Page 109 of Waking Olivia

I’m still marveling at all of it when I feel my cell vibrating in my back pocket. I don’t have to look to guess who’s calling. Jessica’s been blowing up my phone since she heard I quit.

I didn’t trust myself to answer when Olivia was missing because every word I wanted to utter was a threat. I’m not even sure I trust myself now, but it’s time to end this once and for all.

“Will!” she cries when I pick up. “Thank God. I’ve been calling and calling. I heard you quit!”

“I did quit,” I tell her calmly.

“Butwhy?” she gasps. “I know I implied it, but I never would have told anyone about Olivia sleeping at your mom’s.”

“I don’t think youimpliedit. You used it to blackmail Olivia into leaving.”

She’s silent for a moment, recalibrating. “I don’t know what she told you, but you know what a liar she is, Will.”

“Jessica, I didn’t even learn it from her, so don’t try to bullshit me.”

“I was upset that night, honey, and I was jealous. Maybe it was a little crazy, but I love you and sometimes love makes you do crazy things.”

“I agree,” I tell her. “It’s what made me resign.”

“You—” she draws in a hopeful breath. “You resigned forme?”

“No,” I reply. It’s petty but I’m really going to enjoy disappointing her. “I resigned for Olivia. And I don’t think I’d ever have known how much she really meant to me if you hadn’t run her off, so I guess I should say thanks.”

“You really think that girl can make you happy?” Jessica snarls.

“She already does. Oh, and Jessica—you know how I kept telling you I wasn’t ready to get married anytime soon?”

“Yes,” she snaps.

“I was wrong,” I tell her, and I hang up the phone.

We endup staying for dinner, at my mother’s insistence. I was on the verge of arguing but a look from Olivia silenced me. “We should get going,” I say, as soon as the meal has concluded.

“You’re not going anywhere,” says my mother. “I’ve got Olivia’s favorite pie in the oven.”

Olivia, sitting across from me, looks like she wants to laugh. I’d been considering breaking my lease and moving back to the farm until I found a new job. Now, after spending two hours watching Olivia and keeping my hands to myself, I realize that plan will never work.

It’s just begun to snow as we leave. Snowflakes cling to her hair, to her lashes, making her seem other-worldly, lit up from within. She looks up at the sky and laughs, her delight almost childlike, and I’m flooded with warmth. I love her so much that it feels like there’s not even room inside me for all of it.

“What’s with the look?” she asks. “You don’t want to date me now that I’m geeking out about the snow?”

I shake my head and step toward her, wrapping my hands around her hips, and taking it all in—her wide smile, her moonlit eyes, the snowflakes glowing in her hair. “Just the opposite,” I tell her truthfully. “I’m looking at you and wondering if it’s possible that I’ve gotten this lucky.”

Her smile changes then from delight to something else, something warm and surprised, quietly pleased. “We’re both lucky,” she says, rising on her toes to find my mouth.

By the time we get in the car, our hair is soaked and we’re both shivering. I crank the heat and head down the long road from the farm, but when I reach the highway, I don’t turn toward campus.

“Where are we going?” she asks.

It didn’t even occur to me to take her home. I suppose I should have asked her, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting her set foot in that neighborhood again. “You didn’t think I was actually going to sleep in your apartment, did you?” I tease. “I’m big but I’m not bulletproof, and we’ve already been involved with the police once this week.”

“Okay, but you’re not going to be weird about it, right?” she asks. “You were so weird that first time I slept in your apartment.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, you mean the time my hot student sat up in bed and flashed me her tits? Nothing to be weird about there.”

“I assumed you’d seen breasts before mine.”

“Yeah, but yours are exceptional,” I reply, pulling into the parking lot. I’ve thought about that morning so many times, and now I can actually act on it. I grab her bags and head for the door. “Thereisone way tonight will be like the first time you stayed,” I warn her, putting the key in the lock.

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