“Hello, Heath,” a husky voice said to his left.
Heath turned to the voice. A tall blonde in a skin, tight red dress leaned casually against the bar, eyeing him up and down. She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her. “Hello.”
“Mary, my name is Mary.” She supplied.
“Well, hello and goodbye, Mary.” He normally wasn’t so abrupt with women, but he was eager to get back to Olivia.
“What’s your hurry, handsome?” She raised a well-manicured penciled in eyebrow. “You weren’t in such a hurry the last time we were together.” She stroked her hand over his chest.
Heath couldn’t remember her to save his life, and honestly, he didn’t want, too. “I have people waiting for me. Excuse me.” He slid to the side away from her and looked up to see Olivia and caught her watching him.
Shit, now she was going to think he was picking up another woman, while she sat at the table. He never wondered if his past was going to catch up with him. He assumed he would be a bachelor, until the day he died.
Olivia hadn’t looked upset or angry, seeing him with another woman. She didn’t have any expression really. Did she just assume she was just someone temporary in his life, and he was already finding his next conquest? He would tell her, when he got back that wasn’t the case. He had no intention of finding another any time soon.
It was no longer about just having sex with Olivia. He genuinely enjoyed being with her, and every night they said goodbye, he counted the hours, until he could see her again. Even during drills and PT, he was thinking about her. He had never checked his phone so many times through the day before. Maybe, Mike was onto something, when he said she was the one almost a week ago.
The thought didn’t frighten him as much as it had then. He could see a future with Olivia he had never thought about before. Olivia was accepting of his job and erratic schedule. He would have someone to come home, too. No more one-night stand pickups in the bars and not remembering them. He would wake up with Olivia every morning. They would travel the world, like she wanted.
What about kids? His conscious piped in.
Heath still didn’t like the idea of kids, but he knew Olivia would press him for one at some point. The women would even start to nag him about, when they would have one. The thought made him shudder. No, no kids for him. At least, not any time soon.
He was making his way through the crowd, when someone bumped into him. He quickly adjusted his grip to save himself from spilling the drinks. He looked over to see who it was, hoping it wasn’t Mary again, but all he saw was someone in a black hoodie walking away. The person turned and looked at him, before walking towards the restroom. Heath scowled at his back, wondering if he should follow and give the man a piece of his mind about manners. Something about him seemed oddly familiar too, and he couldn’t place it at the moment. It would come to him.
Heath had to squeeze himself between Abigail and Olivia to set down her drink. “Thank you,” she smiled up at him. The tension around her mouth was gone, and her eyes didn’t dart around. She looked happy.
“You’re welcome. About what you think you saw at the bar.” He started to say, but Olivia shushed him.
“Heath don’t. I know you have a past, and you weren’t trying to pick her up, but the other way around. I trust you.”
Heath stared at her speechless, wondering if she was teasing him, but she looked completely serious.
“The ladies clued me in.” She whispered, when he just kept staring at her.
Leave it to the women to help him out. “Good, because I would never pick up another woman, if I was with someone.”
“I know that, too. You told me that, when you talked about Nadine.”
“Who’s Nadine?” Abigail piped in.
“Are you going to let me sit back down in my seat?” He asked, instead of answering her question.
“No, we’re talking to Olivia. Now, who’s Nadine?” Cora piped in on the other side of Abigail, propping her chin on her fist and stared at him expectantly. She could keep on waiting.
Heath ignored her and stayed focused on Olivia. She was something else. He didn’t have to explain himself or worry about her doubting his fidelity. She trusted him. No one, but his friends did that.
“Go sit down by your friends.” Olivia tilted her chin towards the men all huddled on the other side of the table. They didn’t seem bothered their women ditched them. They sat back casually in their chairs talking.
“I’d rather sit with you.” She was preferable company. Olivia wouldn’t ask him a million questions that he knew the guys were burning to ask.
All the women sighed, making Olivia turn red.
“Drink up. I have plans for later.” Heath winked and took a seat next to Sam.
“Why were we required to come, if they just ended up ditching us?” Sam asked, before taking a pull from his beer.
“Because we wanted to show our support.” Aaron answered.
