We rollinto Tacoon around eight something. Phones buzz at the same time. Group text from Maggie: “Lulu’s at 9. Be there. It’s important.” I groan. “It’s already 8:27.” Olivia reads it, lips twitching. “Quick shower, and we head out? We won’t be there at 9:00 p.m., but we can make it.” I nod. “I’ll drop you off, head home, get ready?—”
“Just shower at my house,” she says, like it’s nothing. “There are plenty of bathrooms, and I think my mom’s not there right now, so...” I grin. “One condition.” She smirks. “Let me guess... You are going to ignore the part where I said that there are enough bathrooms and will demand that I shower with you?”
“Obviously,” She just laughs.
The house is empty when we get there. We head upstairs, and the second I step into her room, it’s like getting slammed by a memory train. She sees it on my face and grins. “Been a while since you snuck in here.”
“Yeah, back when we were reckless and horny teenagers.” She laughs. “And now we are just reckless and horny adults,” she says, pulling my shirt off.
I pull up her dress, take off her panties, and throw her on the bed. I don’t waste time. I drop to my knees, and she opens her legs instantly, like she’s been waiting for this. I put my mouth on her, and she rides my face, grabbing the sheets, moaning my name. She’s fucking perfect when she’s trembling like this.
When she’s done, I lift her, take her dress off, take my clothes off, and carry her into the shower, turn the water on, and press her against the wall. I fuck her like I’ve gotsomething to prove. Her legs around me, water crashing down, moaning into my neck. “I love you, Ethan,” she gasps.
“Repeat it,” I growl. “I love you, Ethan,” And I finish with her, spilling into her, holding her like I’ll never let go because I won’t.
Let’s say we didn’t arrive at Lulu’s at 9:00 p.m., but we sure as hell came.
Lulus usedto be a bakery when we were in high school. Pastel bricks, sticky counters, the smell of sugar and yeast. Now it’s barely recognizable, moody amber lighting, sleek black trim, and enough exposed piping to make it feel like someone airlifted what could be a Brooklyn bar into small-town Tacoon.
I can see Maggie there with Leo, and two other people I don’t recognize at first. Josh and Audrey. Fuck my life. Maggie could’ve warned me. We haven’t had a relationship with them; we know each other, but we don’t consider ourselves stepsiblings. We’re more like acquaintances with the same dad, if that makes sense.
“Hey Ethan, remember Josh and Audrey?” They seem so grown up now, we all do. Josh is older than us, which makes him around thirty-nine, maybe even forty by now. Audrey, on the other hand, is younger, which is what makes this whole story messy. She has to be in themiddle of Maggie and Leo, so around twenty-six or twenty-eight.
“Hey guys, how are you?” They have that sympathy smile on their faces, like every other person at the funeral had ‘I’m sorry your mom died’ face. Josh is the first one to reach his hand. “Good man, I’m sorry bout Larna.” I smile and nod. Audrey comes in for an unexpected hug. “I’m so sorry about your mom; she was so nice to us always.” I nod again. “Yeah, she was like that.” Well, this is awkward.
“Hey, I’m Olivia, a friend of the family.” Thank God she noticed and interrupted whatever this was. “I remember you,” Josh says, which tracks because they were here one Christmas when we were too young to understand all of this. “Oh yeah, Christmas at the Coles,” She adds, so she remembers all this, too.
We share some more casual conversations until we get to the bottom of what we are really doing here. “So, this is the place Larna left all of us,” Josh says. Maggie nods, Leo and Audrey too, and I’m just here like, what the fuck. Did the bakery belong to us this whole time? But I can’t look like the idiot who didn’t know anything. So, act like I know what I’m doing. And I decided to treat this as any other one of my projects.
“So, what’s the plan? What did you guys have in mind?” They all seem engaged with my question. Perfect, that’s what I want. “Well, we bought the two buildings next door recently, and we wanted to convert this into some bar thingy. If you guys are on board, or we wanted to buy you out if that’s more appealing,” Audrey sayswith such an attitude, but in a pleasant way that I’m surprised.
Before I can even talk, Maggie steps in, “I’ll be okay with selling my share, but only to my brothers, no offense.” Of course, she did that. Audrey nods, smiling, and Josh nods too.
“I can’t buy you out,” Leo says. Of course, he can’t; he doesn’t even have a savings account. “I’ll buy you out, I mean, I’m not one of your brothers, but...” Olivia says in a very casual way, and my heart just hit the floor. She wants part of this. Why?
“Is that okay with everyone?” Maggie asks without even thinking. Everybody nods, except me. I don’t know what this means. She looks at me, and I can see it in her eyes; she wants this. But what’s this?
“Okay, it’s settled then; I’ll send you the paperwork for you to sign. I’m out of here.” Maggie politely smiles and goes. It’s basically a fuck you all, I’m out. “I’ll talk to you later,” She whispers in my ear and taps on Olivia’s arm.
“How much money are you talking about if I sell?” Leo asks. “Well, this place is valued at $436K, so we’re taking about 85K roughly,” Josh answers. Leo’s face right now is priceless. He doesn’t even understand this kind of money.
“Do you want part of this, or do you prefer to sell your part?” I ask him directly. “I’ll sell, but only to you.” He adds. If there’s one thing I absolutely love about my siblings, it’s their loyalty. “Done.” Everybody nods.
“Well, now you have 60% of the shares. Are you in, orwill you buy all of us out?” Audrey is a pain in the ass, but a smart one; she is definitely our sister. I can’t help but laugh. “I’m in.” We talk about logistics, what we want to do with the place, the plans they have for the other two buildings, etc. And seeing Olivia like this—so focused, professional—somehow made me fall more in love with her.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
OLIVIA
I don’t even knowwhy I did that.
This will absolutely complicate things with Ethan. It already has. But the part of me that runs companies for breakfast, that loves a clean deal and a solid pitch, couldn’t help herself. It’s a great business opportunity, the kind that makes my brain light up the way my heart used to when I saw him.
We finished the night talking numbers, logistics, deliverables, and safe words. The kind that keeps emotion out of the room. I take notes, ask questions, lean into what I do best: strategy, marketing, control. Everyone seems pleased with the decisions and the plan. I’m nodding, smiling, pretending I’m fine.
Inside, I’m chaos.
When it’s finally time to call it a night, Ethan catches me just as I’m sliding my laptop into my bag. “So…” he says, stepping closer, that crooked grin in place, “we might be business partners now?”
