Page 60 of Until Bax

“How about we order in?” I ask, tipping my head back to look up at Bax.

“Sounds good,” he mutters, reaching out toward me, and my heart speeds up, but all he does is slide my work bag off my shoulder. I took it with me to the airport since I finished with my last client a little after five and didn’t have time to come home this evening before I left to pick Rebecca up. Luckily, I was able to meet the rental car company here at the house while I was on lunch, drop off Bax’s truck, and take the driver back to the rental office. “Did you see Julie today?”

“In passing. She mostly stayed in her office and avoided all of us. I could take that as a sign of guilt for what happened to my car, but I know it was more about what happened yesterday,” I tell him as we walk to where my dad chats with the tow truck driver.

“Hey, Dad.” I walk up to join him, I’m still a little surprised that he doesn’t seem bothered that Bax and I are seeing each other.

“They really did a number on your car,” he mutters, tossing his arm around my shoulders. “Any idea who you pissed off?”

“I have no idea.” I look over at my best friend, who is inspecting my car, that is now up on the bed of the truck. When I see the worry in her eyes, that feeling of unease from this morning slithers down my spine once more.

“How would you feel about Max coming over to stay with you until you get a security system put in?” Dad asks, concern lacing his tone.

“I’m not sure how Kourtney would feel about that. I love Max, but he’s…” I try to think of the right word for my parents’ large Lab mix that still acts like an uncontrollable puppy most of the time. “A lot.” What I don’t do is inform him that I’ve been staying with Bax, even if I have only been sleeping in his guest room—until last night, when we both slept on the couch.

“He might be a lot, but he’s also a lot of dog. Talk to her about it,” he says as the driver of the tow truck comes over to hand me some paperwork.

After the driver leaves with my car, I say goodbye to my dad, then tell Bax and Liam that Rebecca and I will meet them next door in a few minutes so we can order dinner. Then I take Rebecca into Kourtney’s and change out of my scrubs while she hangs out on my bed, peppering me with questions I have no answers to.

I don’t know who did that to my car. I don’t know how Liam will react when he finds out about Bax and me. And I don’t know if my brother is single. Or I do know the answer to the last question… I just refuse to answer her honestly because if I have anything to say about it, tonight will be the only time the two of them are ever in the same space for more than a few minutes.

CHAPTER18

Olivia

“Who are you texting?” I ask Rebecca, who’s got a smile on her face as she types on her phone.

“Liam. I guess the Naked Cowboy from New York is in town this weekend, so he was asking if we’ve seen him.”

I should have guessed by her smile that she was messaging my brother. The two of them have been in constant communication since they exchanged numbers the night before last when we had dinner with him and Bax even after I filled her in a little about my brother’s history with women.

Their sudden friendship has put me in a precarious position. I don’t want to see her hurt, and knowing my brother, that is a huge possibility, especially with her still being vulnerable after what happened with Clark.

“How do you think the talk is going to go with him and Bax?” She tucks her phone away before picking her drink back up.

“I don’t know,” I mutter, shifting in my chair. The lemon drop martini I ordered suddenly feels like lead in the pit of my stomach.

When Bax messaged me thirty minutes ago to let me know he was getting ready to meet Liam, I wanted to ask him to just wait a little longer to have the talk with my brother. But I know there is no way he’d agree to my request after the other night. He absolutely hated that he had to pretend, even for three hours, that he and I were nothing but friends.

I honestly thought at one point, when I stood next to him within touching distance, and I saw his jaw clench and his hands balled into fists, that he was just going to say fuck it and kiss me right then and there in front of Liam. Consequences be damned.

I can’t know for sure how Liam would have reacted if Bax had done what he so obviously wanted to do, but there is a high probability that the two of them would have ended up fighting—like I had seen them do when they were teenagers—ruining Rebecca’s first night in Tennessee.

And let's be honest. The little cul-de-sac we live on has seen enough excitement since I moved in. So, if there was another visit from the cops because of me, I might just be escorted out of the neighborhood by force.

“Your brother seems pretty cool. I’m sure it will be fine.” She drags me out of my thoughts, and I find a reassuring look on her face that does nothing to settle my nerves.

“I hope so.” I look at the stage when the band who had been setting up begins to play. The one thing on Rebecca’s list of things to experience in Nashville was live music on Broadway, so Bax dropped us off and said he’d pick us up whenever I called to tell him we were ready to go home.

“Let’s not think about it right now and just have fun.” She stands, downing what’s left of her drink and holding out her hand. “Come on. I want to get the full experience.”

“I’m not dancing.” I shake my head at her as the open floor of the bar begins to fill with people, most of them already drunk.

“You are. You can’t let me dance alone.” She bends, then grabs my hand and pulls me out of my seat.

“Reb—”

“Finish this.” She pushes my glass toward my lips, and I sigh.

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