Oliver scoffs and sits down in his chair, his mom picking one beside him. She still hasn’t spoken but stares at me with such intensity I almost see the wheels of her brain turning as sheputs it all together.
“Kenny?” she asks, looking to Oliver.
“Yes, this is Kenny. And she’s not only my PR rep. There’s a lot more going on.”
“No, there’s not,” I promise his mother loudly.
Oliver narrows his eyes, but I can’t figure out why. Whatever it is, I don’t think I’m going to like it. He pushes his chair back slowly, the metal legs scraping against the tile floor. Never taking hiseyes off me he takes a step up, standing on the stool. When both feet are planted safely on the seat, he cups his hands over his mouth.
“What are you doing?” his mom and I ask at the same time.
“Listen up, everyone,” he yells to the cafeteria. And like some freak situation, people actually listen. All heads turn in his direction.
“Oliver, sit down,” his mom demands.
I stand up too, thinkingmaybe I can pull him off the chair. “Shut up.”
“I want everyone to know that I, Oliver Slade, think McKenna Marston is the hottest woman I’ve ever set eyes on.”
Someone whistles in the back of the room, and I turn to look at the crowd, noticing a few heads shaking. Oh my God. This is so embarrassing.
“Oliver,” I whisper shout at him, “get down.”
Of course he doesn’t listen. “Yeah, I see thehead shakes. You’ve noticed her. But she’s mine. So hands off.”
Oh my God. I put a hand over half my face to try and shield myself, but it does no good. “Would you get the hell down, please.” I widen my eyes at his mother, hoping she can talk some sense into him. He is her son after all. She doesn’t do anything useful except shrug and shake her head no.
Oliver sits down at the table with awide smile on his face, completely oblivious to the fact he did anything wrong. I refuse to take my seat and instead scowl at him. Visions of me tossing the fake pudding at his head cross my mind.
“What were you thinking?” I ask. “Nothing is going on between us and Asbell told you to keep a lid on it.”
Oliver looks to his mom before giving me his attention. “Something is happening between us.”
“Okay, now it’s my time to go,” his mom says, patting him the shoulder. “We’ll discuss this later. I want the full report.”
His nose pinches up as she walks away, obviously not happy with what she said.
“What? She didn’t seem so bad.” I mean her son did make quite a show in the cafeteria over a girl and she didn’t tackle me or anything. Maybe he talked her crazy up too much.
“The full reportmeans a background check.”
“You’re lying.” What would Oliver even find in a background check? I did pay a credit card bill a few days late last year. Is that on there? Who knows? Would one late credit card bill make me ineligible to date an athlete?
Why am I even considering whether I’m eligible to date Oliver?
“If I don’t give her one, she will run her own. And the service she uses is muchmore thorough.”
I sit back in my chair contemplating all this. “You’re not kidding. Are you?” Oliver might have mommy issues.
He laughs but there’s no humor involved. “No. You’re on her radar now. You might as well date me.”
“You are impossible.” I pick up my fake sandwich and stand. “I’m going to bed. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep and try not to get in any trouble.”
Screw Asbell’sstick to him like glue rule. I’m going to need therapy after I return home from this job. Oliver can handle himself for an evening…probably. With only my sandwich to keep me company, I walk back to my room. At least there I’ll be able to eat it in peace.
