Page 138 of The Young & the Sinner

I didn’t blame him. Olivia had this delicateness to her that made me want to both be careful with her and push her for more until everything that made her… her, was mine for the taking.

I shook away the greedy thought, and came back to reality. There was an uncomfortable silence that followed. Even when I saw the expectant looks on the other women’s faces, I stayed mute. I didn’t even know their names, so it wasn’t like I could introduce them, even if I wanted to.

They were both beautiful, both blondes, and both looked very similar to each other. Sisters or cousins perhaps.

The one closest to Logan nudged him in the shoulder, almost causing him to drop the beer bottle in his hand. He turned back to her and frowned.

“Who is this?” the woman asked with almost a purr in her voice. I felt Olivia tense beside me. It was obvious she was talking about me and either ignoring Olivia or dismissing her completely. I didn’t like that one bit. I frowned at Logan, silently telling him to take care of this mess.

He set his beer down and crossed his arms over his chest, looking more annoyed than anything.

The other woman made a show of checking me up and down. I ignored her and pulled Olivia closer to me until her whole back was plastered against my front.

“Our cousin is meeting us here. She should arrive any minute now,” the woman said. As if she had done the math and it made sense in her mind. Three of them and three of us.

I opened my mouth to correct her, but Gage beat me to it.

“That sound great. You ladies have a good night.”

He stood and Logan followed. I grabbed Olivia’s hand and led her to a wide table nearby, keeping her close to me. A look back told me the two women were sending daggers our way.

Or, specifically, at Olivia.

I glowered at them. They quickly averted their eyes.

A haggard-looking waitress showed up at our table not long after. She had tired blue eyes, light brown hair and looked to be in her mid-thirties. Her nametag read April, and she was smiling at us.

“Welcome, folks. What can I get you all to drink?”

Logan held up his beer. Some IPA brand, it looked like. “How about another one of these?”

She nodded and moved to Gage. “Same,” he said.

“I’ll have whatever they’re having,” I said. Since I drove Olivia here, I didn’t plan on hitting the hard liquor.

She turned to Olivia then, her eyebrows raised in skepticism. I didn’t blame her. Olivia didn’t look old enough to order alcohol. Olivia wasn’t old enough to order alcohol. I didn’t think it would be a problem meeting in a bar, though. It wasn’t like Olivia was a big drinker. But perhaps I should have suggested somewhere else.

“Just a Coke for me.”

The waitress looked like she wanted to say something but changed her mind at the last minute, which was good because I didn’t know how I would react if she made Olivia feel even more uncomfortable than she was already feeling now.

And I hated that she felt that way. This was supposed to be a relaxed gathering, but she didn’t feel like she could put her guard down. I knew a lot of it had to do with her insecurities due to her age, but I should have done something else. Something different.

Perhaps I should have introduced her to them alone before throwing her to the wolves.

This was all on me. But it was too late to back out now, even if all I really wanted to do was carry her out of there.

She watched our waitress leave before moving her eyes back, flittering a little nervously between one man and the next before settling them on me and holding. I grabbed her hand from underneath the table, raising it to my lips and kissing the delicate skin there.

She relaxed a little in her chair.

Gage cleared his throat. “So, Olivia. Mason tells me you’re a student at the University of Chicago?”

Olivia pulled away from me a bit and turned to give Gage her attention. “Yes. It’s my first year there.”

His smile was almost soft when he said, “I know.”

“What are you majoring in?” Logan asked.

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