Page 33 of Until Bax

“Not a date, but I’ll probably catch up with him.”

“You okay?” Scott, Olivia’s dad, asks, taking my attention off what Olivia’s saying.

“Yep.”

“You sure?” His eyes drop to my hands, and I realize I’ve crumpled up the paper plate I’m holding.

“Just not hungry.” I walk my destroyed plate across the kitchen and toss it—along with the piece of pizza I was holding halfway to my mouth and didn’t end up eating—into the garbage. “I’m going to start sealing up the window.”

“I’ll be in there to help in a minute,” Talon tells me, and I lift my chin his way before I leave the room.

I need a minute alone—a minute to get my shit together.

Because it’s obvious I’m losing my damn mind.

* * *

While sittingon my back deck with a beer, the football game playing on the TV above the fireplace, my mind wanders to the woman next door for the millionth time in the past few hours. You’d think with Olivia being out of sight, I’d be able to somewhat control my own thoughts, but since I came home this evening around five, I’ve spent more time thinking and worrying about her than what I’d deem healthy.

It’s taken everything in me to keep my ass at my house.

To not go check on her when the sun set.

To not go over there and invite her to dinner.

Or… to just go next door and get a glimpse of her, just to make sure she’s okay.

When Gemma, lying on the couch next to me, lifts her head off my lap and begins to bark toward the deck stairs, I sit forward and place my beer on the coffee table. Moving to my feet, I watch a dark figure walk past the screen that lines the deck, but I can’t make out any details about them through the shade.

As Gemma jumps off the couch and stops barking, I frown at my dog, then understand her change in demeanor a moment later when Olivia appears at the bottom of the stairs. She’s holding a pillow that’s the same size as she is, along with a cream-colored paperback.

“Oli?”

“Hey.” She leans down to pet Gemma. “I was going to go knock on the front door but saw the fire on out here and the TV through the shade, so I came to the back. Sorry if I startled you.”

“Did something happen?”

“No.” She shifts on her feet, looking uncomfortable. “I was gonna go to bed, but the minute I lay down, I heard something that was probably nothing and freaked myself out.”

“You wanna stay the night?”

“Would you mind?” Her nose scrunches. “Feel free to tell me to go to my parents’ house.”

“Of course, you can stay. You want a glass of wine?”

She shakes her head. “No, really… I’ll stay out of your hair. I’m sure you’re tired of seeing my face.”

I wish that were the case, but I feel like I can breathe a little easier now that I have my eyes on her. “I don’t mind the company.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, her face mimicking a wince.

“Yeah. So… would you like a glass of wine?”

“That would be awesome.” She smiles, her words coming out relieved.

“Red or white?”

“White.”

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