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“I drive like a normal person, Corey,” she speaks once we’re on the road.
“A crazy normal person,” I correct. “You’re the reason guys say girls don’t know how to drive.”
Olivia makes an irritated groan. “I’m going to take much pleasure in kicking your ass and scaring the hell out of you when I drive home.”
There’s no way I can lose now. I was already determined because I want her spare key, but even more so after hearing that. The drive doesn’t last long and Olivia wastes no time once we walk inside. We exchange cash for coins and she drags me over to the air hockey table first.
“No rules,” she says before dropping the puck onto the table and shooting it towards me. I score within seconds. “Son of a bitch,” she grumbles and I try to hold back my laugh. My smirk, however, refuses to hide. Olivia glares at me.
I’m on my game today because I win within the next two minutes.
“Best three out of five,” she comments, restarting the game.
We rally back and forth for about thirty seconds. I can feel her determination from over here, so I start thinking of ways to distract her. Since she said no rules, all is fair. As the puck glides across towards her, I blurt out, “I love you.”
“Huh?” She looks up, her hand still, and it’s enough for me to score. “Damn it, Corey! That’s not fair.”
“Yes, it is. You said there weren’t any rules.”
Olivia groans. “Fine.”
We get back to playing and she ends up winning this round. Unfortunately for her, I win the next two. She’s not wearing a low-cut shirt today, so she can’t use her body as means to distract me. At least, not in that way. We move to darts next. Olivia starts off winning, but loses focus along the way when I wrap my arms around her waist and whisper a few dirty sentences into her ear like last time. When it’s my turn to throw the dart, Olivia stands in front of me, snaking her arms around my neck.
“What are you doing?” I question, poised and ready to throw.
“I’m going to kiss my boyfriend.” She smirks. Then she tilts her head a little, leans forward and kisses me. I kiss her back, keeping my eyes open, as I turn us enough for me to see the board out of the corner of my eye. God, let’s hope my aim is good. With a flick of my wrist, the dart goes flying. Olivia pulls back as she hears the thump of contact. We both look to see where it went. Olivia laughs. The thump was it hitting the wall, softly landing on the carpet below. “Sucks for you,” she sings.
From then on, I do one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Ignore Olivia and her antics. She still wins a few of the games, but by the end of the night, I’ve won by three.
“Hmm. Maybe we should have steaks tonight. Or lobster. Or something expensive,” I ponder aloud as we walk to my car.
“You won, so whatever you want.” She shrugs her shoulders.
“You’re being awfully nice for a sore loser.” It’s odd, really.
Once we’re in the car and heading to the restaurant, Olivia finally responds. “Maybe that’s because I let you win.”
“You what? You did not. You hate losing. There’s no way you let me win.”
She sighs. “It’s better than saying I lost because I suck. Let a girl dream, Corey.”
“You’re just having an off day. You can redeem yourself later this week with the racing game.”
Olivia smiles in appreciation.
“OKAY, HERE YOU go.” Olivia’s voice is nonchalant as she hands over her spare key. We’re sitting on her couch, watching One Tree Hill. I run my thumb over the rough edge as she adds, “Use it responsibly.”
My lips quirk into a smile. “I will. Thanks, Olivia.”
“It’s no big deal. We only live across the hall from each other.”
I pull my spare from my pocket and hand it to her. “Here’s mine. This isn’t a big deal to you? That I’m letting you have it all the time. So this way you don’t have depend on whether it’s in my genius hiding spot or not.” I lay an arm around her shoulders, tucking her into my side. “It’s not a big deal that I’m trusting you with my key and therefore my apartment?” I finish softly.
Her voice is soft when she speaks, turning the key over in her fingers. “You’re right. I guess I got nervous for a second. Anyway, thanks.”
My brows tug together with displeasure. “Why were you nervous?”
Olivia takes a big, shaky, deep breath. “It’s a large gesture and you mean so much to me. I don’t want something to go wrong with us. I don’t want to have to ask you for my key back or for you to have to ask for yours back. For a second, I was worried about that. Totally normal. No need to think about it anymore.”
