Learning To Love (The Griffin Brothers Book 4) (5 page)

“Hey, Ollie,” I
tell her as I lean one arm above my head on the door frame.

“Ollie?”

“Oh shit. Did I say
that out loud?”

“Umm, yeah.”

“I normally only call
you that in my head.”

“Really? Why?”

“Yes, really. I’ve
heard people call you Liv and Livvie, and of course, Olivia. I wanted
to have my own name for you.” I can’t believe I’m telling her
this. It has to be the alcohol. Or the fact that I’m so into her, I
can’t think straight half the time.

“You can call me that
whenever you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I like it. I
just wish I had something cute to call you.”

“Cute? I’m not sure
I want you to call me something cute.”

“What do you want,
Luke?”

“You don’t want to
know, honey.”

“Maybe I do. You’ll
have to let me in first, though.”

I step aside and she
walks in, dropping her purse on the coffee table before turning back
to me. She’s still wearing that sexy dress from the party and the
dominatrix heels. My cock jumps to life as she licks her lips, and I
have to stop myself from reaching for her. This is going to be
interesting.

Olivia

I’m not this girl. I
never have been. But I swear if I don’t kiss Luke in the next
minute, I may die. Seriously. I see him start to step towards me and
then stop. He’s giving me the control here. He knows I’m a
virgin, and he isn’t pushing. I don’t want him to hold onto his
self-control right now. I’m sure as hell not holding onto mine.

I take the two steps
back to him and look up into his eyes. They’re a dark emerald now
and blazing with desire. “Will you kiss me Luke?”

“If that’s what you
want.” I see his hands clenched at his sides, so I reach out for
one and curl my own around it.

“It’s what I need.”

“Fuck, Ollie.” He
reaches up with his free hand and cups my cheek as he leans down.
When his lips brush across mine, I think I’m going to spontaneously
combust. I lean into him to reclaim his mouth. His lips are soft, yet
so demanding at the same time, as he kisses me with more passion.

He’s licking my lips
and sucking the bottom one into his mouth as I moan. I want his
tongue, but he seems to want to take his time, getting his fill of my
lips with little kisses mixed into the long ones. It’s better than
I imagined, and that’s saying a lot. I’ve had some pretty vivid
fantasies about Luke and his mouth.

Finally, when I think
I’m at the point where I can’t take another second of this
torture, Luke licks the seam of my lips and I open for him. His
tongue starts to play with mine. He continues for several minutes
like this and then does something new. When he sucks my tongue into
his mouth and wraps his lips around it, I gasp and use my free hand
to pull him closer to me. He stops me before our bodies fully
connect, touching his forehead to mine as he breaks the kiss.

“We have to stop. If
we don’t, I may not be able to control myself. I want you so bad,
but I know you’re not ready for that.”

“Maybe I am.”

“You’re not. I wish
you were, but you aren’t.”

Deep down I know he’s
right, and I appreciate the fact that he’s putting on the breaks
for me. I felt his erection for the brief time our lower bodies
touched. This can’t be easy for him. It’s not easy for me, and
I’ve never had sex. He has it all the time. Oh. Yeah. He can just
call someone else to come over and take care of his problem. I feel
really stupid now. I shouldn’t have thought this was something
special. It’s just another night for him.

I start to pull away,
but he stops me. “What just happened?”

“Nothing. I-I should
go. I’m sorry I got you…well…you know. You can call someone
over to take care of that once I’m gone.”

He recoils back like
I’ve hit him. “What?”

“It’s fine, Luke.”

“No, Olivia, it
really isn’t. Do you honestly think I would just call up some chick
to have sex with me because you wouldn’t?” I can’t look at him
because I did think that and now I’m ashamed. “Wow. You do think
that. I thought you were different, but you’re just like everyone
else. Thinking I’m just some man-whore who can’t keep it in his
pants. You know where the door is, so go ahead and see yourself out.”

He heads down the hall,
and I hear a door slam. Probably his bedroom. I know I should leave,
but I can’t. Not when I’ve obviously hurt him. He’s right—we’ve
gotten to know each other this last month, and I know he’s so much
more than people think. He didn’t deserve the way I just treated
him. I was no better than that guy from the party. Or my father.
Never thought I’d see the day when I was as close-minded as him,
but here it is.

I can’t leave without
apologizing. And thanking him for earlier. I never did that. If I was
feeling a little bit braver, I’d also admit to myself that I want
to kiss him again. That kiss was the stuff of fairy tales, and I’ve
always been a sucker for a good fairy tale. I sit down on the couch,
planning to wait for Luke to come out. I don’t realize how tired I
am until my eyelids start to close. Instead of leaving I lean
sideways, laying my head on one of the throw pillows and curling my
legs up onto the couch. The last thing I remember is that I should
have taken my shoes off, but then I’m out.

* * *

Luke

I thankfully wake up
with just a headache but no real hangover since I drank a good amount
of water earlier in the night. Fucking last night. Every time I
thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. Culminating in the best kiss
I’ve ever had, followed by Olivia thinking I was going to fuck some
random girl when she left. Instead, I wallowed in some self-pity
before passing out. I hope she locked the door when she left.

I head into the
bathroom to take care of morning business and have a quick shower.
I’m hungry, so I decide to just go cook with the towel slung around
my waist. As I walk into the living room, I stop short when I see
Olivia curled up on my couch. She didn’t leave last night. That’s
odd. She looks like she’s shivering a little, so I go back into my
bedroom and grab my comforter. I don’t have any extra blankets or
anything, so this will have to do. I drape it over her and watch as
she snuggles into it, sighing.

She shifts a little,
and I see her wince in her sleep. I’m not sure why until I remember
I saw her shoes still on. That’s probably not too comfortable. I
lift the bottom of the comforter and unbuckle her shoes, massaging
her feet a little. I know I should be pissed about last night, and
I’m definitely still a little hurt, but I don’t have it in me to
be mean to this girl. I like her too much. And yeah, that’s
something new for me.

I cover her back up,
put on some basketball shorts and a t-shirt, and then go into my
little kitchen to cook some breakfast. I put on the coffee pot as I
cook up two omelets. I take everything out and set it on the coffee
table. I have a dining room table, but it’s normally just me, so I
use the coffee table more often than not. I kneel down in front of
the couch and gently shake Olivia.

“Luke,” she murmurs
as she arches her back. Is she dreaming about me? Damn, that’s hot.
But not quite hot enough to make me forget that she assumed the worst
of me last night.

“Honey, you need to
wake up. I have a bunch of stuff to do today.”

She sits straight up
then. “Oh my God. Did I fall asleep here?”

“I’m guessing yes.
I found you out here this morning.”

“Oh gosh. I’m so
sorry. About falling asleep and also about how I treated you last
night.” She pulls the comforter tight around her, and I swear I see
her inhale when she tips her head down. Interesting.

“You have a right to
your opinions, Olivia.”

“I should know
better, though. The talks we’ve had and the time we’ve spent
together have shown me what a great guy you are. I was just being
insecure last night and that turned into me insulting you.”

“It is what it is. I
really do have stuff to take care of before my hockey game today, so
eat up. I have to be out of here soon.”

“You didn’t have to
cook for me.”

“I was already making
mine, so it wasn’t a problem.”

“Thanks. And thanks
for standing up for me last night.”

I shrug and dig into my
food. We don’t say anything else while we eat. Olivia insists on
doing the dishes, and I let her while I get my stuff together. We
walk out together, and she looks like she wants to say more before
getting into her car. I don’t give her the chance as I get into
mine and wave goodbye.

Even though I can’t
bring myself to be outright mean to her, I am being cold. I know it,
and I own it. It just hurt so much knowing she thought so little of
me. I’m not sure I can be just professional with her, but I don’t
want to get hurt, either. I need to put this out of my head and take
care of my errands before the game tonight.

* * *

Olivia

I probably shouldn’t
be here at the Ice Center. Scratch that. I
know
I shouldn’t be here. Luke didn’t invite me, and from the frosty
reception he gave me this morning, he won’t want me at his game.
I’m not sure he’ll finish tutoring me, either. I had to come,
though. I’ve been wanting to see him play, and after all that went
down yesterday, I want to support him.

I find a seat at the
top of the bleachers. There aren’t a ton of people here, but
there’s a group of college age girls hanging out in the front row,
along with some families and a few guys. Not real easy to blend,
especially in my bright green coat. But I don’t have another one,
and I want to be here, so I’ll have to suck it up and just leave if
Luke looks mad.

The players come out
onto the ice, and the girls down front start calling Luke’s name. I
should’ve known they were here for him. Heck, I’m here for him.
But I’m not the one he’s smiling and winking at. That honor
belongs to a sexy looking redhead. My chest hurts, and I want to
leave now that I know I really was nothing to him. I don’t, though.
I came here to see him play, and that’s what I’m going to do.
I’ll leave before I watch him go home with her, though. There’s
only so much punishment I can take. But, I
will
watch the game.

It’s actually pretty
exciting and fun to watch. There’s lots of contact and a couple of
small fights that get my adrenaline pumping. I stand up when Luke
shoots for a goal with seconds left in the game. He scores, and I
don’t yell, but I want to. The girls sure do, especially the
redhead. He skates over and blows her a kiss that she catches. He
makes a motion for her to wait for him, and she nods eagerly. I’m
frozen in place for a moment. I can’t do this.

I reach down for my
purse and take one last look to the ice. Luke is laughing with his
teammates, but looks up and our eyes meet. His widen, and then he
breaks contact to look at the girl and back at me. I give him a small
smile and turn to leave, walking across the bleachers and then down.
I need to get to the doors, which are in between me and Luke.

“Olivia, wait.”

I hear him, but I need
to keep walking. I have a little self-respect left, and it has to
carry me from this place. From this man I let kiss me like no one
else ever has. I can’t be another one of his conquests, although I
now know that’s exactly what I was.

I’m walking briskly,
but not fast enough to make people think I’m running. Even if
that’s exactly what I’m doing. I don’t make it to the door
before Luke grabs my arm and turns me to face him. I didn’t know
you could walk that fast on skates. “What are you doing here?”

I shake his arm off and
look at the ground. “I wanted to see you play.”

“Since when?”

“Since I knew you
played.”

“Why haven’t you
come before, then?”

“You didn’t invite
me.”

“I didn’t invite
you today, and yet, here you are.”

I don’t say anything.
My reasons won’t mean anything to him anyway. He puts his fingers
under my chin and lifts it until I look him in the eye. “Tell me
why you’re here.”

“I wanted you to know
I support you. I thought you might need someone to show you that. But
you already have someone.” I look past him to where the redhead is
giving me a death glare and then up at him. I know he can see the
hurt in my eyes.

“She’s a puck
bunny. I was just going to—“

“I know what you were
going to do with her. What you wouldn’t do with me last night. You
said you wouldn’t have had another girl after kissing me, but I
guess that only applies to right after, or when you’re not so
pissed at me that you go back to calling me Olivia.”

I stare at him
defiantly now because I’m a little angry. I thought I hurt him last
night, but now he’s about to go home with someone else. I guess I’m
the only one who thought our kiss was epic. It was probably just one
of a million to him. He opens his mouth to tell me something, but
we’re interrupted before he can speak.

“Luke, baby, are you
going to keep me waiting much longer. It’s cold in here, and I need
you to warm me up.” The girl wraps herself around his side and
looks like she might climb him right here in front of everyone.

“Don’t keep your
friend waiting on my account, Luke. Have a good night.”

I give him a few
seconds to tell her to go, but he doesn’t. I have to get out of
here before I lose it. Putting on a brave front is one thing, but
seeing him with this other girl is enough to make my chest hurt. I
don’t want him to know he hurt me. He already has too much power in
our relationship because I’ve started caring for him. I turn and
walk away, realizing that fairy tales are overrated.

* * *

Luke