Page 11 of Rivals Next Door

I lifted my eyebrows.

She stepped into the hallway and turned to me with that goddamn look of sympathy. “My real name is Candace. If you need someone to talk to about your condition… I’m doing online psychology courses. Maybe I can help.”

I gawked at her. “For the last time, I don’t have a… You know what? Never mind. Thanks, Candy… Candace… I’ll be fine.”

She smiled sadly and then walked away. I shut the door with a scoff and then slapped my forehead. “What the fuck?”

One meeting with Olivia and she was already ruining my sex life… Jesus!

I glanced at the king-size bed in the middle of the hotel suite and an image of her with her hair spread over the pillow and her mesmerizing eyes cloudy with passion flashed in my mind. My dick twitched and started to rise. I glanced down at the tent at my crotch with disgust and disbelief. “Oh, now you want to get up? Traitor.”

This was bad. I guess Olivia had burrowed her way back under my skin already… fuck. That thought only angered me and made me more determined to get my payback.

5

OLIVIA

“Come on, Liam, pick up,” I muttered.

As I navigated the bustling sidewalk, I held the phone to my ear. The crowd seemed unforgiving today, but maybe that was because my anxiety level was through the roof. It had been four days since my disastrous reunion with my ex.

My brother's voicemail greeted me once again, and I huffed my frustration. I was extremely worried, to the point of calling the freaking police to do a wellness check on him. Liam was twenty-seven, however, he wasn’t a normally functioning adult. He was troubled beyond belief, and I honestly didn’t know how he got to that point.

I knew he’d likely ignore my message, but I left one anyway. “Hey, Liam. Please give me a call when you get this. I haven’t heard from you in a week and I’m… I just want to know you’re okay…” I paused awkwardly, not sure what else to say. We weren’t on the best of terms because he hated me. The problem was, I didn’t understand why my brother despised me. It hurt. “Um… call me, okay? I’d really love to hear from you.”

Hanging up, I let out a heavy sigh. I had to call Mom, and I didn’t want to. Not that I didn’t love her to death, but I hated lying to her about the status of BioTech. I always gave the impression that all was peachy when, in reality, my entire world was crumbling by the day. I had to keep up the facade of sunshine and rainbows because Mom wasn’t doing too well, and she didn’t need to be bombarded with the gory details of my failure to our family.

The restaurant where I was meeting up with my friend came into view, and I slowed down as I waited for Mom to answer.

“Olivia, honey,” came the feeble greeting that made my heart constrict. On the bright side, there was an undertone of happiness.

“Hi, Mom. How are you?”

“Much better… now that I have a hunky nurse helping me out.”

Her little chuckle made me smile, and for a moment, the despair that I’d been swept up in for a while dissipated. “Yeah, I thought you’d appreciate the new hire.” Her last nurse had to go on maternity leave. I knew she’d appreciate a handsome male nurse because she’d never been shy about her love for the opposite sex.

“Bless you, honey.”

I chuckled. “You sound a little stronger today. That’s good.”

“I’ll be back on my feet in no time. How are you?”

“Great…” Hopefully, the cheer in my tone didn’t sound too forced. “Have you heard from Liam?”

“I spoke to him yesterday,” Mom said.

“Oh…” So it was only me he was avoiding. Awesome.

“I doubt he’s okay though.” Mom sighed. “He sounded off…”

I lifted my eyebrows. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

Liam had sounded off since he was a teenager.

“I don’t know… I think he’s in trouble again, Livy.”

The sigh that passed my lips resonated with weariness. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll find out what’s going on with him and fix things.” As I always did… as I’d always been forced to do since I assumed Dad’s role as head and breadwinner of the family. I was tired…

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