“Yeah,” Ollie nods, a tight, jerky motion.
The confident woman who kissed Kat with a desperate hunger is gone, replaced by this stranger made of nervous tics and evasion. I can’t stand it for another second. I push my chair back, the legs scraping loudly against the wood floor. They both flinch.
“I’m going to head into town,” I say, my voice startlingly normal in the thick air. “I need some ingredients for dinner.”
Kat’s eyes dart to me, wide with question, and I can’t help but smile and throw her a wink.
“You’re leaving? Now?” Ollie asks, looking up at me for the first time this morning.
“Yeah. You two should…hang out,” I say, grabbing my keys from the bowl on the counter. “Enjoy the cabin. I’ll be a while.”
I make it halfway down the hall when I hear the scraping of a chair across the floor, followed by a set of footsteps.
“What are you doing?” Ollie says, falling in line as I walk out onto the front porch. “Vince!”
“As I said, I’m going to the store.”
“Oh my god, will you stop and please just fucking talk to me for a second. I hate it when you’re upset with me. It makes my skin itch.” Ollie pleads, but I don’t give in.
“I’m not upset…with you or Kat.”
“Of course you're upset! And you have every right to be! I don’t know what came over me. She kissed me, and it was like I wasn’t in control of my body anymore. I know how fucked up that sounds, and I feel horrible, but it just poured out of me like every ounce of restraint I’ve ever had just snapped.”
“Restraint?” I stop abruptly and turn to her. She looks taken aback, like she let slip something that was never supposed to see the light of day. “So you do have feelings for her?”
“No.” She’s lying. “Of course not. She’s your girlfriend.”
“And? I was dating David Brennan when he tried to kiss you, and you punched him in the dick.”
I can see her shoulders slump, as if the silence holds all the answers.
“I didn’t lie awake at night wondering what David Brennan tastes like,” she says, and my chest explodes.
My breath catches in my throat as I process what she’s just admitted. Ollie’s always been bold, but this is different—raw and vulnerable in a way I’ve never seen from her before.
“You never said anything.”
“What the fuck was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, Vince, I’ve been in love with your girlfriend since the day I met her? Sorry for ruiningtwo decades of friendship.’ Fuck!”
I let out a heavy breath. I was sure she had the hots for Kat, but I didn’t know she was in so deep. I run my hand through my hair as she kicks a stray pebble off the porch.
“I already packed my things last night. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.”
“You are not fucking leaving?” I demand, my voice rough with disbelief.
“Come on! I never should have come here, I’m a third wheel cramping your ability to be alone and…oh, Ikissed your girlfriend.”
“Ollie, we kidnapped you because we wanted you to be here.Bothof us.”
“Because she felt sorry for me! Now I’m here crowding your space and…”
Frustration gets the better of me, and I step in closer, covering her mouth with my hand.
“Ollie, you can’t take up space if we specifically reserve it for you.”
Her breath huffs hot against my palm, her dark eyes searching mine. I can see the war in them, fear of ruining everything, fear of not trying, fear of wanting too much, being too much, and not being enough. I know that look because I’ve worn it for years.
“You’re not leaving,” I say, my voice firm. “Kat kissed you because she wanted to, and you didn’t push her away because you want her, too. I just need you to promise me that this isn’t going to fuck anything up betweenus.”
