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“There’s no way Mayor Malone is passing on this. I hate to say it like this, but it’ll make him look damn good to the governor.”
I yawn and cover my mouth. “I don’t care. If that’s what it takes to get the program approved, so be it.”
“You tired?”
“Yes, getting there.”
“I hope you know you’re amazing. You should be proud of yourself and your accomplishments.”
Blushing from his praise, I lightly kiss him and snuggle back into his arms. Eventually, we fall asleep, cocooned in blankets under the canopy of the big black night sky dotted with hundreds of stars, countless shining pinpoints, mapping out another world in all its mysterious beauty.
In the morning, we tumble out of our burrito-like wrap and sleepily go about brushing our teeth and getting ready.
I find Oliver in the kitchen as I traipse into the room in a simple green dress. He sidles up next to me, and I figure my outfit meets with his approval by the way his hand lazily wanders under the hem of my dress. His fingers stray up the back of my thigh, casually stopping where my panties begin.
With the mug of coffee midway to my mouth, I inwardly command the deliciously pleased shiver that’s gathering at the base of my spine to quit. “Uh, what exactly are you doing, Twist?”
I glance down over my shoulder, gaze sharpening on where his hand caresses the swell of my butt cheek under my dress. He lightly chuckles and squeezes the flesh before looking at me. His twinkling stare immediately heats me from the inside out.
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
“We don’t have time for that.” I mash my lips together to squash the needy whine in my voice. “I’ve got errands to run before I open the library, and you said you have a busy day too. Eddie, the Winslow Nest…”
I hand him his cup of tea and he smiles. “To be continued tonight.” His hand appears from beneath my dress, and he leans in to kiss my cheek. “Thanks.”
Sipping from a steaming mug, Oliver leans against the counter and examines me. He’s wearing nothing but boxers, light brown hair thoroughly mussed. Of course, that’s when my sister, Percy, prances into the room.
She stops short of the domestic sight in front of her, and never before have I regretted giving my family a key to my place.
True to Oliver’s nature, he doesn’t miss a beat nor care that he’s in his skivvies. “Hey, Perce. How’s it going?”
In contrast, I slide in front of him to cover all his flesh from her young impressionable eyes. She isn’t all that young at twenty-one, but this feels wrong.
Her smile balloons with a snicker as she points at us. “You two. Together? Since when?”
I spin on my heel to face Oliver. “Why don’t you go get ready?” It’s meant to be a question but comes out more as a directive.
Like Percy, he cackles, clearly relishing in my discomfort. “I haven’t seen Perce in ages. I’d love to catch up.” He wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Yes. We’re together.”
He pauses to briefly look at me, and I instantly sense that I won’t like whatever comes out of his mouth next. “Since now. Well, since the gym.”
My sister frowns. “The gym?”
“Um, yeah, I forgot to mention Oliver was stuck with me in the gym.” I grab his half-full mug of tea and dump it in the sink.
“I wasn’t finished.” He pouts. “Why didn’t you tell Percy that I was in the gym with you?”
“Yeah, Wren, why didn’t you?” Percy now stands beside him, crowding my space.
My sister folds her arms across her chest. The way they playfully gang up on me has my stomach roiling.
I don’t want to get into this with Percy. I love my sister, but she knows way too much. She has had a front row seat to my crush on Oliver Winslow and will be relentless now that we’re together.
“I didn’t, uh, I didn’t…”
“Let me guess.” My bratty sister taps her lips with a finger as if deep in concentration.
“Fine. I didn’t want to have to explain things. This is new.” I motion to Oliver, as the heat of him, his firm, bare chest—all of him right there next to me—only adds to my fluster.
