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“What’s wrong with gaming? There are worse things they could be doing.”
“Must be a slow Friday night,” I retort.
Ollie takes a huge bite of burger and chews for a minute. He glances around the bar. “This place is a ghost town. Seems like everyone has already cleared out for the summer.”
“Everyone, except me,” I say beneath my breath, but with the way Ollie studies my face, I know he heard me.
We eat in silence for a few beats and pretend not to be aware of each other from across the table.
“What are you still doing here, Mads?” Ollie finally asks. He wipes ketchup from his bottom lip with a napkin. “I thought you’d be home by now.”
I’m sure Ollie knows that Oakley left two days ago.
“I’m on my way,” I say, but I sound less than enthusiastic.
Ollie smirks like he knows I’m avoiding the trip. “Stalling?”
The Burnham siblings both know all about my home life, the good and the bad aspects.
“Maybe,” I admit. Definitely.
I push away the rest of my meal and smile when Ollie starts eating the leftover food in my basket. I have no idea how he stays so fit with the amount of food he eats. He’s like a bottomless pit.
My smile fades as I glance in the distance while imagining what’s waiting for me at home.
Ollie notices. “What’s going on, Madison?”
I sigh and run the tip of my index finger through the ring of moisture left behind by my glass with my gaze on the table. “I don’t know …”
Ollie reaches across and tips my chin until my eyes meet his. My skin heats where he’s touching me. He stares, quietly waiting and demanding more information from me in that silent way of his.
“I don’t want to go home,” I finally confess.
“Why?” He drops his hold on my face, stacks our empty baskets, and places them on the edge of the table.
“It’s Celeste,” I say and then pause again. “She met another man. They got engaged a few days ago. He’s moving in.”
Ollie stares off while softly shaking his head. He’s the first person I’ve told.
“And you don’t want to stay there,” he surmises.
“He’s a stranger, Ollie, some man I don’t even know, who will be living in my house all summer. In my private space.” I don’t add that some of Celeste’s former boyfriends have made me uncomfortable in the past. More than once.
He’s silent for a few beats while he rolls the information around in his head. Finally, those blue eyes spear me. “So, don’t go.”
I exhale a humorless laugh. “You say that like it’s so easy. Or even an option.”
“Why isn’t it? What do you have waiting for you at home?” He tips his glass until every drop of water has vanished down his throat. My eyes are stuck on his Adam’s apple as it bobs. “A job? A boyfriend?”
I glare at him, and he chuckles.
“No to all of it.”
“Then, stay here,” he suggests with a shrug.
“Where am I supposed to stay? The dorms are closed now, and I’m broke …” I sigh hopelessly. I hate feeling trapped.
“So, stay with me.”
