I scoff, even more frustrated. I want nothing more than to believe this is real. “I gotta go.” Slamming my palm against the door much harder than necessary, I jog the few flights to Olive’s floor.
Unsure who I’m more annoyed with right now, me or Ian, I glance around the hall before knocking softly on the door. I can’t hear any sounds, but I call out softly, “Olive, it’s me. I’ve tried to call you. Open up.”
I can’t tell if my ears are playing tricks on me, or if I really hear movement inside the room, but the door never opens. I knock a few more times but finally give up. If I knock any longer, I’m bound to get security called on me by one of the other guests being disturbed by the sound.
At least I’ll know in a few hours if she had to fly home for an emergency. If that were the case, all of her focus would be on her brother. But I can’t help the disappointment gnawing at me that she wouldn’t trust me enough to want to lean on me or confide in me about what’s happening. I thought we had really moved our relationship along over the last few weeks, and she would feel comfortable coming to me with this kind of stuff.
But maybe that was just wishful thinking.
I stand in the lobby,impatiently waiting for everyone else to join me. Ian is upstairs escorting Jenny while I’m directing luggage and flight staff to the waiting SUVs.
But no Olive. Yet.
I glance down at my phone. Still no calls and texts. When I hear the faint ding of the elevators from across the lobby, my gaze lifts as Olive steps off the elevator. Relief washes over me like a cold bucket of water. Something may have still happened, but at least it wasn’t bad enough that she had to fly home immediately like before.
When she gets closer, I rush over to her. There are dark circles under her eyes and her features are drawn. There’s something very obviously wrong.
“Olive, I’ve been trying to call and text you. I was worried something happened with your brother.”
She rolls her lips over her teeth and presses them tightly together before releasing them. “Sorry, I didn’t get back to you today. I was busy.”
I rear back a little at her flat tone. “Busy?” I ask incredulously.
She narrows her eyes at me. “Yes, Nate. Busy.”
I cross my arms over my chest. Hurt fills me. I’m unsure how to approach this, but I figure honesty is my best bet. “Look, I know we’re still new, but I want you to talk to me. I can tell something is upsetting you.”
She shakes her head, misery filling her dark eyes. “It isn’t important. I just needed to take care of some things before we flew out today. And I didn’t sleep well, or really at all, last night.”
As I take in her bland answer, a realization hits me.
She doesn’t care about me the way I care about her. I would tell Olive anything. When it comes to her, I’m an entire library of open books. Maybe I’ve been fooling myselfinto thinking she felt the same way. Hell, maybe she viewed me as a distraction while on the road but never intended to take this further and has just been playing me the whole time.
Maybe Ian was right. This is all bullshit.
I nod and reply, “Okay, vehicles are here to take us to the airport.” Stepping to the side, I allow her to pass and gesture to the doors. “If you want to head out, they’ll get your luggage loaded up. We’ll be leaving shortly.”
Her features fall even more than they were before. She hesitates to move, chewing on her bottom lip. Being close to her, I can see her bloodshot, red-rimmed eyes. As much as she wants to lie to me, whatever is bothering her is very important, since it made her cry enough to leave the evidence on her face for me to see.
Her eyes squeeze shut for a breath before she locks them back on me. She opens her mouth to say something, but then changes her mind and closes it with a loud exhale. Without another word, she walks away from me, leaving me reeling.
29
Nate
Iwatch her walk across the lobby.
I’m not sure who I’m more disappointed with—her or myself. Her, because she won’t give me a chance to be there for her, to help her through whatever this is. And myself for diving into this headfirst and not being a little more cautious.
From the first moment I saw her, I believed it was Olive. I was just so sure that was true; it never crossed my mind that she might not feel the same.
A hand slaps down on my shoulder, dragging me from my heartbreak. I turn to find Ian standing next to me. “You ready, man?”
Nodding, I inhale through my nose to calm my system. “Yes, let’s go.”
Ian gives me a questioning look, but doesn’t say anything else as we make our way to the vehicles with Jenny and therest of the group. Cade and Olive are already loaded into the back of one of the SUVs. I ensure I take the front seat of the one she isn’t in.
Thirty minutes later, we have everyone boarded the plane and are settling into what will be a long flight to San Francisco. Olive continues to look miserable. And I don’t know how I feel. Part of me wants to beg Olive to keep trying. She didn’t actually tell me we were over before we even had a chance to start. She didn’t tell me anything. But the other part wants to protect myself from further heartbreak by not getting even more attached to this woman. But who am I kidding? I am attached. Like, really attached.
