He hopped back up next her, leaving a solid six inches between their thighs, and smirked as she stared at the blanket between them. “Miss me?”
Like you wouldn’t believe. “Nope.”
“Can I have a sip?” He nodded to the beer, and it dawned on her that he’d only brought one bottle back from the cooler. The first one had been shared…well, sort of by accident. But he could have brought two back and he didn’t.
The hoodie, the space…that was for her. The public show of Rafe and Olivia just being friends. But the single bottle of beer, passed back and forth? That was something else. She twisted the cap off and drank first, then quietly handed it over. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he tipped the bottle back, his lips where hers had just been.
When he handed it back again, she reached across her body and took it with her right hand. Leaving her left hand pressed on the itchy blanket between their bodies. He slid the bottle into her grasp, then dropped his hand on top of hers.
They sat there for another hour, sharing that bottle and then another as many revellers took their leave. Rafe didn’t drink much of the last one, just holding it on his turns.
“Are you driving?” she finally asked.
“Hmmm?” He’d been staring at the fire for a few minutes. He slid her a curious look.
“You’ve stopped drinking.”
“Oh. No, Dean drove my truck. I’ve got the second row of seats, so we can take more people back.”
Leave it to cops to have a responsible bush bash.
“Can we give you a ride home?”
“I came with Ryan and Lynn, but…”
“Who’s driving?”
“Lynn, I think.”
His jaw clenched. “You’ll come home with us, okay?”
“Rafe?”
He rubbed his thumb over her knuckle and stretched his neck left and right before answering. “She disappeared into the woods for a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a joint on her.”
Olivia sighed. Her friend should know better than to bring drugs to a party at Scott Turner’s farm. Or anywhere in public, but especially around cops. Jeez. And driving… “Yeah, I’d love a ride home. Thanks.” She pressed her lips together, not sure how to ask the next question.
“I’m not going to do anything about it,” he said roughly. “I didn’t see anything and I’m off duty. Plus she’s Ryan’s wife, not that I’d let that stop me if—”
“She’s a mother of three.”
“Do you think she ever smokes up before she drives them around?”
That silenced her. Ugh. Maybe she should talk to Ryan. She looked around for her friend but couldn’t see him. All of a sudden she didn’t feel like drinking any more. She tucked the bottle against the wheel well behind her and lifted her legs up, wrapping her arms around them making a Livvie-ball, as her father used to call it.
“What are you thinking about?” His voice was quiet. She didn’t look over at him again, keeping her gaze trained on the moonlit tree line instead.
“How we’re too old for bush parties,” she admitted. “And my dad…I miss him. That he’s gone now makes me feel old too. Like…I should have done more, ya know? I don’t have much to show for someone my age. This job is fun, but it’s yet another temporary gig, ya know?”
— —
He craned his neck at her in surprise. She feltold?She was three years younger than him and he felt like their lives were just beginning. He reached out and tugged at her ponytail. She turned her face back in his direction and dropped her cheek to her knees. She looked exactly the same as she did the night he met her at a house party in Woodstock. Fresh, innocent, and beautiful. The urge to kiss her was overwhelming.
Instead, he pushed off the truck bed and moved to stand in front of her. “You want to dance?”
Someone had rigged up an mp3 player and a pair of portable speakers. A slow Guns N’ Roses power ballad floated around them. She slowly unwound her limbs and looked around.
“We’re among friends here, Liv. Dance with me.”Let me take us back in time six years and start over again. He wanted nothing more than to pretend he hadn’t fucked up the better part of her twenties. Flirt and touch and tease like they really could build a future together instead of having a history so tainted that his beautiful wife thought she’d missed out on something good.
