Page 43 of Until Bax

As the kids begin to all play together and run around the house, the doorbell rings, and when Sage opens it, Nico and Sophie step inside. I don’t know why I didn’t remember that Bax’s mom and dad were coming over, but if I had, I would’ve been more insistent on leaving. Being around Bax’s siblings is one thing, but his parents are a whole other can of worms.

Thankfully, his parents are instantly swarmed by their grandkids, who are all excited to see them and show off their costumes, so I’m able to fade into the background. As I watch them interact, I can now understand why my mom has been on Liam and me about settling down. I don’t think it’s about her wanting us settled, or at least not completely. It’s that she wants to experience this kind of moment for herself. And now that I’m seeing it firsthand, I can admit that I’d love for her to have this… and have it myself.

As the children slowly lose interest in their grandparents, Sophie and Nico take off their coats and greet their kids while I stand with Bax, who hasn’t left my side. When Sophie’s eyes find her son’s, the smile she gives him warms me from the inside. It might be similar to the ones she gave her other kids, but it’s still all for him.

She walks across the room to give him a hug, and that’s when she notices me standing next to him. And as she tips her head to the side, it’s like she recognizes me but also doesn’t.

“Mom, you remember Oli, Liam’s sister,” Bax says, and she blinks before focusing on me.

“Olivia?” She gawks.

“Yeah.” I nod, and then I laugh as she swoops in and hugs me.

“The last time I spoke to your mom, she told me you lived in Chicago.”

“I was. I just moved back a few weeks ago,” I tell her, and she looks at her son, then me, before glancing around the room.

“Where’s Liam?”

“He’s not here,” Bax tells her, and she focuses back on him.

“Let me guess. He’s out on a date.” She rolls her eyes.

“Probably,” I mutter, and she laughs.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here, even if he’s not,” she says before she looks over her shoulder. When her eyes land on her husband, she calls his name, and he walks over to join us, wrapping his arm around her waist. For an older man, Nico Mayson is very good-looking, and it’s like getting a glimpse of what Bax might look like in the future since the two of them look so similar.

“You remember Liam’s baby sister, Olivia, don’t you?” Sophie asks, and Nico’s eyes lock on mine for a long moment before his gaze moves to his son, who is standing close.

Very close.

“Yes, I do.” Nico smiles. “Nice seeing you again, Olivia.”

“You too.” I shift on my feet. Something about the way he keeps looking between his son and me makes me wonder if he can feel the tension between us, which I can feel even now, like a constant itch under my skin.

When the doorbell rings, taking their attention off me, I relax—or I start to, until Bax walks away, leaving me on my own so he can pay the pizza delivery guy who Talon opened the door for. While he’s grabbing the pizzas, a few kids who started trick-or-treating early step up onto the porch, and Bax finds my gaze from across the room.

“Babe, you wanna grab the candy off the table in the kitchen?” he asks, and my cheeks flush as I feel everyone’s attention come to me.

“Uh… yeah.” Scooting out of the room, I go to the kitchen and grab a large plastic cauldron off the counter that is filled with full-size candy bars, bags of Skittles, and packs of Starburst. Extra boxes are stacked up next to where it was for when what’s in the bucket runs out. Taking it to the door, I pass out candy to the kids on the porch while Bax carries all the pizza into the kitchen, calling his nieces and nephews to follow so they can eat, then hit the street and gather their own candy.

Of course, when the first group of kids leaves, more trick-or-treaters arrive, and before long, Bax joins me outside to help. I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life, and the flow of children seems to have no stopping point. Back in Chicago, I had maybe one or two littles stop by my apartment—nothing like this.

“I thought you were exaggerating when you said the neighborhood gets bombarded with trick-or-treaters,” I tell him, looking at the long line of kids waiting on the sidewalk for their turn.

“I never exaggerate.” He laughs when a little girl and boy, both dressed as hippies, run off the porch, cheering after they each get a pack of Skittles.

“About anything?” I look up at him, raising a brow.

“About anything.” He grins, then the two of us look down and start laughing when a little boy—who’s probably about two years old and dressed as a lion—roars instead of asking, “trick or treat?”

“You’re adorable,” I tell him, glancing up to look for his mom, and my eyes land on Eva, who co-owns the med spa with Julie.

“Hey, Olivia.” She smiles, holding out her hand to her son after he chooses a pack of Starburst from the bucket. “I didn’t know you lived over here.”

“I just moved in next door not long ago.” I motion in the direction of Kourtney’s house.

“Really? My husband and I live a block over.” She glances at Bax and smiles at him, which makes me wonder if she knows who he is. If she does know he dated her friend, she doesn’t make it obvious. “We’ll have to all get together for dinner sometime.”

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