But as much as I wanted to end things with him, I didn’t.
Mostly because I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to believe that I was still the apple of his eye, the center of his world. I wanted to believe him when he told me he was instilling boundaries in their friendship so it wouldn’t happen again. However, there was a nagging voice in the back of my head that told me I deserved better.
And there he was, thereshewas, reminding me of that.
Reminding me that the love I was starting to feel for him was all for nothing. Because Lennon wasn’t the kind of man who turned away someone in need.
But I also wasn’t the kind of woman who could happily accept other women pushing into her territory. It was aninternal conflict I spent the last few weeks trying to resolve—on the outside and inside.
That hand with the red polish came up and smoothed over Lennon’s cheek. My stomach rioted inside my body, that twisty feeling of sickness making everything worse.
He dipped his chin, a smile stretching across his face, as he looked down at her face. To any outsider, they looked like one happy couple. I knew better. It should have been me who was in her place, touching Lennon in all the ways she was.
And then his eyes lifted and searched the room, stopping when they found mine. The corners of them crinkled in a way that made my heart clench. He looked at me like there was nothing wrong with her palm being where it was. What was worse, he made no effort to remove her hand, but he did lift his own hand to curl his finger at me in a way that said,Come here.
I gave him a tight smile and swallowed down my reluctance as I walked from where I was and flanked his other side. By then, Celeste—and her fiery fingernails—gave Lennon space, retreating barely enough to give us privacy.
“Olivia,” he crooned, that smile on his face enough to stop a heartbeat. “Where did you go? I’ve been standing over here missing you.”
My brow flicked up, somewhat in annoyance, because I wasn’tthatfar away. I stood with him for a while, partaking in conversation with a few colleagues. Eventually, though, I stepped back and leaned against the wall when my head started to hurt.
I wasn’t more than fifteen feet away from him. His attention was just trained elsewhere, so it made it hard for him to see me at all.
I pointed a finger over to where a few girls danced to the music. “I was right over there.”
Lennon’s brow furrowed, and he let out an easy laugh. “No you weren’t. I’m pretty sure I would’ve seen you sooner if that was the case.”
I swallowed hard. “Iwas, Lennon.” I licked my lips, and didn’t want to say it, but I also couldn’t not bring it up. “You’ve just been too busy keeping Celeste’s attention to care about anything else.”
The light in his features dimmed a fraction. “We were having a conversation.”
I brought my cup up and sipped a little water. Whether I was drinking or talking to Lennon, the nausea was still going to come. It was unavoidable.
My voice was low enough for only him to hear. “I didn’t realize a simple conversation required her hands to be all over you.”
Lennon smirked and glanced away—a telltale sign that he was uncomfortable. “You know how she is,” Lennon said, dipping his head down to my ear. “Handsy.”
“Yeah,” I muttered out. “That’s part of the problem—us both knowing how she is and nothing being done about it. Lennon, youpromised,” my voice cracked, “that you weren’t going to do this to me anymore.” Yet here we were, having an awkward conversation over the same person that started all of this while we were in a room with people we worked with every damn day.
“It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Yes, it does,” I protested, though my voice was still quiet.
“Olivia…”
I shook my head because why was it so hard for him to realize it wasn’t okay? Why was it so hard for him to put my feelings first?
“Olivia, please. Can we talk about this later? You know, when we’re not surrounded by most of the people I employ.”
I frowned, a tightness taking over my jaw, which was the last thing I needed when my head already felt like something was pressing into my temples. “Yeah, fine.”
He reached out, gently tracing my elbow with his fingers. It didn’t stir that sensation of desire that normally came when he touched me. Well, before all this shit with Celeste and his inability to understand my feelings started. “Are you still coming over to my place after?”
“That was the plan, wasn’t it?”
“Just making sure the plans didn’t change.”
I pressed my lips together. “They didn’t, but I have a headache, so I need to go take something for it.”
