“What about you, Jenson?” Sheldon turns to him. “It’s awesome you’re moving back home. Will you be able to make it to my wedding?”
Jenson nods. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
Sheldon turns to me next. “Hey, Olive,” he says in that irritating, teasing tone I recognize so well. My brother’s in a mood, and he knows just where to go with that: his little sister.
I fix a blank expression on my face. I’ve found that if I appear nonplussed, Sheldon won’t always be able to get what he wants, which is to get a rise out of me.
“As you know, Cara and I decided to have an adult-only reception after our wedding.”
I freeze. “The invitation didn’t say that.”
“It said ‘adults only’ at the bottom,” Cara says. “See, I knew I didn’t make the writing big enough!” she says to Sheldon.
“I’m sure I was just distracted and missed it,” I assure her.
“You should bring a date,” Sheldon says. “I insist. The men you’ve been with so far have been shit.” Sheldon pauses and then points to a blond woman at a nearby table. “Maybe she’s more to your liking.”
I roll my eyes. “Stop meddling in my love life, Sheldon. I’m not interested in anyone you pick out for me.”
But he’s not finished. He points out a dark-haired older guy over in the corner.
“What about him?” he says. “I’ll go invite him over.”
Cara pokes Sheldon in the ribs. “That’s a little obvious, baby, don’t you think?” she says, turning to me with pity in her eyes.
My face goes hot. Sheldon hated my ex-husband, and he was relieved I filed for divorce. But because of that fiasco, he’s convinced I don’t know how to pick the right partner.
“Oh, so you do like him!” Sheldon says. “You’re blushing!”
“I don’t, no,” I get out.
“Jenson,” Sheldon says to him. “What do you think? You think he’s good enough for Olivia?”
“No,” Jenson says in a hard tone. “I think Olivia can do better than that.”
“Who then?” Sheldon says. “Who in this room would you pick? Olivia needs a date for my wedding. If she doesn’t get one, Mom has a line-up in mind.”
“Seriously?” I lean forward. “She mentioned something about a blind date to me on our walk, but I thought I successfully dissuaded her.”
Sheldon wags his finger at me. “You know our mother. She’s going to keep going until you’re dating again.”
“What a nightmare,” Hayley says as I groan into my hands that are now covering my face.
“I’ll be Olivia’s date.”
Jenson’s statement is so certain that, for a moment, I think I must have imagined it. I unpeel my hands from my face.
Sheldon and Cara are staring at Jenson like he’s going to take back his offer any second and say he’s joking. But his expression is blank.
“What do you mean?” Sheldon finally gets out. “You two are cousins. You can’t be her date.”
Dead silence hits our group as Jenson says nothing to break the awkwardness, and I freeze up completely.
“He means her friend-date,” Hayley says finally with a quick glance at me. “Duh, Sheldon. Haven’t you ever heard of it? It’s called helping a friend out of a jam. Which clearly Olivia needs.”
“That is so sweet,” Cara says, her eyes softening. “My mom told me her brother was her date to the prom because her boyfriend dumped her last-minute.”
Super.
“You’re really going to look out for her?” Sheldon asks Jenson in a serious tone. “You’ll protect Olivia from the sea of men our relatives will no doubt send her way at her brother’s wedding?”
Jenson rubs my shoulder briefly but purposefully. “I’ll always protect her.”
“Cool.” Sheldon reaches out to shake Jenson’s hand. “All joking aside, that’s a weight off my mind then. Our mom is bad on a good day with this set-up crap, but I know that at my wedding, she’s bound to be downright nuts.”
Before Jenson can respond, I interrupt to mention I’m worried about Daphne.
My attempt at distraction does the trick.
“So am I, but I can’t get her to come out anymore,” Sheldon says. “And I hate going to her house. She’s always so moody.”
I say that maybe it’s because of the stress of having to take care of a family.
Cara agrees with me. “The first two to three years of your child’s life are really stressful. Her husband’s gone all day, and she’s home alone with the kids.”
“I can understand that,” Sheldon says. “But there’s a difference between stress and misery.” He waxes into a long soliloquy on why Daphne’s unhappy, ending with the theory that her marriage wasn’t on solid footing from the beginning. “And if you’re not solid before the kids,” he says as he raps his knuckle on the oak coffee table in front of us. “What chance do you have?”
Jenson nods slowly. “I have to agree with you there.”
I lean back against the couch the same time Jenson does, and our arms accidentally touch. Heat scorches my side like I’m on fire. I resist the urge to lean into him, nearly biting down on my lip to stay still. This is ridiculous—I sound like I’m in junior high school talking about my first crush.
When Sheldon and Cara start kissing, Jenson says to me in a low voice, “You want to get out of here?”
My gaze drops to his lips and then shifts back up to his eyes. “How?” I mouth.
“Let’s hang out a little longer,” he says in a low voice. “And then you say you’re tired. I’ll meet you at the corner of Oak.”
We spend the rest of the time flirting with each other but pretending not to. Hayley gives me a look, or several looks, but Sheldon seems clueless. Jenson snaps my bra when I lean forward to pick up my drink, and I curse out loud.
“What happened?” Sheldon says.
“Oh,” I stammer. “Nothing. I just…Jenson flicked my back.”
“Still teasing your cousin, huh?” Sheldon says. “Well, you’ll be able to do that as much as you want to now that you’re moving home.”
“Hey, Olivia,” Hayley says abruptly, “come with me while I get a muffin.”
She stands up, and I follow her as she walks toward the counter but then veers at the last second and walks over to the corner table, where no one ever sits because it’s so dimly lit, and you have to practically step over the garbage can to reach it. She takes a seat and gestures I do the same.
“I remember the night you told me about him,” Hayley says without taking time for a lead-in.
I can’t blame her for her lack of a preamble. We probably have about two minutes of peace before Sheldon barges over.
I smile. “You’re the only person in my life who knows the whole story. Of course, I didn’t remember I told you because I was drunk.”
“I came by the bank with coffee in the morning and said something about your cousin, and you turned white as a sheet. It was like you thought I’d pulled your deepest secret out of you while you were sleeping.” Hayley reaches over to give me a hug. “I’m so happy to finally meet him. He’s super hot. And nice. He’s one of the good ones, Olive.”
I nod. “He is. And I owe you for the save. Friend-date? You made it all okay. Thank you so much, Hayl.”
She waves this off. “What are friends for? But I’m telling you, the sparks between you two are off-the-charts. I can’t believe no one’s said anything.”
I bite my lip. “They don’t want to see.”
Hayley’s eyes fill with sympathy. “It’s almost weird to meet him in person. It’s like this guy you’ve heard about for so long, and then suddenly, he’s part of your group of friends. And you can’t stop staring at him, trying to match him up to all the stories.”
I stare down at the table. “He wants us to try. You know, dating. Even if we don’t tell our families yet.”
“Yay!” Hayley claps. “Reality is much more grey than the simplistic concepts of wrong and right
. I think it’s sweet what your family did for him. I really do. But you two need to get together already.”
I pull my hair up into a high ponytail, immediately feeling the relief of having it off my sweaty neck. It really is hot as blazes outside. “Our relatives—and this whole town—act like we’re really and truly cousins. It makes things weird. And this weekend at the fair—you know how the paper takes a million photos, and my dad rings the liberty bell to start things off. I always feel ogled at the fair on a normal year. This year, with Dad’s re-election coming up—it’s going to be that times ten.”
Hayley waves her hand. “You’ll figure it out. It may take all summer, but mark my words: by the time the weather turns, you and the love of your life will be a full-fledged, official couple.”
Sounds too good to be true, but I smile at her and try to feed off her optimism.
Soon after Hayley and I return to the group, I start yawning before standing up and saying good night. I leave Bernie’s quickly and cross the intersection to Oak Street. There’s a bookstore on the corner, and I duck inside it to wait.
I have my nose buried in Pride & Prejudice when Jenson touches my hip. I raise my eyes to meet his curious green ones. He rests his chin on my shoulder as he stands beside me.
“That was always your favorite,” he says, pointing at the novel in my hands.
I close the book and return it to its rightful place on the shelf. “I so love this story. But we can’t linger here. Sheldon has freakishly good radar.”
“Really?” Jenson catches up to me at the door and holds it open for us as we leave the store. “He seems pretty lost about all of it if you ask me.”
“Well, my brother tends to surprise me when I least expect it,” I say as we head down Oak toward my house.
“He asked you if you wanted to date a woman,” he says. “And, he completely missed me flirting my ass off with you. Clueless, I’m telling you. And you have to bring a date to his wedding?”
“Requiring a date to anything is not what I need right now.” I frown. “But I appreciate you stepping in like that.”
Jenson takes my hand.
“You do know that everyone in the family will look at us like we’re pathetic, though,” I say.
“And we’ll be the only ones who know the truth,” Jenson says. “That we’re not pathetic at all. We’re two of the lucky ones who found something so rare that we didn’t give up on it.”
Not a soul is out in Liberty Falls at midnight in the middle of the week, and my heart is happy as we make our way to my house.
“Come on in,” I say as we reach my front door.
As soon as we step inside, Jenson backs me up against the door.
“Olive.” His voice is rough. “I’ve been waiting to kiss you for hours.”
I slide my hands up his muscular chest. “You have been?”
“Actually, scratch that.” He takes my bottom lip in his teeth before releasing it. “I’ve been waiting to kiss you for years.”
And then his mouth is hard on mine. Every inch of me comes alive as I part my lips and his tongue slides inside my mouth.
“Remember last night at the bridge?” He murmurs into my lips. “You seemed close.”
I flush with heat as I fist his shirt and press my breasts against his chest. “Close how?”
He shifts his lips to my neck. “Close to coming. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“I can’t do that,” I get out on a half-moan. “I’m halfway to coming now, too.”
Immediately, he lifts up my tank top. “You’re going to go more than halfway tonight, babe.”
Within seconds, my top and bra are on the ground. Jenson’s large hands gently wrap around my waist as our eyes catch. His gaze runs the length of my body before he brings his eyes back up to meet mine.
“Olive.” His voice is hoarse. “Christ, you’re beautiful.”
He palms one of my bare breasts. “It’s been so long since I’ve touched you.”
I whisper, “You’ve never touched me like this. Not…bare.”
His teeth lightly graze the hard bud of my nipple, and I let out a moan.
“No, I haven’t. That’s a fucking shame.” He sucks harder, and I grab at his hair and pull him even closer.
The sensation between my legs is so intense I can hardly stay standing. He unbuttons my cut-offs and slides his hand inside the band of my underwear.
I don’t know who’s shaking more as he touches me between my legs for the first time. He curses into my breast as his finger presses inside me.
“Olive.” His voice is a harsh whisper. “Fuck. You’re so wet.”
I clutch at his shoulders, needing his strength to keep myself upright.
Three thrusts of his finger, and I come hard on his hand.
A half-sob leaves my throat. Jenson scoops me up into his arms and carries me over to the couch where he wraps an afghan around me.
I snuggle into his chest and look up at him. His green eyes scan my face like he’s trying to understand everything I’m feeling.
“Remember your request? To take things slow?” he asks me.
I nod.
“We’re going to hold to that. Because it’s what we need. But I just want you to know—I want to do everything with you, Olive.” He leans in to kiss me softly. “Everything.”
I kiss his strong jawline. “Me too.”
Jenson kisses me goodbye on my top step, right outside the front door. I wave as he leaves, walking down my driveway backward so he can watch me until he reaches the street.
Tonight felt like a real date, something we’ve never had.
I always wanted to be with the love of my life. I wanted that choice to be one I could make. But that hasn’t been the way fate has worked out for me so far. And even though I know I shouldn’t be, even though I know I shouldn’t count on things between us lasting, tonight I’m ridiculously happy.
Chapter Eight
Jenson
The next morning, I sit in my new office in the athletic wing of the college and rub my eyes as I stare at the screen of my laptop. I’ve been here since before seven a.m., going over film of the team’s games from last year. I can’t get Olivia out of my head. Her curves, the way she melted into me last night. I’m lucky I’m sitting behind my desk because every time I think of her, I get hard. Being able to take our time like this is a luxury, but my dick doesn’t appreciate luxury. Or patience. My dick has a pretty one-track mind when it comes to Olivia, and that’s to see her again as soon as possible with even fewer clothes on than last night.
“Jenson.” Coach Hughes steps into the room. “You want to show me what you’ve found?”
“Sure.” I gesture him over. “I’ve been staring at this one game all morning.”
He looks at my screen.
“The Saints.” He shakes his head. “That game damn near ruined us. We lost two lineman to injury; our receivers couldn’t fucking catch shit; and I swear, the punter forgot how to kick the damn ball. We had three special teams mistakes in the first half alone.”
I know all of this, of course, but I let him vent.
Losing a football game, especially when you know you didn’t put your best foot forward, can be downright demoralizing. You only get one game a week to make those brutal practices count for something. There is no game in a day or two to get out your frustrations; there’s just five days of practice until the next weekend.
“So what do you think?” he says when he’s done rehashing. “We play the Saints first this season. Can we fix what went wrong, at least on the offensive side of the ball? I’ve got Tucker dealing with special teams, and Bill and I are working on the defense.”
I pull up the series I’ve been studying. “This play here—where the tight end goes on a slant route and the wide receiver goes deep—how about if we have the slot receiver curl back and the running back become the intended target? That way, the blind side is protected better, and the linemen don’t have to block for as long.”
>
Like I’m learning he likes to do, Coach Hughes repeats what I just said out loud. Then, he slaps my back.
“I like it. Let’s try it at practice.”
I stand up. “All right—I’m meeting some friends for lunch. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
“This coaching position sounds like a great fit,” Dylan says as I sit at the restaurant table with him and Brayden and they ask me about my new job.
“Yeah, it seems to be so far…holy shit!” I stare at Dylan’s left hand as he takes a sip of water. “You’re married.”
His smile is wide. “I am. To the most incredible woman in the world.”
Jasalie and Dylan met the night the California Cougars won the Super Bowl. Jasalie had walls Dylan wasn’t sure he’d ever get through, and vice versa. But they were so clearly meant for each other, and before long, they were inseparable. Now they’re husband and wife.
Dylan has been a star quarterback since he was drafted right out of college, but his fame skyrocketed exponentially once the Cougars won the Super Bowl in February, and he was named MVP of the game. The three of us wanted privacy, somewhere Dylan wouldn’t be asked for tons of pictures or autographs, so I reserved us a private room at Maria’s Café, the low-key Italian restaurant at the edge of town.
The table is large, plenty big enough for us. Dylan’s nearly six foot five and keeps his body in phenomenal shape. Brayden was Dylan’s receiver in high school, and he and I are both well over six feet. Between the three of us, we need a lot of leg room.
“You’re married? When the hell did that happen?” I ask him. We’d managed to order and chat for a good twenty minutes before I noticed Dylan’s ring.
Brayden chuckles. “He and Jasalie eloped right after our weekend in Maine. I didn’t know, either, not until he showed up in Montana in his private plane because he wouldn’t let me fly coach.”
Dylan’s dark eyes sparkle as I continue to stare at the thick platinum wedding band on his ring finger. “It’s real, Jenson.”
Jenson (Wild Men Book 4) Page 7