AARON
Oliver lasted a whole twenty minutes before he passed on with his head on my shoulder. I sat through two episodes of the crime show he picked out before the TV started asking if I was still watching. The drama was better than I thought, so I’d happily sit here a while longer, but the remote is just out of my reach. There’s no way I can get it without disturbing Oliver.
Clearly, he needs the rest. I do, too. I work early tomorrow morning and need to get up and run so that I can join Oliver later in the evening. He’s more than capable of doing it alone, without me shouting at him to slow down, but it’s our time together. A weekly tradition that I look forward to and plan around.
If I move right, I could lay him down on the sofa without him noticing. As soon as I shift my weight, he lets out a soft whimper and buries his head in my neck.
Nope.
The worst part of it is that I don’t want to leave. If I had my way, I’d carry him into the bedroom and spend the rest of the night holding him close.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop comparing my relationship with Oliver to my other friends. Not once in my life have I considered snuggling up with Matthias for the night. I’ve slept over at his house and his parents’ house numerous times, some even in the same bed. I never once had the urge to lean in and sniff his hair.
Oliver’s locks always smell like lavender. This late in the evening, it’s hardly noticeable. After our runs, when he sneaks off to take a quick shower, the scent follows him around for hours. It’s constantly in the air while we sit on his couch crocheting, side-by-side for the remainder of the evening.
Now, anytime I catch a whiff of anything remotely lavender scented, I instantly think of him.
“Oliver,” I whisper, shaking his shoulder gently. In response, he huffs and snuggles into me, wrapping his arms around my waist.Fuck. He’s not going to make this easy on me. “Oliver. It’s time to go to bed.”
This time, his dark eyes flutter open. It takes several seconds before he seems to grasp the situation.
“Shit. How long have I been asleep?”
I mourn the loss of his closeness as he sits up, peeling his head and hands off of me. God, I’d almost forgotten how incredible it was to have him touching me.
“Not long,” I lie. He’s self-conscious, and I don’t want to make him feel bad. If he needs to know, he can look at a clock. I’m sure he’ll send me a hundred apologetic text messages later. “But it’s getting late, and we’ll both regret sleeping like this.” My back and neck aren’t twenty anymore. Anything short of a premium mattress and feather pillows means days of trying to sort out sore muscles.
“Yeah, of course. I didn’t mean to keep you; I know you need to get home.” He stands up and grabs our half-empty beer bottles from the coffee table. “Thanks for spending the evening with me.”
“I’m sorry about your date.” I wish I had something more to offer him. I can’t imagine how anyone would ever stand him up. Oliver’s a catch. If things were different…
“It’s fine. Guess it wasn’t meant to be. I didn’t really like him that much anyway.”
“Then why were you going out with him?”
“Um… I needed something.” He shifts his weight, clearly uncomfortable.
“Sex?”
“A distraction.”
Now I’m uncomfortable. “From what? Is something going on?” He talks a lot about his siblings, but not much about his job. Maybe someone’s being an asshole.
“From you.” Oliver gets up and walks toward the kitchen.
Um… what? “Hey, come back.” I walk into the kitchen to find Oliver bent over the counter, head in his arms. “Did I do something wrong? I thought we were okay.”
“We are, it’s just… fuck, this is embarrassing.”
I’m not sure whether I should say something or wait him out.
“It’s you. I know we said we would be friends, and we are, but that hasn’t kept me from developing a massive crush on you.”
Well. “I…”
“Look, you don’t have to say anything. I’ll get over it, really. I thought maybe if I started seeing someone else, it would be easier.”
There’s that feeling again, the gnawing in my stomach when I picture him with someone else. Jealousy rarely rears its head inside me. Usually, it’s over something professional. Apromotion or award that someone else gets. Lately, it’s been happening a lot more.
