“What do the kids call that? Next level achievement unlocked?”
Her lip curled into a smirk, and the effort it took to hold myself back from kissing her was exhausting.
Donnie looked between us, laughing as he approached. “Well, thanks for the cake and for coming.”
I took Donnie’s extended hand. “My pleasure. And,” I leaned closer to whisper, “let me know if there are any additional charges to our room.”
He waved me off with a chuckle.
“It’s fine. Safe drive back. I heard there are some trees down, so be careful.”
When I retrieved the keys from the valet, I held out my hand for Olivia to walk ahead, allowing myself one more chance to ogle her from behind. The more I tried to figure out what to say or do next, the more clear it became that I didn’t have a fucking clue. The only thing I could say with certainty as I stole another glance at her profile when she fastened her seat belt next to me was that every second of last night was worth it and I didn’t regret any of it.
Now if I could only figure out what the hell to do about it.
FIFTEEN
OLIVIA
The ride home was quiet and painful. There was a better rapport between us, but I almost wished for the old days of nasty little quips back and forth. At least that was easy and familiar. This, as much as I had struggled to name it since waking up, was a weird kind of limbo that had me constantly searching for the right thing to do or say.
We exchanged pleasantries on the way back to my apartment, noting a couple of downed trees or errant branches on the road, but as far as the mind-blowing sex we had until the wee hours of the morning? Not a single word. I smiled, thinking of the way we’d left the hotel room. Even after attempting to straighten out the sheets, it looked like a war zone, and I guessed it sort of was. I should have stepped out of the room victorious because I finally had Tyler’s undivided attention, and for one glorious night, he was all mine.
But with every step toward the elevator and then trudging barefoot to Tyler’s car, my chest had grown tight, squeezing harder each time I tried to rub away the ache. What did I expect? After years of bickering and hating each other, one night—no matter how amazing it was—would make us fall in love?
Part of me, a pretty large part, wanted to nestle against him when I woke up. Bury my head into the crook of his shoulder and drag kisses down his chest. Slow, sleepy morning sex followed by breakfast in bed was a fantasy, but one that my brain kept playing out over and over again.
“Be careful walking inside,” Tyler told me after he cut off the engine. I’d been so buried in my thoughts that I hadn’t realized he’d already pulled up in front of the house. “Branches are down everywhere, and since you have no shoes on you may get cut.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve come home barefoot before.” I held up my shoes. “After a night of dancing in stilettos, I’ve learned that walking home barefoot even on the ice is the better alternative.”
“I’m sure you have,” he said with a tiny lift pulling at the corner of his mouth.
Of course he thought that. I was Olivia the party girl, the spoiled only child who didn’t care about anything beyond a good time and herself. Even when that was me, it wasn’t all of me. Tears stung my eyes as I released my seat belt. Even if I was the one with the inappropriate romantic aftershocks from spending the night together, I hoped that maybe he saw me just a little differently now. That maybe by helping him last night, I showed him more of me than he’d realized after knowing only the petulant and bitchy version our entire lives.
But he didn’t hate me anymore. We’d go back to our lives, minus a little sparring when we had to see each other. I at least had that now, and going forward, I would figure out a way to make it enough.
He grabbed my arm before I could open the door.
“Thank you,” he said as he leaned over and brushed my cheek with a kiss. His lips were still soft and warm, his morning stubble leaving a little more scratch across my skin than last night. “This meant a lot to me. All of it. I always knew that I was carrying around a lot that I didn’t need to, but until last night I never could shake it. I feel a little lighter today, as stupid as it sounds. We made a good team.” He shot me a crooked grin, and I smiled back, hoping I didn’t look like my heart was melting inside my chest.
“I told you I was happy to help. Least I could do, right?” I sputtered out a laugh, darting my eyes away from his heavy stare because it was too much.
A couple of curls slipped out of my bun and fell over my face. Tyler tucked a lock of hair behind my ear before I could brush it away. I pushed my tongue into the roof of my mouth, the only way to stop the tears threatening to cascade down my cheek. He still didn’t bring up the sex out loud, but the way he cupped my cheek and let his thumb graze my jaw was enough of an acknowledgment. This wasn’t a show or appeasing our mothers in trying to get along. He was touching me, in the privacy of his car, with no one around but us.
With Tyler this close, it was hard to keep my expectations as low as I’d wanted to.
“You’re all right, Sanchez.”
“Thank you,” I replied, breathless. “That game of yours may not be so bad after all.”
I climbed out, not looking back as I carefully walked to my apartment. After I unlocked my side door, I noticed Tyler still parked out front, watching me. I nodded another goodbye and pushed my side door open as quickly as possible.
Leaning against it once I locked it, I sank to the floor. I was a puddle of sequins and feelings, and I needed to peel both off me as quickly as possible.
I pulled myself together enough to stand, setting my shoes on the rack in my bedroom before I moped to the bathroom. Smelling like Tyler and sex all day wouldn’t help me get my head screwed on straight.
Morgan was right. Sex with Tyler was epic because it was the payoff after years of buildup. All our fights were foreplay that bled into last night. Our mothers would be thrilled we finally got along once they found out, and I was sure they would. They knew we spent the night at the hotel, and whoever hadn’t seen us against the wall had probably heard about it by now.
