Page 122 of Catching My Dreams

“Thanks for having us,” Olivia added, sending Chris a tight smile, her eyes flitting away from his as soon as their gazes made contact.

He’d noticed a change in her since she’d blown up at her family over a year ago, and he’d seen the tightness of her smile and the way it never reached her eyes throughout the night.

Chris knew her relationships with Riley and her mom had grown more strained in the last few months. He just hoped they would work their shit out soon because he’d known Olivia for years, and it was difficult to see the bubbly, talkative girl withdrawing into herself.

“It was fun,” she added, but Chris didn’t quite believe her.

She looked like a fish out of water, her round wire frame glasses, brown plaid miniskirt, and white turtleneck making her look like a responsible yet sexy librarian in a house full of drunk college students.

There were other women at the party, but none who were dressed like her, and none who’d drawn his eyes the way the platinum blonde with icy blue eyes had. She was his friend’s little sister and a senior in high school, so Chris wasn’t thrilled with the way his gaze had been glued to her for most of the night.

She was also his teammate’s girlfriend. However, that was less of a concern because although Drew had earned his respect by trying to protect Ella from Brett, they hadn’t exactly become good friends since Drew had joined the Hoyas football team during summer training months earlier.

No, Chris was more worried about the fact that he was a sophomore in college, he’d just turned twenty, and he was suddenly ogling his friend’s eighteen-year-old sister whose new glasses had taken her from pretty to full-on sexy since the last time he’d seen her.

Maybe he just had a glasses fetish. Or a thing for librarians. Maybe he’d just had too much to drink. Or maybe he’d finally realized that Olivia wasn’t just pretty in a cute, she’s-my-friend’s-sister kind of way, but that she was fucking gorgeous.

“Thanks for coming,” Chris replied, raising his voice to be heard over the awful song filling his brother’s house and deafening the no doubt pissed-off neighbors. “Glad you guys could make it.”

He slapped Drew’s shoulder before hugging Olivia. He breathed in the scent of vanilla and was quick to drop his arms from around her and step back. The last thing he needed to do was something stupid like press his nose into her soft hair.

“Let’s go,” Drew said to her, turning around and weaving through the party-goers.

Chris reached out and grabbed Olivia’s wrist before she could follow her boyfriend. Her shoulders tensed, but she relaxed when she looked back and realized it was him and not a stranger.

“You’re driving, right?” he asked.

She winced. “Drew drove us here.”

Chris shook his head. “He can’t drive like that. Make sure you get the keys from him.”

“I will,” she promised. “Enjoy the rest of the party.”

Chris released his grip on her, and she disappeared into the crowd to join her drunk boyfriend in leaving. Asher, Riley, Noah, and Ella had already left as well, so Chris walked through the house to find Brady.

The defensive lineman was surprisingly difficult to find despite his large stature.

“Not feeling social?” Chris asked once he’d found him in the kitchen.

“Not really,” Brady replied.

“Me neither,” Chris admitted.

It was a change for him, but he didn’t feel like getting drunk with his teammates or finding a girl he could lose himself in for the night.

“Wanna help me clear everyone out?”

His brother, Lucas, and his brother’s pregnant wife would be getting back soon anyway, and he doubted they wanted to come home from their show at the Kennedy Center to a bunch of drunk college students dancing around their living room.

Lucas had been generous in allowing Chris to host his party there rather than at his parents’ place, but he wasn’t that understanding of a guy.

Brady sighed. “No, but it’s your birthday, so I will.”

Chris chuckled. “Thanks, man.”

Between the two of them, they got the rest of their teammates and classmates out of the house with only a dozen or so shouted complaints from those who didn’t want the party to be over yet.

“Your turn,” Chris said when it was just the two of them left. “Get out of here.”

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