Maybe she plans to tell me in person. But if she doesn’t, then I’ll know there’s still work to be done.
I spotOlivia the moment I step into the corridor outside the lecture hall, my eyes zeroing in on her among the other students milling around.
She hasn’t seen me yet, but she’s looking, scanning the space.Satisfaction floods through me, washing away the sharp irritation from earlier.
That’s right, baby. You should always be looking for me.
I take a step forward, my body pulled to hers like gravity, my fingers already twitching with the urge to reach for her. But before I can get to her, someone else does.
A classmate that I’ve only spoken to a handful of times, whose name I vaguely remember. Adam, was it?
He steps into Olivia’s space with the easy familiarity of someone who doesn’t know his place. Despite this, she neither stiffens nor recoils. Instead, she graces him with a polite smile, her posture softening just enough to make my irritation sharpen into something more lethal.
I fight the urge to yank him away from her, but I exercise restraint. Instead, I follow them inside, a step behind, my stride measured. However, I make sure to stay close enough to hear their conversation.
“Olivia,” Adam says, grinning. “Back from your New York adventure?”
Olivia rolls her eyes. “Apparently that’s my entire personality now.”
Adam tilts his head in mock thoughtfulness. “Well, I mean…word is you spent break in the most expensive square footage in Manhattan. Hard not to be a little jealous.”
She laughs, light and easy. “Jealous of me or of Nathaniel?”
“Both, honestly.”
That’s it. I’ve had enough of this fool. Two men in one morning, testing the limits of my generosity.
I move then, stepping smoothly into my rightful place beside Olivia.
“Am I interrupting?” My voice is even, the kind of calm that precedes destruction.
Adam turns, only now noticing me. His grin doesn’t falter, but there’s the briefest flicker of his recognition of the shift in the air.
“Nah, man,” he says easily. “Just catching up with your girl.”
I hold his gaze, letting the words settle between us before I return a slow smile. “How thoughtful of you.”
I don’t raise my voice. I don’t have to. He knows exactly who I am, and more importantly, who she is to me.
Without breaking eye contact, I reach for Olivia’s hand and lift it to my lips, pressing a slow, deliberate kiss to her knuckles.
Adam laughs awkwardly, lifting his hands in mock surrender. “Message received, Caldwell.”
Olivia shakes her head, amused and maybe a little exasperated, but she doesn’t say a word.
As students continue settling in, I keep her hand in mine, leading her toward the back of the lecture hall. I want to steal her away from the others so I can have her to myself after a night of deprivation.
As she slides into her seat beside me, she looks at me and raises a brow. “We don’t usually sit back here.”
I settle beside her, stretching my arm across the back of her chair, my fingers idly brushing the curve of her shoulder. “We do today.”
She tilts her head. “Any particular reason?”
“No distractions,” I say simply.
She hums in acceptance. Her acquiescence soothes me. While annoyance still simmers beneath my skin, I allow myself to feel this momentary satisfaction, the reassurance of her beside me, under my hand, within my reach.
SIX
