Page 39 of Tangled

“Hey, I’m not saying I’m in love with the woman. I’d say it’s more along the lines of infatuation. Love is what got me in this mess to begin with, Tony. Loving Natasha ended up being the catalyst to a nuclear bomb. Everything and everyone was destroyed in my path after that…”

He nods and then leans in closer to me, his eyes level with mine. “Because you let it. Eventually, you have to rebuild, Kane. It’s been three years, and I’ve never seen you like this before. You and Red obviously had more than just a physical connection. Explore it. You owe it to yourself.”

My eyes drop to my hands holding my glass, the condensation running down the sides, my thumbs erasing it with each pass of my fingertips. Tony is right, yet another person in my life pushing me to break past this fear I have, and with each piece of advice, I feel myself getting closer to breaking through the barrier.

“Olivia,” I state.

“What?”

“Her name is Olivia… and fuck me, Tony… she’s everything right and infuriating in a woman. She’s intense and passionate, intelligent and witty, beautiful and also kind. She’s stubborn, yet sexily confident. She’s classy, but wild. And every time I talk to her, I fuck it up by saying the wrong thing—or like yesterday, not being able to finish a thought.”

“The bell rang, Kane. That’s not your fault. When’s the next time you’ll see her?”

I sigh, knowing tomorrow night is the best opportunity I have to get us back on track. Tomorrow is the fall mixer at Drew and Tammy’s house.

“Tomorrow. There’s a party for all the staff at the school. I know she’ll be there.”

“Then use that time to lay it all on the line with her. I mean, you don’t have to bare your heart and soul to the woman—not yet, anyway. But let her know that you want to pursue her, feel it out between the two of you to see if there’s something more there.”

I nod repeatedly, knowing that Tony’s correct. Tomorrow is my perfect chance to push things with Olivia in the right direction. I just hope I can finish a sentence this time.

Chapter 19

Olivia

“I’m pulling up to their house right now,” I inform Clara on my Bluetooth speaker as I pull up to a front yard and a driveway full of parked cars.

“Will Kane be there?”

“I’m assuming so. He does work at the school, remember?”

“No shit, woman. I just thought maybe after what happened at the game, he’d chicken out about seeing you.” Last weekend after Kane and I had it out in the tunnel, I called my friends and filled them in on the development.

“Yeah, well,Ialmost chickened out about coming here too. Especially after Thursday…”

“What the hell happened Thursday? Jesus Christ, Liv! You gotta keep a woman informed!” Clara shouts in the phone, making me cringe as I find a spot to park that won’t leave me boxed in just in case I have to escape in a hurry.

“Sorry. I have this thing called a job, and so do you. It’s hard to catch each other on the phone!”

“Yeah, stupid need for money to live and shit ruining our lives. Okay, so fill me in.”

And I do in the cliff notes version, recounting the entire scone debacle in less than five minutes.

Debacle is a strong word to use to describe that event. But right now, I feel like every interaction with Kane is a debacle. I just wish I knew where we stood.

Are we friends? Enemies? Just colleagues? Or is there a hope of more?

“Okay, well you’d better call me tomorrow and let me know what the hell happens tonight, or I will hunt you down at your parent’s house for dinner tomorrow and unofficially invite myself.”

“You know you’re always welcome at my parent’s house…” And it’s true. My parents adore my three best friends. We spent so much time together in high school, especially at my house, that my parents joked they really had four daughters. My poor brother was surrounded by estrogen constantly.

“Well, I just might then. What’s Mama Walsh making for the customary Sunday night dinner?”

“Chicken and dumplings, I believe.”

“Oh, fuck me. Yeah, I’ll be there,” Clara moans in the phone, garnering a laugh from me as I check my face one last time in the rearview mirror.

“Okay. Well, here I go,” I declare, taking a deep breath to quell my nerves.

---