Sheldon puts his arm around me and pushes the two of us in next to Mom at the table, saying it’s best for everyone if he and Daphne are separated. Jenson slides in on the side of Dee and his mother, and Daphne sits next to Jenson on the end.
“Olivia, how did you hit it off with Patsy’s son, Will?” Mom asks immediately.
“Yeah, that’s not going to work out, Mom,” I say.
“Oh?” Mom says. “Did you give it an honest try, honey? Because sometimes these things take a while to sort themselves out.”
“So true, Nora,” Cindy says. “I introduced Jenson to this delightful woman at the fair, and he wouldn’t have anything to do with her. He said something about no chemistry, and I tried to tell him chemistry is a tricky thing. Sometimes you don’t feel it right away, or even all the time, but it doesn’t mean you’re not perfect for each other.”
“Honey, let Jenson figure out his own love life,” Dee says.
Jenson’s focus doesn’t leave my face as he says, “Mom, chemistry is important. And sometimes you do know right away.”
Sheldon laughs. “So Olive, did you and this guy exchange bodily fluids?”
“Only if that includes his alcohol-induced vomit,” I say.
Jenson breaks into a laugh as the waitress delivers our drinks.
“Ah, the old ‘get so drunk you puke on your date’ story,” Daphne says. “We’ve all been there, Olive.”
“Yeah, in high school,” Sheldon says. “Seriously, how old is this guy?”
“He’s twenty-eight in chronological years,” Mom says. “Obviously that doesn’t count for everything.”
“Or anything,” Daphne adds. “Sounds like you can do better than that, Olivia.”
Mom starts tripping over herself in apology-mode, saying she feels like she pushed me into it.
“It’s okay, Mom. And he wasn’t mydate. I ran into him at the bar. It was unplanned.”
I’m still staring at Jenson. The green of his eyes dances flirtatiously as Dad’s speech starts and goes on for so long that we’re nearly through our meal by the time he’s done.
As I reach for a roll, I accidentally bump Jenson’s hand as he’s reaching for the same piece.
“Here, you have it,” we both say at the same time.
My body fires off on all cylinders, and I have to swallow hard. Jenson smiles softly at me and puts the roll onto my plate.
I want him so badly my chest aches. And I can’t possibly sit in between Mom and Sheldon anymore. I excuse myself and hurry to the back hallway where I turn the corner and duck into the restroom.
* * *
Jenson
I watch Olivia walk away, clenching my jaw so hard I feel like I’m going to break a tooth. Being sandwiched in between our families is fitting for us, but I’m not a teenager anymore, and hiding the fact that the woman I want has been sitting across from me sucks.
“So who are you dating these days, Jenson?” Daphne asks me. “I never get to hear about your life.”
I shrug. “Nothing to tell.” Nothing that I can say out loud, that is.
“My son is so picky,” Mom says. “Every time I fix him up with a new, wonderful woman, it’s a bust.”
“He and Olivia must be drinking from the same water cooler,” Nora says. “I was so hopeful when she got married, and then bam—she divorced him! I know he brought that on himself, but…”
I blow out a deep breath.
“Olivia’s ex-husband was an ass,” Sheldon says. “She never should have married him.”
