Olivia's Ride (Sawyer Brothers Book 4) (7 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Keeton

I sat on the couch, pinching the bridge of my nose as I hunched forward. The bag of frozen peas Lacy insisted I hold on my jaw now lay at my side, thawing quickly.

“That didn’t sound like it ended well.”

I looked to find Lacy just to the side of the door hooking the leash on Duke’s collar. She looked at me with her eyebrow cocked in question.

“You do know once she sees your face, she’s gonna have questions?”

Yeah, I did know. But sharing the fact that my father was waiting next to my truck, looking for money, when I got off work tonight wasn’t something I planned on sharing. Or that when I told him to fuck off it turned into a brawl my boss had to break up wasn’t something I planned to share either.

Olivia came from a tight-knit family. They all shared everything and always had one another’s back. I didn’t know how to explain to her that my father beat on me, for the sheer joy of it, throughout my childhood. I didn’t know how to tell her that at times while growing up, I went hungry just so my dad could buy his bourbon.

I would have to come up with another explanation for the way my faced looked.

“Lock the door when you bring Duke back,” I said as I stood from the couch and moved toward my bedroom. “I’m heading to bed.”

I could have walked Duke myself; hell, maybe it would have helped to clear my head. Instead I decided to go to bed and mentally punish myself for pissing off Olivia. She had every right to be angry at me.

I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, unable to shut my mind off.

“Twenty bucks,” my father said angrily. “You can give your ole’ man twenty god-damn bucks. You’re all high and mighty thinking you’re so much better than me, Keeton, but you ain’t shit. One day you’ll figure that out. Pearce men are drunks; get used to that idea.”

Dumb bastard could have been something different, more like his father, my grandfather. But Kurt Pearce chose to live the same life as his uncles and brothers. And I, unlike my brother, chose to be more.

I wouldn’t let him drag me down.

The sound of the front door shutting caught my attention, just before the sound of Duke’s feet began tapping along the wood flooring of the hallway.

I braced myself for his invasion, because he always took over the bottom of the bed. Even when Olivia was tucked in close, her back to my chest, Duke always found room to snuggle too.

Suddenly my chest ached as my mind wandered to Liv.

I tried calling her back, after she hung up on me only to find she turned off her phone. So I had no other choice but to lie awake tonight, unable to sleep.

Reaching for my laptop that lay on the nightstand, I opened it and logged into Facebook.

Seeing the little green indicator lit up next to Olivia’s name made my heart race. It meant she was online, and maybe I could attempt to fix things before they got worse.

Keeton: I removed that stick that was up my ass.

I hit send and waited for a few seconds, hoping like hell she would send something back. Anything, really. I was trying to bring some humor to a tense situation.

When nothing happened I panicked just a bit and pulled one of her rambles.

Keeton: You were right; I was an asshole and I’m sorry. I know I hurt your feelings, and that’s not okay. Please forgive me. Because I need you.

Another few seconds passed and I had just about given up when a message was returned.

Olivia: If you wanted to be alone then why was Lacy at your apartment?

Fuck.

Keeton: Turn your phone on please.

I watched and waited, my heart pounding and my stomach knotted. And then she was gone. I felt like I had been kicked in the gut.

Until my phone rang.

I scrambled from bed and hurried toward the living room, lifted the phone and said a rushed “Hello.”

“What?” Olivia was still irritated but at least she called.

“Can I come get you?” I asked.

I hated the silence; it was like acid burning in my gut.

“Answer my question.” She wasn’t gonna give. She was too stubborn to let it go until I had her face-to-face.

“I sorta got into a little fight after work tonight.” I braced myself for her reaction.

“Why?” she asked. “And with whom?”

“It was some guy who wanted me to give him money for booze. When I didn’t, he hit me.” I ran my tongue over the cut on my lip and it stung. “It was nothing, really, but when I came home Lacy was getting home from work and followed me upstairs after she saw my face. Duke was whining and she said she’d take him out, and that was when you called.”

“And that was when you decided to be an asshole to me for what reason?”

Olivia didn’t give me any pity. I was glad, because I didn’t deserve it.

“I was wrong. I’d been irritated with the way my night had turned out and I took it out on you. I’m sorry.” I had no excuse. I was wrong.

She’d grown silent once again.

“Can I come get you now?” I sat down on the couch and waited for her to answer.

“No,” she whispered. A feeling of defeat washed over me. “I don’t want to come over. I’m still pissed at you, and that means I can’t let you come get me. Because if you do I won’t be able to stay mad at you and you don’t deserve my forgiveness yet.”

I couldn’t help but smile even if it was short-lived. Liv was sassy and stubborn, but I adored her. And she was right—I didn’t deserve her forgiveness quite yet.

“Okay.” I wanted to argue, but what was the point? I had no ground to stand on. I deserved her coldness.

***

I woke up to Duke rutting around in bed, just before he took off toward the front door. I was just about to holler at him when I heard a light tapping noise.

It sounded like someone was knocking on my apartment door.

After grabbing my shirt from the floor I slipped it on over my head and walked in Duke’s direction as he sat next to the door, his tail wagging a hundred miles a minute.

When I looked out through the peephole, I found Olivia standing on the other side, her head tilted downward as if she was looking at her feet.

I had finally fallen to sleep sometime after 2:00 this morning, with a feeling of extreme regret for the way I acted. I couldn’t stand the idea that I had hurt her.

Now she was here and I honestly couldn’t unlock the door fast enough.

She didn’t look up at me though; instead she held a stick out in front of her and shook it from side to side. “I found your stick.”

I chuckled because I couldn’t help myself. I was so glad the tension from last night could be broken by the silliest gesture.

I stepped over the threshold and hooked my arm around her waist just as she looked up at me. I watched her eyes grow wide as she got her first glimpse at my face, yet I didn’t give her time to react. I covered her lips with mine and kissed her, trying to drown out any doubt she may still be feeling.

Her hand came up and hooked around my neck as she toyed with my hair. I loved when she did that; it was so soothing.

“Your face,” she whispered when I gave her a moment to breathe before kissing her once again.

“It’s fine,” I assured her as I rested my forehead against hers. “I’m fine.”

“Did you call the cops?” she asked, as she leaned back and trailed her thumb just beneath my cracked lip.

“It was just some drunk; he’s sleeping it off in some shelter I’m sure. It looks worse than it is.” She didn’t look completely convinced.

The crinkling noise of a paper bag gave me the perfect form of distraction. “What’chya got there?”

She lifted the white paper bag. “I brought donuts.”

“Vanilla pudding?” I asked, hopeful.

She rolled her eyes and held out the bag, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “Yep,” she fake gagged, and I leaned into kiss her once more.

I took her hand in mine and led her toward the kitchen, placing the bag on the counter. When I tugged her past the kitchen toward the bedroom she squealed. I spun around, hooked her waist, and lifted her from the ground as if she weighed nothing, backing her against the wall just outside my bedroom.

“What about your donut?” she asked, looking at me through hooded eyes.

“They can wait,” I whispered, my lips hovering over hers. “I’d rather have you.”

Her body trembled against mine and I couldn’t help but smirk. I truly enjoyed the effect I had on her. Even when she tried to appear unaffected by me, her body could never lie.

The gym shorts I wore hid absolutely nothing as I began to harden from her small body pressing against mine. I pinned her with my hips, but because she was so tiny, my erection pressed firmly against her stomach.

“Take me to bed,” she mumbled against my lips.

I needed no further invitation. I bent enough to hook my arms around the backs of her thighs and lifted her against my chest. Turning toward the bedroom, I nudged the door shut with my foot and lowered her to the bed.

Olivia moaned as I covered her body with mine, leaving kisses down her neck.

“So much better than any donut,” I whispered, smiling against her neck when she giggled.

Another thing I loved—her happiness.

Chapter Fifteen

Olivia

“Well, I missed class,” Keeton mumbled, with his face still buried against my neck. “And I’m gonna be late for work.”

I laughed because his lips were tickling my neck.

My body was still overly sensitive to his touch. After the long pleasure fest Keeton just inflicted on me, I would be lucky if I was able to walk.

He lifted his hand and rolled to the side, his naked body still pressed firmly against mine. I curled into him for warmth and looked up at his cut lip. I didn’t know if I fully bought his story. Something told me there was so much more, but I chose not to press him.

Keeton was not the most forthcoming person when it came to his life. We talked about the here and now, but when it came to his past, he would always skate over the topic.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

I wasn’t going to tell him I wanted him to tell me about his family and the things of his childhood, even though that was rolling around in my mind. Instead I chose to take the easy road.

“I’m enjoying the fact I don’t have class today and that if I chose to stay in bed all day, I can.” I snuggled in just a little closer to prepare for what I knew was coming.

“Rub it in, smartass.” He grabbed for my side and began tickling me as I squealed loudly and wiggled against him.

He stopped torturing me, and I looked up to find him watching me. “You know, you could stay here in bed if you want,” he told me. “It’d be nice to come home after work tonight and find you here.”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Maybe we could go out to a movie or dinner after I get cleaned up,” he said, leaning in to kiss me. “Sound good?”

I nodded. Staying snuggled up in Keeton’s bed, buried in sheets that smelled of him, sounded perfect.

***

I wasn’t sure how much time passed but I woke to Duke’s barking. I rolled over to see that it was a little after 4:30.

The sound of keys rattling in the door had me scrambling for a t-shirt.

I hadn’t expected Keeton until after 5:00, but maybe he got off work a little early, and I was still in bed. I suddenly felt guilty for lying around all day while he was working.

When I heard a girl’s voice I froze, and my stomach instantly dropped.

“Hey buddy, did you miss me?” she asked Duke, and he barked. Instantly I knew who it was.

I decided hiding in the bedroom was not an option, because I had the right to be here. After all I was invited. Oh, and this was my boyfriend’s apartment. So I gathered my wits and exited the bedroom.

She was standing just on the other side of the living room, holding Duke’s leash in her hand. When she looked up and found me standing only a few feet away, she froze.

“Oh wow, I’m sorry,” she said as she looked me over. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“What are you doing here?” I crossed my arms over my chest trying not to appear nervous, but honestly my hands were shaking. Adrenaline? Hell, I had no clue. “How did you get in?”

Instead of answering she just held up a key hung on a bright pink key ring, shaped as a L. It was obviously her key.

“You have a key?” I couldn’t stop the words from coming out defensive. I didn’t really like the idea of her in Keeton’s apartment, being able to come and go as she pleased.

“I take Duke out every day before I go to work,” she said, as if it was no big deal. “I honestly had no idea you would be here.”

“So you just walk in here, whenever you want, without even thinking twice about it?” I knew she wasn’t the one I should be having this conversation with, but she drew the short straw today and the Sawyer attitude reared its ugly head. “And why wouldn’t I be here?”

“I didn’t mean anything by that; it’s just Keeton usually never leaves girls at his place when he’s not home.” Her comment struck me wrong. “Here take the key.” She thrust it out toward me.

I took it from her, unsure of what I should actually do with it. “Well, I’m not just any girl, I’m his girlfriend, but you already know that. Just like you already know he doesn’t have
girls
here period, unless that said girl is me. You and I have seen one another enough in passing to know that, Lacy.”

“There’s no need to get nasty.”

A silence settled over us, and I sensed some sort of territorial haze in her eyes.

“I guess since you’re here, he told you what happened with his father?”

Once again that nasty feeling churned in my stomach.

“What?”

I didn’t know if this was some catty game she was playing but I was not caring too much for the shit-eating grin she now wore.

“Oh, well, he doesn’t have the best relationship with his father, or his brother, for that matter. I just figured since you were here after his run-in with his dad last night that he may have filled you in on what happened.” Yes, she was most definitely being bitchy.

My fight slowly began to leave me. I mean, honestly what, exactly, could I say? It was obvious Lacy knew my boyfriend better than I did.

I only shook my head in response, unable to speak.

“Wow; sorry,” she said. She was definitely not sorry. “It’s not really my story to tell. But I will say there is a reason he works long hours to pay both for school expenses and this apartment, rather than living with the two of them who are less than twenty minutes away.”

I could feel the tightness in my chest, that uneasy feeling rolling through my stomach and settling at the base of my throat. I suddenly felt more out of place than I had ever felt in my life.

But before I could retreat to the bedroom to gather my clothes and rush out of there, with my tail tucked between my legs, the door handle rattled behind Lacy.

We both looked in its direction just as it was pushed open and revealed Keeton, dirty from a day at the garage.

He glanced between the two of us, with a look of confusion written on his face. Then his gaze shifted downward and settled on the key I held in my hand. Obviously he recognized the bright keychain as being Lacy’s because he instantly looked up with a look of panic.

“I can explain,” he said as he stepped further into the apartment, closing the door to keep Duke from escaping.

“Explain what, exactly?” I said in return. I was hurt by now, for so many different reasons, and my filter had long faded. “Maybe why your ex still has a key to your apartment, and comes and goes as she pleases? Or the fact I really know nothing about you, but she seems to know everything about your father and your brother?”

He narrowed his eyes as he looked over at Lacy.

“I’m just gonna go,” she said, as she walked toward the door, whispering a “Sorry” to Keeton as she passed.

Once the door was closed, he moved toward me, but I held up my hand to stop him. “Don’t.”

“Will you just wait a minute please?”

“Who did you get in a fight with last night?” I asked.

“We already talked about this.” His answer couldn’t have been more evasive.

“No, we didn’t.” My voice rose just enough to make him fully aware that I was now pissed. “You lied to me last night. We didn’t talk about shit.”

I turned around and walked toward his room as I began searching for my clothes. “Liv,” he whispered as he stepped into the room behind me.

I ignored him as I stepped into my jeans and yanked his t-shirt over my head and tossed it to the floor. After I had my bra on, I gathered my own shirt from where it landed earlier that morning and quickly pulled it over my head. I didn’t even bother to look for my socks; I quickly slid my feet into my sneakers and walked past him in search of my bag.

“Can you just stop for a minute so we can talk about this?” he asked. I spun around to face him. He stood in the open doorway combing his hand through his hair as he pulled on the ends, just before gripping the back of his neck. “She takes Duke out. She didn’t know you’d be here; I didn’t even think to tell her.”

“You think this is about her?” I asked. “Yeah, maybe it is a little, because there is seriously something wrong with the fact your ex fuck buddy has a key to your place and I don’t, but it is more than that.” I took in a deep breath because my heart was damn near beating out of my chest. “She knows everything about you, and I realized today that I know nothing. And she loved being able to throw that in my face.”

“Liv,” he tried to interrupt but I didn’t pause.

“You lied to me, yet you told her the truth. That says something. It’s like a god damn neon sign flashing before my eyes. If you can’t let me in, but you let her in, then how is that supposed to make me feel?” The damn had broken. I hadn’t wanted to cry, but it was more angry tears than anything else. “Because right now, I couldn’t feel less important in your life.”

He tried to stop me but I needed to get out of there. I was in desperate need of air that I didn’t have to share with Keeton or his pal Lacy.

I felt like an idiot, and she knew it.