The Years After (23 page)

The house was stunning. It had a brick exterior, with uneven rooflines, raised and lowered over bay windows and too many exquisite details to list. The front yard was meticulously manicured as were the lawns of the other houses in the surrounding neighborhood. It was stately, with ample space between houses, yet still possessed a neighborly, community vibe. He stared at it for long moments. It seemed very nice and well maintained. The lawn was freshly mown and boasted complicated landscaping. So fitting for Olivia. And like nothing he recognized. It scared and intimidated him. What did it hide? What secrets lay beneath its false exterior? As far as he knew, such facades merely hid bored, pampered, clueless people who were undeserving of the extreme wealth they had. Plenty of them came down to his side of town for a little thrill.

The more perfect and pretty the exterior, the less Derek trusted it; even if his theory didn’t hold up with Olivia. She was as pretty inside as her beautiful exterior. She was the exception, however, and not the rule.

He steeled his nerves and started for her front door. He was just lifting his hand to knock when she swung the door open and flew into his arms. That quick, all the anger and anxiety over her simply vanished. It was Olivia in his arms again. Her hair slid through his fingers as her own fingers dug into his shoulders, clutching him as desperately as he held her to him. When she finally leaned back, her eyes were filled with tears although she also had a huge grin on her wide, delicious mouth. The sweetest mouth in the world was leaning towards him before kissing him on her front doorstep. It was every bit as bold and deep as the first kiss he gave her.

Pulling back suddenly, the shy, sweet Olivia reappeared and her cheeks blossomed with pink while her mouth twisted into a soft, little smile. “Hey,” she said finally, peeking at him through lowered lashes, “you found it.”

“Hey,” he answered just as softly. He reached out and tugged her closer, needing the contact more than she. He felt like his heart could return back to normal. It stopped pumping correctly during the past week he spent without her. Releasing a long breath after holding it for nearly a week, at least it felt like that, her cherished presence instantly improved his physiological bodily functions, and made them work properly again. “It’s nice. Your house, I mean.”

She leaned back and took his hand before pulling him inside. “Come in, I’ll show you around.”

They entered the long, formal entry that featured high ceilings and arches before leading into the next room. A living room filled with sunlight illuminated the gorgeous wood floor. Olivia took Derek to the back of the house where a large, airy kitchen was located. Picture windows framed the back yard and a crazy huge patio. It was so unspoiled and perfect, it was nearly blinding. The kitchen was all white and immaculately clean with tasteful accents of peacock blue. Paperwork was strewn over the counter and dishes beside the sink. Shoes were lined up near the back door. Definitely the kind of place Quentrell’s crew would case before ripping off. Olivia was visibly at ease and happy there. That became obvious by her enthusiasm while she showed him around. Her spacious room had a walk-in closet and its own bathroom. Her closet seemed nicer and more hospitable than any place he’d ever lived in. It was so clean and girlie, not to mention, screaming of Olivia. All her trophies and ribbons for playing flute, and pictures of friends and her cousins at various ages intrigued Derek. He stepped only inside the room to get a look around.

“Where is your dad?” he asked, expecting Tony to come from nowhere and grab him with his one hand before throwing him out of there. He doubted Olivia were the type of girl who would continue to see him despite her parents’ objections. He loved Olivia’s kindness and how easily she offered her love to him. That must’ve come from the very people he was jealous of for having to share her affections with them. He was selfish, and he knew that, although it didn’t stop him.

“At work. So is Mom. Relax. You can feel free in here.”

Work.
Huh. Neither of Derek’s parents ever just went to work. Neither held down a normal job that wasn’t doomed to result in jail time or death. His mother never worked. She lived off the state, and prostitution, and stealing, and the ridiculous cons she tried to run.

Olivia reached her hand out and only then did he respond by loosely grasping her fingers with his. She tugged and he ended up falling next to her on the queen-sized bed. They groped each other with desperately anxious hands and mouths. Their legs intertwined as they ran their fingers into each other’s hair and pressed their mouths over each other’s skin. She sighed and moaned with little gasping sounds that soon had him pressed against her, hard, aching, and nearly begging her to finally engage in sex.

Instead, they found relief through their hands and mouths, which was, somehow, enough. It felt better than any sex he’d ever experienced. He went into her bathroom to clean himself up. He’d gotten used to coming everywhere, but inside a girl nowadays. The craziest part was, he only now realized that he never really liked sex before. Other girls, the ones before Olivia, were no more than cold, faceless outlets. He never, not even once, felt any passion, or care, or fun, or love, which he felt with Olivia from just kissing. He experimented, sure, but never really had sex that was anything like what he now knew. She may have been a technical virgin, but everything they did, every single time, made him forget that. He stared at the semen-saturated towel in his hands. What the hell did he do with it? Throw it in the laundry? What if Gretchen did Olivia’s laundry? He threw it on the floor with disgust and looked up at the gold-rimmed mirror of her happily painted yellow bathroom. It was ridiculously girlish. He leaned on the pedestal sink and stared in the mirror. Who had he become? He was shirtless and his pants were just barely done up. His hair was messy from Olivia’s restless hands and he’d come all over his own stomach again. Now he freaked out that her parents would find the evidence of their
nonsexual
encounter.

There he was at her parents’ house, feeling like shit for taking advantage of their daughter while they were at work. Him! Derek Salazar was worried about an old couple who had nothing to do with him. What was he turning into?

“Derek?”

He shook his head and turned while opening the door. Olivia’s clothes appeared all right, but her hair was still all snarled. She smiled when he opened the door before tucking her arm around his chest and leaning in against his skin. “You smell good. You okay?”

No, he was just wondering how his life had come to this. Instead, he nodded and rubbed her shoulders. “Brush your hair, okay? Your dad will kick my ass if he sees you like that.”

She smiled and nodded. “I planned to. I’m not stupid, Derek. I won’t throw anything into their faces, because they’re not stupid either.”

He stepped around her and went to find his shirt. She grabbed a brush and started running it over her long, tangled hair as he slipped the shirt over his head. “So what do you tell them?”

“It’s not really
they,
I pretty much talk to my mom. I’m sure she tells my dad a lot of it.”

“So…?”

“So they know I haven’t had sex… yet.”

“But they know you do other stuff?”

“I think so. I mean I don’t mention it… but again, they aren’t stupid. They were this age once. But you can probably figure out, no sleeping in the same bed in their house. It’s too weird.”

He shuddered. “Weird. Yeah, worrying about what parents think of what I’m doing is very weird.”

His tone sounded annoyed and she picked up on it. She stilled the brush in her hair, tugging it free and setting it on the shelf next to her. She frowned as she studied him. “You know, I deal with weird stuff on your end too, right? I mean, I know nothing about your parents, or what is wrong with you. I know nothing about you really, beyond what you decide to dole out. I’m an open book with you, and you’ve shown me maybe, a third of yours, with all the unsavory parts redacted out.”

Her gaze narrowed as she threw her shoulders back and her eyebrows rose as if in a dare. He shook his head and stepped forward to grab her. “I’m sorry. I know. Just remember: this is all foreign to me. All of it. I’ve never been accountable to my own parents, so I find it a little hard to now be accountable to yours.”

“And we will have sex. I get more comfortable every time we do a little more. I just—”

“I wasn’t pissy about having sex. I was pissy about dealing with your family. I’m trying. I just really suck at it.”

A teeny, tiny grin started on her lips. “You do suck at it.”

He leaned into her and let her hair fan over his face. “I missed you like crazy. Like I couldn’t breathe.”

She gasped. “I missed you like that too.”

“So… let’s not fight about parents anymore.”

“Okay, but understand this: the next few days will not be anything like at school where we can be selfish and do whatever we want pretty much. Here, we have to take others into account.”

He shook his head and smiled. “Were you always this responsible and thoughtful? When no other freshman in college is?”

She shrugged. “Always.”

He also knew it was half of why he fell for her. “I’ve never known anyone with a stronger moral compass and sense of right and wrong.”

“It’s inhibiting, I know. And lame.”

He hid his face from hers. “Maybe. But it’s also what drew me to you. I’ve never known anyone with a clearer sense of who they are and how they relate to the world. And you’re my age, so I really don’t get it. How did you get it so much together? You rarely act immature, or play games or try to piss off anyone, even your parents?”

“Because I don’t think I deserve to go around treating anyone like crap, especially my parents. Or you.”

“Or me.” He put his hands on her waist and lifted her up against him in a tight hug. “It’s why you’re the best girlfriend.”

She giggled and let him kiss her while he felt her up. Her parents were worth the trouble of getting to know because it allowed him the opportunity to do this, with Olivia. Quite awhile later, after kissing on her bed again, and for too long to remember, the front door slammed downstairs and a voice called out, “Olivia? I’m home.”

Derek jerked up right off the bed with a jump before smoothing his clothes and shirt. He also had to adjust his junk so his hard-on would go the hell away. Olivia, meanwhile, casually slid her feet on the carpet and stood up while reaching under her shirt to adjust her bra. She had a good laugh at seeing him. “Oh my God! Calm down. She’s not standing in the doorway. It’s locked.”

“But that’s the thing, it shouldn’t be locked. Tony will kill me. Go unlock it.”

“That’s most likely why she called out that she was home. Again, they’re not stupid. They knew you were arriving here today. It’s not too hard to guess what we would do when you got here. Now, try to not blush or look so freaking guilty.”

She took his hand and started to lead him out of the room. How could she be so calm about this? He jerked his hand from hers. “We can’t just walk downstairs together from your bedroom,” he whispered so Gretchen could not hear.

“What do you want to do? Jump out the window and come through another door? Calm down. Quit looking so guilty, and just try and act natural. She’s certainly not going to ask me what we were doing up here all alone.”

“They should know better than to allow boys in your room.”

“What boys, Derek? There has never been an occasion where they had to make such a rule. And now? I am eighteen. They know we have free access to each other while we’re at school. Geez, calm down.”

Calm down. Calm the fuck down.
How? His heart was tripping again. He could deal drugs to gangsters without any problems, and yet he freaked out over a forty-something, suburban, professional woman.

“Hey, Mom. How was work?” Olivia asked, breezing into the kitchen. Her smile was genuine and her voice sounded totally natural. How did she do that?

Gretchen turned towards them and a big smile slid over her face. “Hey, sweetie. It was fine. Hello, Derek, you made it here all right, I see?” Gretchen came over to him and put her arm around his shoulders before giving him a weird, kind of maternal squeeze. She was taller than he, so it was a little awkward. He panicked. No one but Olivia ever touched him. Olivia’s eyes widened and she seemed to say,
Calm down, and just act natural
. But there was nothing natural about a hug like that.

“Uh, yes, Mrs. Lindstrom.” What did he say now? He glanced at Olivia for help. She mouthed
Thank you.
He nodded. Of course, why didn’t he know to say that? “Thank you for allowing me to come here to see Olivia.”

Gretchen slipped her hand from his shoulder and smiled as she turned towards the kitchen. “Allowing you? She would have run away if you didn’t get here soon. I was starting to seriously suspect she might have kidnapped you if you hadn’t shown up.”

Gretchen was kidding. Her smile was genuine when she shared a look with him. What? An amused inside joke between them since they both knew how Olivia got when she was overly excited about something? They both knew the joy that dripped off her and made those around her get almost as excited as she was. Her eagerness became contagious and made everyone feel better about their lives in general.

Gretchen tutted at Olivia. “Liv, do you think you could take a few hours out of your rigorous day to put your own dishes away? You’re not helpless. Nor am I your maid. Not even now.”

Olivia grinned and ducked her head. “I forgot. I was pacing the living room for Derek to arrive,” she replied with complete openness and ease. She turned towards the dishes and started on them.

“You forgot? As they sat so inconspicuously right where you set them?”

She just laughed her mother’s nagging off as Gretchen rolled her eyes. “She thinks her cutesie routine can get her out of anything. Works on Tony. Never on me.”

Olivia stopped and acknowledged. “It so works on Dad.”

“Watch it, Derek, she’ll have you spun around her little finger before you can say your last name.”