Page 29 of Possession

“Shouldn’t you be here in the weight room?” He grunts and I can tell he’s trying to lift while he talks to me.

“Something came up. But listen. I need you to help me out. We gotta find Olive another work study job.”

I hear the sound of weights hitting the floor. “Doesn’t she already stretch out the fencing team?”

“Swimmers, dude. But she got fired today.”

Olive stirs and I rub my hand along her jaw. God, this feels so right. I can’t believe I haven’t just been doing this all the years I felt the urge. I convince Finnegan to send me his girl’s number and, working my other hand out from beneath Olive, I start to put together the most important text introduction of my entire life.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Bax

OLIVE SLEEPS ON my lap for a few hours and when she finally stirs, I reach down and greet her with a kiss. It just feels so right to press my lips against hers and let her know she’s my everything. “I love you,” I tell her.

“Even though I’m penniless and will probably have to drop out?”

“Hey, Livvy, you can’t talk that way. We’re going to figure out something, ok?”

She shakes her head and stretches. “I’m sorry. I love you, but I just need, like, a few days to wallow about this.”

Olive never wallows. To an outsider, it might seem like hiding in the forsythia bush in the backyard was her burying her head in the proverbial sand, but I think it’s amazing that Olive found that escape, a way to get away from her parents screaming. She definitely used her time in there to create solutions for me. Helping her find a new job is the least I can do.

I open my mouth to tell her about the text I was sending with Finnegan’s girl Leslie, but I’m interrupted by a rap on Olive’s window. “What the hell?”

I look over my shoulder and see Kevan and Tim standing outside smiling and waving. Olive raises an eyebrow and gets up to open the window. “Hey? Tim, should you be up and around?”

Kevan drops an arm around Tim’s shoulder. “He’s great. Got him on the good pain meds. Let us in?”

I open the window and lean out to give Kevan a hand, but he swats my arm away. “Dude. Tim had a dislocated shoulder. He can’t climb through the fucking window. I meant meet us at the front door.”

Kev shakes his head at me and starts walking around the building. Olive giggles and heads down the hall to get them. I guess it’s at least good to see her mood lighten. I fiddle around with her remote while I wait for them all to get back. It’s a tight squeeze with 2 football players and a lanky swimmer in Olive’s dorm room.

I sit back and wait for Kev to tell us what the hell he’s doing here, which he proceeds to do, but not until he drops a kiss on Tim’s cheek. The intimacy of the kiss makes me blush, I’m not going to lie. Kev’s love for Tim is so palpable. I can just feel it, and I reach for Olive as if by reflex, needing to be in contact with her.

Kevan says, “We wanted to thank you again, Olive. The doctor said moving fast like that, you prevented Tim from having to have surgery.”

Tim nods. “You protected my rotator cuff. I might even be doing the butterfly by spring semester if I push it in PT.”

Olive’s smile brightens her whole face, and I reach over to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear so I can see her glowing. She should be basking in this happiness. Not sad that some dick-wad on a power trip yelled at her. “You should tell all this shit to Olive’s former boss,” I mutter, squeezing Olive’s leg in support.

Kev whips his head my way. “What do you think we’ve been doing this afternoon?”

Tim nods. “It’s true. First stop I made after I got discharged. I told everyone who would listen—Emily says hey, by the way, Olive.” He takes a swig of water and then struggles to get the cap back on his water bottle one-handed. Kevan reaches for it and closes it for him. “Anyway, Justin was a total jerk tomeand I didn’t want to stick around and deal with him today, but I wanted to let you know I’m doing all that I can for you, Olive, to get you back in there.”

Olive’s eyes well up with tears and she grabs for his hand. Gently, I guess. “You have so much on your plate, Tim. You don’t have to worry about me. Tell me what happened with your family?”

Kevin’s jaw tightens while Tim tells us about his dad yelling a bunch of unpleasant, backwards shit, but Tim’s been texting with his mom and sister. “I think it’ll be ok, eventually,” he says. “Honestly, my mom says she sort of knew but it scared her.” Kevan tells us that his mom actually called Tim’s mom, and it sounds like that was helpful since Kev and his family are literal poster children for happiness.

“Anyway,” I say, clearing my throat. “What I was going to say was Finnegan and I might have a solution for you, Olive.”

“Really? Because Justin hates you almost as much as he hates me.”

“Fuck that guy. No, I think I got you another work study gig. Still in the athletic department, even.”

Olive’s eyes widen and I rub a thumb along her knuckles. “I mean, it’s not anything really using your skills like the training room, but Fin’s girl Leslie says the pay is the same. You’d be in the laundry room…”

I watch Olive’s face work through a series of emotions. Tim coughs. “The laundry room?” She nods her head and starts to whisper. “Eye on the prize, right? I can stay in school at least. Right?”

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