Page 19 of Little Did You Know

When I directed my attention back to the table, I realized all eyes were on her, which annoyed me slightly.

Justin leaned back, whiskey swirling in his glass. His gaze tracked Olivia through the crowd like a wolf sizing up its next meal.

"I see." His lips curled into a familiar smirk. "Not your usual type, but for me?—"

"Not this one." The words came out as a growl. I shifted, blocking his view of Olivia's retreating figure.

Justin's playboy smile faltered. He studied my face for a moment before understanding dawned. "Shit." He straightened. "You're serious."

I didn't respond. I didn't need to.

We spent the next few hours hanging out. I watched as, one by one, Olivia socially destroyed any man that came near her—spilling drinks, tripping them, and forcing awkward conversation or jokes that no one but her laughed at. It was so strange because she wasn’t like that with me, but I understood now what Hannah was saying.

"She's beautiful and smart, but she doesn't have a lot of grace with the guys," Sam stated as we all watched her.

I couldn’t watch it anymore so, I spent the rest of the evening running interference between Olivia and every man who even looked like he was going to approach her. My friends caught on quickly, turning it into a competition for who could craft the most creative deterrent. "Sorry, mate, she's studying to be a nun," Liam told one persistent admirer, earning howls of laughter from our table and we managed to do it without Olivia even knowing what we were doing. Between the protective maneuvers, we drank and talked until the bartender's last call cut through the haze.

"Time to pack it up," Justin announced, throwing cash on the table. Sam hugged Olivia goodbye, whispering something that made them both laugh.

The raucous energy of the bar evaporated the moment Jackson closed the car door behind us. The privacy screen hummed into place, sealing us in silence broken only by the purr of the engine. Without the buffer of friends and strangers, the backseat suddenly felt claustrophobic. Each streetlight we passed painted Olivia in alternating strokes of gold and shadow. The scent of her perfume—something like vanilla—mingled with the leather seats. A turn sent her shoulder brushing against mine, and the careful distance I'd maintained all evening crumbled.

Her fingers traced patterns on the leather seat, inches from my thigh. What was she thinking? Whatever it was, it couldn't match the dangerous path my thoughts were taking.

When we finally pulled up to the house, relief washed over me. Distance. That's what I needed.

"Goodnight," I mumbled, heading for the stairs the moment we were inside. Three steps up, I heard a thud and a soft curse behind me. I turned to see Olivia listing to one side, her hand grasping at empty air where the railing should have been.

She hadn't had much to drink—two cocktails, maybe three—but on her small frame and with her inexperience, it was clearly enough. The rational part of me screamed to keep walking, to let her figure it out. The rest of me was already moving back down the stairs.

"Come here." I caught her elbow as she swayed, my other arm instinctively sliding around her waist. The heat of her skin seeped through the thin fabric of her top, sending a jolt up my arm. "Let me help you."

"It's okay, I'm fine." Her fingers grazed the banister, missing it entirely as her boot caught the edge of the step. She pitched forward with a small gasp.

Quickly catching her, I pulled her back up. This was taking too long. I needed to get her to her room. I scooped her off the ground and ran up the stairs. Bumping the door to her room open with my hip, I considered tossing her on her bed and making a run for it, but I didn't; I was frozen. Instead, I set her down on her feet and stupidly left her body pressed against mine.

“Olivia,” I whispered.

When she looked up at me through long dark eyelashes, nervously chewing on her bottom lip, I lost every bit of sensibility I had and kissed her.

The kiss was desperate and messy as I sucked the air from her lungs. Her arms circled my neck, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her tighter against me. I ran my tongue along the crease of her sweet lips until she finally opened and met me with a deliciously hot tongue.

My dick throbbed painfully for her as I pressed it against her stomach. My hands roamed their way to her ass, grabbing a handful. I lifted her off the ground, pulling her legs around my waist and moving toward the bed. I wanted her! Climbing up on the bed, I laid her down beneath me, breaking from the kiss long enough for my senses to return.

"Oh fuck." The words scraped against my throat as I wrenched myself away, the loss of her warmth like a physical blow. "Olivia, I'm sorry!"

"Nick." My name fell from her swollen lips in a shaky exhale, her fingers still curved in the empty air where my shoulders had been.

My hands raked through my hair, gripping hard enough to hurt. Each backward step felt like moving through concrete. "I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay." Her chest rose and fell in quick bursts, matching the frantic rhythm of my own heart.

"No, it's not." My head shook in a desperate rhythm as I retreated toward the door, putting precious inches between us with each step. "Space, I need space." The words tore from my throat as I backed toward the door, fumbling for the handle behind me. My feet carried me to my room on autopilot, the lock clicking into place with a finality that did nothing to slow my racing heart.

I'm so FUCKED!

Chapter Ten

The ceiling blurred above me as my fingers ghosted over my lips for the hundredth time, trying to preserve the memory of Nick's kiss before it faded like a dream. My first kiss. A first kiss I'd daydreamed about even though I thought it would never happen. My crush on Nick started the summer after I turned twelve, and he was already a man.

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