“Rhett! Put me down!” She wails, batting her palms against my back. Maverick starts barking at me.
“Stop resisting! Just let me take care of you for a little bit longer. It’ll all be over soon.”
“Thank God!” she says as I set her down. Our gazes meet, and there’s something there. I can feel it. I know she can feel it too. This is not just about how beautiful Olivia is or what it feels like to touch her. I actually care for Olivia as a human being. I want to protect her. I want to make her laugh. I want to protect myself from these feelings, but we’ve both knocked down some of our walls today, and I’m scared to death that without those walls, I’m beyond saving.
ChapterSixteen
Rhett
Curled up in a ball,breathing heavily with her head on my chest, Olivia looks like a dream. She made it through maybe one and a half episodes ofFriendsbefore she dozed off, but the feeling of her asleep on my chest, tucked under my left arm is nothing short of incredible.
I take her in as she lays there peacefully. She has a smattering of freckles that fleck the tops of her cheeks, and a small mole on the left side of her neck that I desperately want to press my lips to. Her rhythmic breathing grounds me.
Another episode begins on the TV, and the theme song blasts way louder than the rest of the show. Olivia instantly stirs, and as she realizes she’s wrapped around me like a koala on a tree, horror fills her face.
She shoots up, startling Maverick who was comfortably sprawled at her feet.
“Sorry,” she says to Maverick and then to me.
“Don’t be sorry. You needed rest.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“Couldn’t have been long. Maybe two episodes?”
“Oh.” She directs her attention to Maverick, scratching behind his ears after he settles back down with his head in her lap.
“I should probably get off your bed now.” She looks at me, obviously seeing the concern in my eyes because she adds, “I’ll be okay. I promise.”
She’s closing down. She’s going to hide away in her room until Maverick needs something, but I still really want to be with her.
“Are you hungry? I can cook some burgers for us.”
“I could go for a burger.”
My lips quirk.God, why am I so desperate to be around her?I know I can’t have her, and yet I can’t stay away.
* * *
Pulling the burgers off the grill, I turn to Olivia. “No way. Your mom turned your wheelchair into a carriage for Halloween? I didn’t realize she was crafty.”
“I don’t think she is.” She laughs. “That’s the only time I’ve ever seen her creative side come out, and she spent two whole weeks on it.”
I pass her a burger and a bun so she can add toppings. When we settle into the chairs on the back porch, the humidity swaddles us, and the sound of birds playfully chirping fills the air. It’s peaceful. I figured it’d be exactly what Olivia could use after the day she’s had.
“Do you want to see the costume? I’m pretty sure I have a picture.”
“Hell yeah, I want to see it.”
She scrolls through her phone for a few moments, her face screwed in concentration, before she finally hands it over to me. Five-year-old Olivia is perched in a wheelchair with her brown hair cascading over her shoulders, topped with a sparkly crown. I can just barely see her baby blue Cinderella dress over the top of the elaborate carriage Mandi created from cardboard and a lot of duct tape.
“Your mom really cares for you.”
“I know. She did stuff like this all the time. In high school, I failed an English test and she stayed up all night with me before the next test to help me study. My dad has done some above and beyond things for me too.”
“Like what?”
She pauses. “Are you sure it doesn’t bother you to hear all these stories about my parents… given your relationship with yours?”
