Page 56 of Roman & Olivia
He blew out a nervous breath and knocked.
The door opened.
“Olivia, we need to talk—” Roman’s words died in his throat as he stared into the curious face of the devil himself. Mason’s eyes narrowed, and he tossed a look over his shoulder.
“Who is it? Oh! Roman, what are you doing here?” Olivia looked pleased, though confused to see him. Then her eyes darted up to Mason, and she frowned. Clearly, she didn’t like Mason knowing that they were as close as ever.
Her smile was tight, and her eyes pleaded with him to not say anything stupid.
Mason, on the other hand, looked smug as all get-out. He placed both hands on Olivia’s shoulders. “Don’t stop on my account.”
Roman couldn’t breathe. His chest burned with rage. His heart was being torn into pieces as he attempted to figure out what to do. If Camilla were here, what would she say? Was this something he should spill in front of the culprit himself?
No. This news demanded tact and understanding. He needed to tell her when he could pull her into his arms and comfort her. Because whether he liked it or not, Mason had finally won her over. She was finally happy again after the whole fake dating situation they’d gotten themselves into.
Roman worked his jaw, his eyes bouncing from Mason to Olivia.
“Roman?” she asked again. “Did you need something?”
He cleared his throat. “I was in the neighborhood,” he offered lamely. “I thought maybe you’d like to go for coffee.”
That had her expression turning even more confused. She’d told him blatantly after their little run-in with Mason in town that she’d prefer hanging out at home until her relationship was more stable.
“Oh, well, I… can’t. Mason’s afternoon opened up, and he’s taking me to a movie.”
“I bet it did,” Roman muttered.
“What was that?” Olivia asked. “Roman, are you okay?”
He nodded. “Fine. I’ll see you later, okay?” Without waiting for a response, he stalked back to his truck and got behind the wheel. He gripped it with both hands, letting his knuckles leech of color as he thought about all the ways he wanted to ruin Mason’s life. He was definitely not a good guy. And all his bad decisions would catch up with him eventually. Roman would help make sure of that.
22
Olivia
“You know how I feel about you spending time with him,” Mason said the second Olivia shut the door.
She sighed. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t right to brush off how much time she was spending with Roman when Mason didn’t approve. It didn’t matter that she’d insisted there was nothing between them. Mason believed there was, and he had every right to be uncomfortable with the situation.
However, she wasn’t about to let him dictate how much time she spent with her friends. “And you know that he’s my best friend.” She turned to face him, not surprised to see the frustration burning in his gaze. “It’s not like I’m dating him. We just… hang out sometimes.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed. “He just shows up at your place wanting to spend time with you? Guys don’t do that unless they’re interested.”
She scoffed. “You don’t know Roman like I do. We’ve been friends forever.”
“I don’t like it. It’s notnormal. Men and women… they can’t be friends without it getting complicated.”
This time she had to count in her head before responding. Lately the tension had been building between herself and Mason. He wanted to make things serious—to commit to dating just each other. While she hadn’t gone out with anyone else, she hadn’t told him she was ready to be exclusive.
And she wasn’t ready to look too deep into her reasons for that.
She frowned at him. “You don’t trust me?”
His expression softened and he moved toward her, taking her hands in his. “Of course I trust you. It’s him I don’t trust.”
Olivia wanted to roll her eyes. “He’s not interested in me like that.”
But what if he was?
