Page 99 of Waking Olivia

Will

Peter is just pullingup when I get to his house.

Under normal circumstances, I’d find it odd that he was out and about so early, but right now I’m a little focused on my own shit.

He takes one look at my face. “This can’t be good.”

“I suppose it’s not.”

“Does this have anything to do with your long disappearance last night?”

I raise a brow. “You seem to already know exactly why I’m here.”

“Will, only an idiot could have looked at the two of you last night and not seen the truth.”

“I didn’t know it was that obvious,” I sigh.

“I don’t want you to tell me what’s happened. I imagine there’s something, but if you tell me, then it changes the way I have to respond. You understand what I’m saying?”

I do. If I tell him we’ve slept together, then the university launches an investigation. My name will be everywhere. Her name will be everywhere. Her scholarship could get called into question.

“I’m here to resign. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to support my mom, but I’m no longer able to perform my duties as a coach.”

He nods. “I accept your resignation. And speaking as your friend, not your boss, we will come up with another solution, okay? I can cover Brendan’s spring tuition, and we’ll find you something that pays nearly as well.”

“We can’t accept that. You’ve done too much for us as it is.”

“We’ll talk about that later. In the meantime, maybe you should go tell your mom the good news.”

“My mom? I’m hard-pressed to see how she’ll think me losing my job is good news, Peter.”

“No, but you winding up with Olivia is. Poor woman is the only person alive who’s wanted to see that happen more than the two of you.”

I grin reluctantly. “I think there’s someone else I need to go see first.”

Itext her, but she doesn’t reply.

I call, but she doesn’t answer.

I knock on her door, but I get silence in response.

Now that the decision is made, now that I’m no longer her coach, waiting feels like an impossible burden. I want to begin. I want to tell her everything and promise that somehow I’ll find a way to make it work. Maybe once the farm is up and running, I can fly out to see her on weekends. Hell, maybe one day it will be successful enough that we can sell it entirely. If she’s even a fraction as willing as I am to make this happen, we’ll succeed.

I go to my office and pack my stuff, waiting for her to respond. Better to do it now, over the weekend, without witnesses. I’m not sure how my resignation is going to get played out, but no one resigns this suddenly without reason, usually a bad one. People will be looking for the worst possible cause, and unfortunately, in this case, they’ll be right.

I call her again, text her again, and I get no answer.Where the hell is she?As the day goes on without a word from her, my dread grows. I know she was upset last night but was she upset enough to give up on me entirely?

I go back to her apartment. When she doesn’t answer, I grab the key under the pot and go in. When I do, it seems like all the air has left my body.

Because the furniture remains, but every other sign of her is gone.

68

Olivia

The buses run pretty regularlyto Denver. Before daylight, I was already past the perimeter of the city, moving away from the mountains I’d grown to love.

Because this is what Jessica wanted—me disappearing quietly, without a word of explanation. She promised she wouldn’t turn Will in if I left. She’s assuming my absence is all she needs to get him back, and who knows? Maybe it is. She took my cell phone just to be sure he couldn’t somehow convince me to come home.

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