Olivia and the Older Boy: Young Adult Sweet Romance (Love in Ocean Grove Book 5)

by Anna Catherine Field

  “I, for one, like it,” Gabe says. “Someone needs to get Sid out of his cave. He’s spent the whole summer building some server or something and creating a following of minions. We’ll have to pry him out.”

  “Hey, Gabe,” I say, squeezing him. I’ve never been a big hugger, but Gabe is the kind of guy that brings it out.

  He gestures behind him. “We were just listening to this knucklehead talk about how he ended up in a pile of mud the other day over in the gated community, chasing down a dog after a delivery.”

  I look at Ben and raise an eyebrow. “That sounds…typical.”

  “It was a mess. You should have seen it.” His lips quirk in a secretive grin. “Mud everywhere.”

  “I’m surprised you managed to catch it on your own.”

  “I’m pretty good with my hands.” He winks. “Or at least, that’s what I’ve been told.”

  Norah groans. “Gross.”

  The air evaporates from the room, and there’s no doubt in the world that my cheeks are bright red. Ben manages to keep a straight face, only making it worse. Gabe and Norah look between us; my sister’s forehead is creased.

  “So, right,” I say, regaining some composure, “my friend from work is here, and we’ve got to do some stuff in the kitchen.”

  “Bye, Liv,” Gabe says, reaching for a slice of pizza.

  “We’ve got that dress thing tomorrow, okay?”

  Ugh, bridesmaid dresses. I nod, “Right. After work.”

  If Ben is looking at me, I don’t know. I avoid his face entirely.

  Melina and I spend the next two hours baking. We’ve got brownies and cookies in the oven. She wants to be prepared before we start with the girls. It’s an organized approach, something I’m not used to.

  “So what’s it like having someone famous as your brother-in-law?” she asks, taking some notes about baking time and ingredients.

  “My almost-brother-in-law. The wedding is in August. They had to work it around their schedules.” I pull a pan of brownies out of the oven. The top is crinkled, and they look pretty good. “And it doesn’t feel like anything. I’ve known Gabe my whole life. He was my sister’s best friend before they started dating. He was always around.”

  “Wait,” she says, frowning, “I thought the other one was her best friend.”

  “They were a threesome, like the Musketeers, you know, when two of them started sneaking off to make out. They hid their relationship for a while from Ben and our families because they were scared to tell anyone.”

  The instant I say it, I realize how I’m doing the same thing. She does too, giving me an exasperated look. In a low voice, she says, “If everyone accepted them, then why are you and Ben an issue?”

  “I’m not sure we are an issue,” I reply. “I’m just not sure what we are in general. It’s too soon for that, and anyway, it’s probably just a summer thing. We were both bored and lonely.” I try to imagine dating Ben once school starts back. Would he go to the back-to-school bonfire with me? Would my mother even let me go over to his house with no adults around? It’s all too complicated.

  Shouts from the other room bounce into the kitchen, followed by Norah’s squeal. It’s all so familiar. So comfortable, and I know in my heart Ben is back where he needs to be, with his friends.

  And me?

  I glance at Melina. We’re not there yet, but I’m closer to accomplishing what my mother wanted. A friend from high school. A girl focused on her studies, not trouble.

  I reach into the bottom cabinet and pull out containers to pack the treats into so we can take them to the girls tomorrow. A figure appears in the doorway, and I know before I see him that it’s Ben. Melina’s dark eyes shift between us, and she busily places cookies in the box.

  “Did you save any?” he asks, leaning against the doorframe. A current of electricity runs through my limbs; as though we’re magnets drawn to one another.

  “One,” I say, pushing a plate of extras toward him. “Each.”

  He smiles, but I get the feeling it’s not about the cookies. He pushes off the wall, brushing past me as he picks up the plate.

  “Thanks,” he says, giving me a quick, heart-stuttering wink. He leaves as quickly as he came.

  Melina gives me a hard look.

  “What?” I ask, trying to steady myself.

  She shakes her head. “I don’t care what you say, this is more than a summer thing.”

  After we clean the kitchen and Hector pulls into the driveway to pick up Melina, I head upstairs. Every part of me wants to be in that room with Ben, but that little scene in the kitchen told me we’re not ready, or I’m not ready, that’s for sure.

  I wash my face and I’m pulling on a clean shirt when I hear footsteps on the stairs. It’s weird because it’s been quiet up here without Norah home. I wait to hear her go up the extra flight to the attic, but instead there’s a knock on my door.

  “Yeah?”

  The door opens and Ben stands in the hallway.

  “Hey,” he says, not crossing the threshold.

  “Hi.”

  “Those brownies were killer. You guys should make some cash at the farmer’s market.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  He glances over his shoulder then back at me. “Are you okay?"

  “Yeah, just tired. It’s been a long day.”

  “I came up to see if you wanted to go to Davie’s with us.”

  “More food? You just ate?”

  “I’m a nineteen-year-old guy, Liv. I’m hungry all the time.” He gives me a pointed look. “So, you coming?”

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s a great idea.”

  Again, he looks down the hall, but this time when he’s sure no one is there he steps in the room and walks over, resting his hand on my hip. “I don’t want them being home to change anything.”

  “I know, it’s like I said, I’m tired.” I give him a tight grin. “Go.”

  He doesn’t budge. “I can stay.”

  I roll my eyes. “No, you can’t.”

  For a dozen reasons.

  “Then come with us.”

  “Nope.”

  I see the frustration in his eyes, but I’m not ready for this.

  He touches my chin and gives me a kiss, one I’ve been dying for all night. It’s sweet, chocolatey, and that alone almost convinces me to go with him.

  “Ben? You ready?” Gabe calls up the stairs.

  “Yep! One sec.” He touches my shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Dress fitting.”

  He frowns. “I’ll see you tomorrow anyway.”

  He brushes his lips past mine, a promise, and squeezes my fingers.

  Once he’s down the stairs and out the door, I walk to my window and see them get into his truck. My heart is wistful, wishing, but mostly scared.

  Hours later, when I’ve finally dozed off, my phone buzzes with a text. I blink and rub my eyes. Picking up the phone, I read the texts.

  B: I missed you tonight.

  O: I missed you, too.

  B: Night, Liv

  My heart flutters at his simple words.

  O: Night.

  21

  Ben

  The sun has barely started to heat the day when I park the truck on the curb by the little playground in the neighborhood. I get out of the truck and set two iced coffee cups on the tailgate. After last night, and then hearing that she has an obligation with her mom and sister this afternoon, I knew I needed to see Olivia at least once today.

  Last night was a challenge. When I got the call to meet up with Norah and Gabe, I didn’t think twice. It was like old times, and we had a lot to catch up on. But I also knew it would give me a chance to see Olivia that night—something I wanted more than to see my friends.

  I knew she was baking with Melina that night. She’d told me that afternoon. It gave us a little buffer, but that didn’t stop me from nearly blowing it in front of Norah and Gabe. I couldn’t help myself. Just being near her ma
kes my brain short circuit. So I flirted a little. No big deal, and I asked her to go to Davie’s with us—I figured maybe we could just come clean from the beginning—but it was wishful thinking. Liv is a private person. Even without the complications, she’d be wary of telling people about us. She worried about everything, and I know good and well she’s worried about us—even before we’ve really started.

  I’ve just got to assure her we’re going to be okay.

  I’m a little early, but after a few minutes I spot her riding her bike down the street.

  She slows and cruises up to me.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Just wanted to see you.” I hold up the drink. “And bring you a little jolt to get through the day.”

  The pounding in my chest confirms that caffeine isn’t what I need. I need her. Olivia. The girl that has taken over my thoughts—waking and sleeping.

  “Can I give you a ride to work?”

  She studies me a minute, cheeks flushed, either from exertion or from seeing me. “You really got up early, bought me a coffee, and were on the side of the road to drive me to work?”

  “Yep.”

  She hands me the bike, picks up the coffee, and takes a sip. I toss the bike in the back and meet her in the cab of the truck. I’ve barely clicked my seatbelt in place when I sense her next to me and turn, finding her halfway over the center.

  “Thank you,” she says, right before kissing me, showing me her appreciation.

  “Having them here doesn’t change anything,” I tell her, tasting the coffee on her lips.

  “It does,” she says, “but if you’re willing to work around it, then so am I.”

  “Work around it?”

  “I don’t want their opinions, Ben. Or for my mom to use this as some kind of reason to freak out. I like that for once, I have something—someone—that belongs to me. I just want to keep it like that for a little while longer.”

  I know Olivia has a history of holding back. She keeps things away from her mom and her family. I get it. They worry about her, and she just wants freedom, but this seems like we’re asking for more trouble than it’s worth.

  “How long?” I ask.

  “Until the wedding?” she suggests.

  That’s about a month, coinciding with the end of summer and going back to school. She looks at me hopefully, and I’m not in the frame of mind to push back. All I want is her in my life, and if that means we keep this low-key, I’ll do it.

  “Deal, but after that, if we’re—”

  “Still together,” she adds, because we both know that’s kind of an “if” right now.

  “We’ll tell everyone.”

  She leans over and kisses me again, reminding me that this is worth it. For both of us.

  22

  Olivia

  Mid-morning it starts to rain, making it a pretty good day to start working on our bake sale. Maya called the farmer’s market and secured us a booth, so we’re set for next Wednesday.

  “I’ll get the chocolate chips,” Abbigail shouts.

  AJ pushes her aside. “Can we make frosting?”

  “Nothing with raisins,” Beverly declares. “They’re gross.”

  “Everyone settle down,” Melina says, picking up her notebook. “We have a lot of steps to take before we get to the actual baking. We have to figure out how and what ingredients we need, calculate the number of treats we want to make while considering how much money we need to earn for the FunLand. Then there’s packaging, storage, transportation, pricing…” she gets lost in the numbers and starts taking notes. I glance around at the girls, who all look overwhelmed and defeated.

  “This sounds really hard,” AJ says, watching Melina make her list.

  “It is going to be hard,” I say, pulling the redhead on my lap, “But it’ll also be fun, and the payoff will be amazing.”

  “Does your lifeguard boyfriend work at the amusement park, too?”

  “I don’t have a lifeguard boyfriend,” I tell her. These girls are obsessed with boys and boyfriends, imaginary or real.

  “Just the truck-driving boyfriend.”

  I sigh. “Will you go look in the kitchen and see how many baking sheets we have?”

  “What’s a baking sheet?”

  I scoop her off my lap and place her feet on the ground. “Come on, let’s go see what we have in the kitchen. We’re going to need lots of baking sheets, and cupcake tins and brownie pans and cooling racks.”

  I shake my head. I’m starting to sound like Melina.

  A couple of the girls follow me in and soon we’ve got a pile of kitchenware on the table, and Melina has a solid list of things we need to get at the store.

  “We’ll hit the grocery store tomorrow,” she says to the girls as we pack up for the day.

  “After we go to the beach?” Beverly says.

  “Yep,” I agree. “After the beach.”

  Melina and I step outside, and I head for my bike. Hector waits in his car by the curb.

  “Where’s the boyfriend?”

  “Bridesmaid dress shopping, remember?”

  “Oh right.” She gives me a smile. “Did everything go okay after I left?"

  “They all went to get some food. Ben invited me, but I didn’t go.” I don’t tell her he came up to my room and gave me a kiss or that he sent me a text when he got home.

  “Tell your sister,” she says, walking to the car.

  “Would you tell Hector?”

  She laughs. “Not if I didn’t want my boyfriend beat up, but Norah seems cool.”

  She hops in the car and I unlock my bike, getting on and riding the few blocks away to the boutique. Melina is right. Norah is pretty cool, and ultimately, I don’t think she’d be that upset. I pedal down the road, going around pot-holes and pedestrians, growing more and more aware of why I’m not ready to tell other people about Ben.

  It’s not so much that I’m afraid of what people will say, although I think that will be its own challenge, it’s that I haven’t let anyone in for a long time. Every time I try to make a friend or build a bond, something goes wrong. Like Nicole. Like Spencer.

  I hop off my bike and slide it into the rack outside the shop. My stomach twists at the thought of losing Ben. It’s the pang of panic. The announcement of anxiety. It’s the thing that’s plagued me for years, and if this relationship with Ben doesn’t work out, I’m not sure what would happen if I lost another person close to me.

  Especially him.

  “What do you think, navy or gray?” Norah asks. I’m not sure if she’s talking to me or my mother. It’s been pretty clear since we got here that I’m not the primary decision-maker here, even though I’m the one wearing the dress.

  My mother walks over and holds up two swatches of fabric to my face. “Liv’s complexion favors navy. Especially with this lovely tan.”

  “Delaney would look nice in gray, though.”

  “Delaney should come back to Ocean Grove if she wants an opinion in the dress color,” I mutter, turning away from them.

  “What?” Norah asks, obviously not having heard me.

  “Liv, go try on the navy so we can see how it looks.”

  The saleswoman, who has been standing so quietly in the corner I almost forgot she’s here, steps forward with a navy dress. To be fair, the dresses are kind of cool. The tops are a wrap which allows them to be worn in a dozen different ways. I like the more roman style, gathered over one shoulder.

  I step behind the curtain and try on the dress. It fits nicely, and my mom is right, it does look good with my new tan. Outside the curtain I hear Norah say, “Don’t say anything to his parents, but I think Ben may be considering applying to college this fall.”

  College? I lean close to the curtain, dying to open it just a little bit to take a peek.

  “That’s wonderful news!” My mom barely contains her excitement. “He actually said that? Because you know they’ve been beside themselves with his lack of focus.”

 
“Yeah, I’m not sure what the sudden turnaround was, but he said he’s started working on applications for business programs.”

  “Well his app has been very clever. I think he’s doing well with it. He was delivering something for Fiona’s Home the other day. That could lead to something big.”

  “I also think he may be dating someone. Have you heard anything?”

  I reach out and place my hand on the wall to steady myself.

  “No, but I’m not sure that’s the case. He does seem to work a lot and he seemed pretty available to go to that concert with Liv. Oh, maybe she’d know,” she says, like she just remembered I’m in the dressing room. “Liv, do you think Ben’s dating someone?”

  “Uh,” I say, staring at the curtain, “why would I know if Ben Rowland is dating someone?”

  “Because you’re paying attention to the people around you?” Norah’s exasperated voice floats over the partition. “He didn’t say anything at the concert?”

  Movie, I almost clarified, but don’t. And yeah, he said a lot that night and a few other times as well, like how I’m pretty and fun and brave. Don’t forget he’s an amazing kisser. I should say all of it—just dump it all out—and clear the air.

  “No.”

  “Figures,” Norah says. “If he’s not going to tell me or Gabe, then he definitely wouldn’t tell you.”

  She’s right. He didn’t tell me about applying to college.

  “Are you dressed?” Mom asks. “Come on out.”

  I step out from behind the curtain, and they both watch me emerge in the floor-length gown. I spin around and the fabric swishes across the floor.

  Norah smiles, looking me up and down. “Navy really is your color.”

  My mother stares at me with an odd look on her face.

  “What?” I ask, adjusting the strap.

  “Don’t you think you’d prefer something with sleeves?”

  “Why would I want something with sleeves?” Her eyes dart down to my scars and I flinch, moving my hand to cover them.

  “Mom!” Norah says, her eyes filled with a mixture of horror and pity. “Liv, I think it looks nice and you can barely see them. Especially with the tan.”