“Oh.” I shifted on him, my smile growing when I realized he wanted us to fly together. “Good.”
His fingers moved to my earlobe and tugged gently. “I’m sorry if we ruined your underwear.”
I giggled softly. “It was worth it.”
“Yes, but it’s not going to happen again. I want to be respectful.”
“Sure. Okay,” I said, yawning and smacking my lips. I was too tired to get frisky anyway. I twisted to prop my chin on his sternum and look up at him. With his eyes closed, the television glare flashed over his face.
So handsome.
“What was that?” he asked.
“I didn’t say anything.”
He chuckled. “You sure?”
“Mhm.”
“So handsome?” he asked.
“Oh.” I bit my lip. “That could get to be a bad habit, thinking out loud.”
“I think I’d like it if you did.” He inhaled deeply. “It’d save me a hell of a lot of grief.”
I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling. “You’re exaggerating.”
He just smiled and closed his eyes again, humming his satisfaction as he took a deep breath.
David was solid underneath me. Sturdy. Reliable. My father had always been that for me, too—or so I’d thought. I hadn’t really thought more about the conversation at the clubhouse since David had surprised me, but it was a weird thing to know I’d gotten wrong such a huge part of the puzzle of my past. “He cheated on my mom,” I whispered.
David stilled. “Your dad?”
I nodded into his chest. “He told me yesterday. I always thought it was all in her head, and I’ve accused her of it many times.”
“If I’m honest, Olivia . . .” He opened his eyes and blew out a breath. “I had a feeling. You were always so adamant he was innocent, but I didn’t buy it.”
“Really?” I asked. “You never said so.”
“It was an instinct. Usually in these situations, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” He ran a hand over my hair. “But I suspected your dad kept it from you to protect you, so I kept my mouth shut.”
I glanced down at his chest, comforted by the way it rose and fell with his breath. “He didn’t want me to go live with my mom,” I said.
“That’s playing a little dirty,” David said, “but I would’ve done the same thing. Sounds like your mom wasn’t that stable. But how doyoufeel about that?”
I crossed an arm over David’s chest and replaced my chin so our eyes were level. “I’m not happy that he lied to me, but I guess I get why he did it. Strangely, it doesn’t make me feel any more sympathetic toward my mom.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Probably because your issues with her aren’t just about that night.”
“Should I start calling you Dr. David?” I teased.
“It has a nice ring to it.”
“She agreed to more alimony to stop fighting my dad for custody,” I explained. “She’d always told me she’d given up because of the stabbing—that my dad’s lawyer was vicious, and he’d make her look like the bad guy. She said she couldn’t afford to keep spending money just to lose.”
“Do you think you would’ve gone to live with her if you’d known the truth?” he asked.
I traced a circle on his t-shirt, thinking. “I didn’t want to live with her because I blamed her for the divorce. She was jealous, she drank, and I was a little bit scared of her. But if I’d known it wasn’t entirely her fault . . . I’m not sure.”
