Page 28 of Roman & Olivia
Roman
Roman was beginning to loathe Mason.
And the worst part of that realization was that he didn’t have any reason to other than the gut feeling that he wasn’t good enough for Olivia.
Sure, he was flirty with a girl who was unavailable, but there weren’t any other red flags beyond that point. The guy had a good, stable job. He took care of himself and his appearance. He even had good ideas when it came to dating.
Camping!
Why hadn’t Roman thought of that?
Olivia had been right. Camping was something that was right up Roman’s alley. And with how large his property was, he could have done it anytime with any woman.
His eyes landed on Olivia, who was seated beside Cammi. They had immediately pulled out the camping chairs the second their tent had been set up. They each had a soda in hand, and they were laughing about something.
That wasn’t what rubbed him the wrong way.
Nope.
It was what—or rather, who—they were looking at.
Mason had taken off his shirt, and he was currently chopping at a block of wood. They didn’t need much in the way of firewood, but Roman also hadn’t prepared the wood for them before he packed up all his gear. This last week had been busy, to say the least, and chopping wood had been brushed aside so he could focus on more important things.
Now, he was regretting it.
Mason wasn’t built. Not like Roman and his brothers. But he was trim, and he did have good form. Clearly, he worked out enough to stay in shape. What he had wasn’t enough to write home about though.
And yet the girls seemed to think otherwise.
Roman scowled.
He knew what Mason was trying to do. He was strutting around like a freaking peacock, for heaven’s sake.
Roman shoved the final pole into the tent he’d be sharing with Mason for the next couple of days and locked it into place at the base. The tent rose into the air, and Roman set to work on the stakes. His focus shifted to the girls. It would have been nice to share a tent with Olivia. They’d done it before when they were younger, and they’d always had fun. But he could understand Cammi’s request to share with Olivia.
Hopefully, Mason would make a decent roommate.
Olivia caught his eye and smiled.
Roman nearly clutched at his chest from the tightness that ensued. He smiled back, but based on his current luck, it likely looked more like a grimace. Turning, he finished his task.
The chopping stopped and he glanced up to see Mason standing by the girls. They were all laughing at something he’d said.
Even Olivia.
Of course she was. Their whole plan was to win the guy over and make him fall in love with her. What else was she supposed to do?
Roman ground his teeth to the point of causing pain. He needed to get out of his own head and get back on track. Stick with the plan. Olivia had noticed his change in demeanor, and he hadn’t wanted her to think that things were shifting between them.
Ignoring his desire to move over toward the group, Roman set up a canopy where they’d be putting together their portable table.
“Hey,” Olivia’s breathless voice startled him. Her warm touch on his arm had him nearly jumping out of his skin.
Thankfully she didn’t notice.
She jerked her chin toward Mason and Cammi. “What do you think? He’s been really friendly lately. I was thinking that maybe we start planning that break?—”
“No,” Roman muttered far too sharply than he should have.
