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“Let me drive you home,” I said when we broke contact.
She hugged me, sinking into my chest before shaking her head. “I’m meeting Lila. We’re discussing some things for ConnectHer.”
“How’s the application coming?”
She sighed, her brow furrowing. I wished I could take away some of the stress. She worked too hard, and that meant a lot coming from me. I didn’t think anyone worked too hard.
“It’s going, I suppose. We need to hire a new developer, so that’s a mess.”
“I could take a look at it,” I offered.
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? Wouldn’t that be a bad idea? Mixing business and pleasure.”
I smirked, lowering my head to kiss her again. “I’m pretty sure we’ve already waded into those waters.”
Once we disentangled ourselves, I waved goodbye. She crossed the street, turning back once to shoot me another smile. I lingered, watching her walk away, still in disbelief she wanted me.
Turning back to head to my car, I tried to ignore the sense of dread I felt about going back to Oliver’s house. I had managed to avoid him since our blowout after he stopped by the office. We’d hardly seen each other in passing since I’d been spending all my free time with Charlie. His texts bugging me to go climbing or to pick a date for snowboarding were noticeably absent.
Ten minutes later, I pulled up to his house and slammed my car door before walking up the front steps to face the music. It was past time I found my own place here. Whatever hopes my mom—or I—had about us becoming more than strangers seemed increasingly unlikely.
As I opened the door, I said a silent prayer that Oliver and Harrison were out. Unfortunately for me, they both turned to look at me from the living room couch as soon as I stepped inside.
Oliver looked back at the television, not even acknowledging me. To my surprise, Harrison threw me a lifeline with a simple, “Hey.”
I nodded at him in return.
“Awfully silent around here these days,” Harrison said.
Oliver glared at him and grunted in response. I had seen Oliver mad before, but going this long without a cheerfulgreeting or an overoptimistic sentiment felt bizarre. We were never close, but he always buried any hostility he felt toward me underneath a smile.
“I’m just giving Nathan what he wants,” Oliver said, his tone sarcastic.
“That’s mature,” I said, flinging my bag onto the kitchen table and stalking into the kitchen.
“That’s me. Immature, good-for-nothing Ollie.” There was enough acid in his voice to strip paint.
“I never said that,” I said.
“You didn’t have to.”
I glared at my brother, but he kept his eyes glued to the TV. Giving up, I turned away and grabbed a drink from the fridge.
To my surprise, Harrison once again broke the silence. “What about boarding this weekend? Some terrain is finally open.”
“I’m done dragging him to things he hates,” Oliver said as if I wasn’t in the room.
I tightened my grip around the can I had just opened.
“That’s no fun,” Harrison protested.
His sudden urge to build a bridge between Oliver and me was beyond my sense of understanding. Especially considering he had been content with the wall that divided us for all these years.
“I’m going to start looking at places,” I said, moving for the sanctity of my room. “It doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving Denver anytime soon, so I’ll find somewhere to stay that’s more permanent.”
Oliver’s glare hardened at the TV. “Good.”
Harrison let out an audible sigh and sank back into the couch. “You two are impossible.”
