “In reality, I’m pretty boring.”
I wait for him to add more. He doesn’t. “I don’t think so, Tyler. No one would ever describe you as boring.”
“I used to get out a lot more, travel the world, go places not many got to go, had no fear. As my life progresses, I have less desire for cheap thrills. Or expensive thrills.”
