Page 90 of The Young & the Sinner

Her lips trembled and she turned away from me. “But I can’t do it. I already told you. Why are you pushing this? Why are you being so mean to me?”

“Mean?” I asked softly. I took a step toward her and moved my thumb gently across her soft cheek, wiping away a single tear. “Do you really think I’m mean to you? Does this feel mean?”

She shook her head, and I was relieved she didn’t look like she would cry anymore.

“Let me help you.”

“How?”

There were a few different ways to go about this. An idea came to mind, and I grabbed the makeup box in one hand and her small hand in the other. Then we walked out the bathroom and into her room. I had only been in here a handful of times, yet this time felt dangerous. Like I shouldn’t be here. Ignoring that, I motioned with my head for her to sit on the bed and ignored the way my heart reacted to the sight of her there.

Too young. She was too young for me.

I needed to remind myself that, or I’d feel like a monster trying to take advantage of an innocent.

I grabbed her desk chair and put it in front of the bed, in front of where she was sitting. She pulled her legs up and sat cross-legged, facing me. I put the makeup box down by her side.

“How about this? I do your makeup and you can do mine. We’ll start out small today, and when you’re finally feeling comfortable enough, you can do your own makeup for me.”

Her eyes widened in surprised and I bit my lips to keep from laughing. “You want me to put makeup on you?”

“Sure, why not? I think I can pull off makeup well; don’t you think?” She laughed, surprising me. I frowned. I was pretty serious.

“We can’t do that?”

“Why not?”

“Because it would be weird!”

I grinned and a small smile threatened to show on her face. Then I wiggled my eyebrows and another laugh burst out of her. What a wonderful sound that was.

Feeling playful, I ran my hands up and down her side in a mock tickle, and she wiggled a little. I ignored how much I wanted to grab her waist and haul her in close to me. “Come on, Livie. Let me show off my makeup skills.”

She shook my head. “You’re going to make me look hideous. I have no doubt you’ve never even touched a makeup brush.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Max and I played with our mom’s makeup when we were children. Made a huge mess in the bathroom with her foundation and everything.”

She smiled. I knew she met my parents a couple of times. I knew my parents adored Olivia, simply because they knew how much Max loved her.

She looked to the makeup box again, thinking. “We can stop whenever?”

“Of course, sweetheart. Just say the word. I even brought home some makeup remover wipes. They’re in my room.”

Her eyebrows raised in surprise, and I could feel my face warming a bit. “You thought of everything, didn’t you?”

“Ah, no. The saleslady that helped me pick out the box suggested makeup remover. I thought it was a good idea, so I figured why not?”

I offered a small shrug.

She grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Thank you.”

I squeezed back. “Of course, Livie. Now, let’s get started, shall we?”

We spent the next half-hour putting makeup on each other. I was clearly unpracticed, and besides lipstick and mascara, I didn’t know what anything else was for.

But my cluelessness got Olivia to laugh through the entire process, so I deemed it a success.

She closed her eyes when I slathered on some blue eyeshadow, which I was now convinced wasn’t her color. I should have gone with the softer pink, but I remembered the soft blue shirt Olivia wore last week, and I thought this would match her. Obviously, I was wrong.

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