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My stomach knotted up—packing. She was packing because she was leaving the city, and consequentially, leaving me.
“Is it Olivia?” Owen’s question sounded distant and I ignored him, already knowing where I needed to go. “Why don’t you just let me take you home?”
I looked over at my best friend, seeing nothing but Olivia when I met his blue eyes. Fuck me. “Just let me go to the bathroom first and then I’ll be golden and you can take me home and make sure I’m all safely tucked into bed or whatever.”
Relief flooded his face. “Okay.”
I patted his shoulder, spinning around and heading toward the bathroom that I had no intentions of using. I knew exactly where I was going…
And it wasn’t home.
25
OLIVIA
The knock on the door startled me as I stacked the last box of the night in the corner. Zena and I had made some good progress, but there was still a lot to get done. However, she had needed to get home before it got too late, and I was exhausted too.
I’m always exhausted.
My shoulders slumped as I headed to the door, checking my watch. There was a chance that Zena had just forgotten something and had turned around. I leaned forward, squinting through the peephole.
No way.
My heart jumped in my chest at the sight of Eli standing right outside my door, his arms folded across his chest. I flipped the dead bolt and swung the door open.
“What’re you doing here?” I glanced around, halfway expecting to see more than just him—like my brother.
“I just came to see you.” Eli met my gaze, his eyes reddened.
He’s fucking plastered.
“And why did you come to see me?” I asked, sighing as I gestured for him to come in. Normally, I would’ve made a drunk man stay on the other side of the threshold, but I already knew that this would result in a phone call to Owen to come and get him.
“I…I just fuckin’ miss you, Olivia,” he slurred, taking a couple steps until he made it to the couch. He plopped down and laid his head back. “You’re all I think about, all the time, and I just don’t see why we can’t go back to the way things were.”
“You mean just hooking up whenever you felt like it?” I didn’t hold back, my chest burning with rejection and anger. “You could’ve had me as something more, but you made that choice.”
“Wait, what?” His head jerked up, turning to look at me. “I could’ve had you as more? Like my girlfriend or some shit?”
My lips parted, but no words came out. I just stood there, staring down at a very drunk Eli sitting on my couch.
“I love you, Olivia,” he slurred, his deep voice husky as he met my gaze. “I’m so fuckin’ in love with you and you don’t even know it.” His words stopped me in my tracks, sending my heart thumping all sorts of uneven ways.
He’s just drunk.
“You don’t know what you’re saying right now,” I choked out, walking back to the kitchen to make him a glass of water. “You’ve clearly had way too many drinks tonight.”
“I have had way too many, but I know what I’m saying, Olivia.” He tried to push himself up off the couch, but then changed his mind, shaking his head as he went back down. “I can’t stop thinking about you, no matter how hard I try—and there’s not a single woman in the world that’s as gorgeous as you.”
Oh my god. Does he actually mean this?
My head started to spin like I might have been drinking as I carried the glass of water to him. “Here, you need to start drinking water.” My hand was shaking as he took it from me, meeting my gaze with his usual intensity. “You’re really drunk.”
“Yeah, so? What’s that saying about being drunk? Drunk people don’t lie, right? Isn’t that what it is?”
“I’m very certain that drunk people can lie,” I countered, rolling my eyes at the annoying saying. “I’ve been lied to plenty of times by drunk people.”
He grabbed my wrist before I could walk away. “I’m not lying to you. I want you.”
