“What happens when you want to protect it and fail anyway?” It was a wheeze I forced out. My inadequacy a glaring defeat.
Rex came to a stop in a small clearing that had been made.
Equipment and machinery had already been delivered and was set up within a temporary chain-link fence as they prepared for construction.
He hesitated for a moment, squeezing the wheel, staring out the windshield to the splintered wood and crumbling stone of the weathered building. “We do our best, Ollie. We live and we love. We cherish and we hold.”
He killed the engine, set his hand on the latch, and looked over at me. “We fight with everything we have, even when we know we might lose.”
He clicked open the door. “We do it because we can’t do anything else. Because we love so hard, loving is the only thing we can do. Rynna and my kids? I love them so damned much, Ollie. With every single thing I have. Never thought I’d get that chance, and I’d be nothing but a bastard and a fool not to recognize it.”
His message slammed me on all sides. Pointed and demanding. Forcing me to evaluate the way I’d been living.
He climbed out and moved toward the bank of the river, staring out over it. I got out and followed.
“Do you remember playing here? Growing up? Running wild?” There was something somber in his tone.
“Of course, I remember.”
Pretty much had spent the last fourteen years living in the past.
“We were all close.”
I glanced at him, no clue what had climbed into the tone of his voice.
“Yeah. Not many people get lucky enough to grow up the way we did. Remain friends the way we have.”
Saw the way the muscles in his arms twitched and bunched, apprehension in his stance. “I need you to know you aren’t alone in the regrets, either, man. That you don’t shoulder that alone.”
A gust of doubt rustled through, my nerve endings zapping with unease.
“You’re wrong, Rex. She was my sister. My responsibility.”
Wasn’t trying to be a dick. It was just the cold, bitter truth.
His eyes flashed in a kind of grief I didn’t quite understand. “It was my fault, too. I was there that night. Remember? You think I don’t wish I could go back and change everything? I’d give anything to. But I can’t. And neither can you. Both of us have to accept that.”
“I was responsible for her.” My words were a low, harsh rasp.
He dropped his head, his hands landing on his hips as he struggled with what to say as he stared at the ground. “Ollie—”
“Just don’t, Rex.” Shooting my hand out between us, I cut him off before he could get whatever bullshit he was going to say out of his mouth. Didn’t need another person to tell me it wasn’t my fault when I knew full well that it was. “I don’t need a therapist. I need a friend. That’s it.”
Something moved through his eyes.
Regret and . . . guilt.
Glaring guilt.
I tried to process it.
He blew out a breath toward his boots. “Fine. Just forget it.”
Good damned idea.
Yesterday was hard enough without Rex trying to make it more difficult. The worry about Nikki had only compounded it.
Since the threat was gone, I just wanted to forget it all.
Push it into the past where it all belonged.
Question was if I was capable of that.
I forced some lightness into my words. “Ready to tell me why you had to go and drag me out of my bed when I’d finally gotten Nikki into it?”
He laughed a little, shooting me a grin. “Sorry about that.”
“Not cool, man. You owe me big.”
“Maybe this will suffice.”
“What’s that?”
With his chin, he gestured toward the row of run-down buildings. They’d been near falling down when we’d played in them, and time sure hadn’t improved them. They were covered in graffiti, there was garbage everywhere, and the frames were sagging toward the ground like they didn’t have the will to stand for much longer.
“Back building will become upscale condos, one of which will go to Nikki. First two will be what becomes the hotel and shops.”
He looked down the riverbank before he eyed me carefully. “Plan to put in a couple of restaurants and a bar. Broderick and I want you to open a second Olive’s here.”
Stunned, I stared at him, minutes or an hour passing, waiting for the punch line. “You’re serious,” I finally managed when he didn’t say anything.
“Hell, yeah, I’m serious. You know Olive’s is the best bar in Gingham Lakes. Brody plans to make this a destination. Only the best. So, of course, it only makes sense to add the best bar to the list of attractions. He’s funding the upfront costs, but you’ll have shares in the entire development.”
“You want me to partner with you and Brody?” Still wasn’t making sense of it, shock lurching through my senses.
“It’s not like we weren’t partnered on Olive’s to begin with.”
“Yeah . . . but I hired RG Construction to redo the building.”
No risk on his end.
He looked over at me. “You act like you haven’t been investing in this city. Taking failing businesses and breathing new life in to them.”
“But it’s always been my money on the line.”
If I failed, it was on me.
It’s your fault.
I trusted you.
You were supposed to take care of her.
You promised, you’d take care of her.
It should have been me. It should have been me.
In silence, we both stood there while I contemplated. Warred with all the reasons I shouldn’t do this.
I inhaled sharply, filling my lungs with the scent of the river and damp earth and possibility. “You guys really trust me to be a partner?”
“Wouldn’t ask you if we didn’t.” Rex started back for the truck before he paused to look at me from over his shoulder. “Think maybe the only person you need to prove to that you can be trusted is yourself.”
I stood there, staring at him as he hopped back into the truck.
Business done.
My attention darted between him and the old buildings, imagining what this place would look like one day, while Rex just sat in the truck, giving me time.
Finally, I hefted out a breath and strode back for the truck. I hopped inside, slamming the door shut as I said, “I’m in.”
He started the engine. “Good.”
I scrubbed a sweaty palm on the thigh of my jeans. “And don’t count on Nikki needing that condo.”
Rex laughed, loud and with a grin. “Had a feeling you might say that.”
27
Ollie
The low grumble of my bike filled my ears as I eased into one of the parking spaces in front of Pepper’s Pies. The damned grin plastered on my face was so big that there was no chance I could wipe it off.
Inside, heads turned at the sound of my rumbling bike, but the only one that mattered was the girl who stood in front of one of the booths right by the window, her head jerking up and those eyes meeting with mine through the glass.
My chest tightened.
That feeling hitting me hard.
So intense that I could feel it riding through my veins. Itching through me. Same way as I was itching to get my girl on the back of my bike and those long legs wrapped around my waist.
Kicking the stand and killing the engine, I swung my leg over the side just as Nikki was peeking her head outside.
A smile danced on her pretty face. “What are you doing here?”
I glanced at my watch. “You get off at two.”
“And?” It was a playful challenge.
“And I missed you. You have a problem with that?” I all but growled, stalking her way, looping an arm around her waist and tugging her against me as she stepped all the way out onto the sidewalk.
Hands clutching my shoulders, she bent back, swayin
g as she smiled up at me. “No, Beast. I definitely don’t have a problem with that.”
“Good,” I told her. “Go get your stuff.”
“Bossy,” she tossed back as she started toward the door.
I swatted her sweet ass. “You have no idea.”
She yelped and then giggled. “Why do I get the feeling you’re going to take all kinds of pleasure in educating me on that fact?”
A smirk caught on one side of my mouth. “Maybe you do have an idea.”
Her laugh was low.
Sexy.
“Oh, Ollie. We’re gonna have so much fun.”
My smile went soft.
Yeah.
We were. And we’d wasted too much time, and I was so over that. “Hurry up and get that sweet body back to me.”
“I need to change,” she said as she was stepping back inside.
“I’ll wait.”
Those pink lips twisted in a teasing pout. “You’d better.”
Like I was going anywhere.
Not without her.
Five minutes later, she was bursting back out the door, pretty much skipping her way over to me where I was waiting by my bike.
She looked so young when she was like this.
Free and excited.
“Come here,” I told her, taking her hand and guiding her to stand between my knees. I situated the helmet I’d brought for her on her head, tucking some of those warm, honeyed locks back away from her face.
The girl’s breaths came shorter just from that simple touch.
And that’s what this felt like.
Simple.
Simple and complicated and perfect.
Like it’d been coming all along.
Or maybe it’d just been set to pause, and we had to pick up where we’d left off, even though I knew it couldn’t be as simple as forgetting all those hurtful years stuck in the middle of us.
Only thing I could do now was make up for them.
“Where are we going?” she asked, eyes glinting with a thrill.
“You’ll see,” I told her, moving to straddle my bike and taking her with me.
“Ah, come on, Ollie. That’s totally not fair. I want to know.” Her voice was filled with laughter.
She slid in behind me, the insides of her thighs pressing to the outsides of mine.
Electricity.
It zinged and shook.
A chuckle rumbled free as she wrapped those arms around me. I patted her hands that locked to my stomach. “Don’t you trust me?”
I could feel the draw of her breath, the way she snuggled as close as she could get, holding on tight.
Her words dropped so low I could barely hear them. “Yes, Ollie. I trust you. I trust you more than anyone else.”
Trust.
It was the first time I wanted her to give me hers.
Swallowing any heaviness down, I kicked over the engine, rolled my bike back, my feet guiding us, before I hit the street.
I kept our speed low.
Controlled.
Careful of my girl who was hugging me from behind. Her heart beating into my back. Hard and wild and drumming with passion.
Washing me in that warmth.
We headed through town, taking a couple of turns, before I hit the road that led out toward the river and lakes. The air shifted as we left the traffic behind, full, lush trees growing up at the sides of the two-lane road and closing us in.
It felt like an embrace.
A welcome back to the place where we always should have been. I passed by the turn-off to the lake.
We’d go there one day. To our sacred place. But this felt too raw and new to dive so deeply into the past.
I’d give us time. Time to adjust.
My bike glided around a swooping curve in the road.
Swore, it felt like we were flying.
Nothing but the feel of the wind and the sound of my bike and the aura of us to fill our senses.
Suspended.
Taken.
Funny because I’d never felt so close to home.
I slowed when the dirt road approached, and I could feel her shiver of excitement that zipped through her body when I began to wind down toward the river.
We curved and wound, rounding a corner, and that same endless expanse of purple blazing stars came into view where they grew along the riverbank.
Instead of continuing on to the old buildings were Rex and Broderick would be developing—where I’d be opening up a second bar, which still blew my mind—I took a right on what was nothing more than an overgrown, bumpy trail down toward the river. It rippled a glittering blue.
I eased to a stop beneath the big tree where we used to play.
Its thick branches were stretched out like protection.
A canopy of security.
The old rope swing we’d swung from a thousand times as kids was now frayed where it hung from one of the branches that reached over the river, swaying in the light breeze, in time with the spikey blazing stars that poked up through the high grasses.
I cut the engine.
Peace covered us.
The only sounds were the gurgling river and the thunder of our hearts.
For a few minutes, we just sat there. Taking it in.
Finally, I took her hand, and a shiver of nervous anticipation rolled through her. Like she wasn’t quite sure why we were there or what my intentions were.
I started to walk backward, tugging her along. “Come here, I want to show you something.”
A giggle slipped from between those flirty lips.
So easy and sweet.
Carrying on the wind. “You do, huh?” she teased. “What exactly do you want to show me? I know your style of show and tell, Oliver Preston.”
Laughter rumbled in my chest. “I’ll show you plenty of that later, sweet girl, but right now, I had something else in mind.”
Her brows rose. “Really? You have something else in mind? Tell me why I don’t believe you. I don’t even know how I’m walkin’ right now. You might as well keep me tied to your bed.”
Lust twisted through me.
Hard.
Fast.
Couldn’t even come close to stopping the visions that assaulted me with just the thought of getting inside this girl again.
Over the last week, I’d taken her over and over. Every second I could get her.
“That sounds like a great idea. I knew you were a smart one.”
Another giggle. “Smart? I call it needy.”
“I like you needy and begging my name.”
“Is that so?” She was stumbling along as I hauled her toward the tree, a smile written on every inch of her face.
Hell.
I could see it written all over her body.
That rail-thin body I’d had to pretend wasn’t close to my taste so I could try to rid her from my mind for all those years. Going after girls who were exactly her opposite. Praying when I closed my eyes, I wouldn’t see her face.
Impossible.
She was the only thing I’d ever seen.
“That’s so. I promise to make you beg it a little bit later, but right now, I want you to sit right here.”
I took her by the outside of her shoulders and led her to the exact spot, urging her to sit down.
“What are you doing?” she laughed through the words, shaking her head by following along.
She settled on the small incline under the shade of the tree.
I took a step back, my attention rapt.
“Perfect,” I said.
She rocked her knees that were bent, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth like she was both shy and relishing the way I was looking at her.
Without a doubt, I looked like a starving man. All I wanted was to eat her all over again.
Consume and devour.
I backed up a few more steps so I could better take her in.
“What are you looking at?” she finally asked, her voice breathy from that connection t
hat sizzled through the heated air.
Two of us alive in the other.
How the hell had I lived without this?
Without her?
“You.”
“I know you’re looking at me, but why?”
A grin pulled at one side of my mouth.
“That’s exactly where you were. Right there.”
I could never forget it.
She frowned. “Ollie, what in the world are you talking about?”
I pointed at her. “That’s where you were the day I finally admitted it.”
Her brows drew closer, and she minimally shook her head in question.
I took a slow step back her direction. “When I admitted to myself that you were something more than my best friend. When I realized you made me feel different.”
I turned my gaze away, lifting it toward the wind as I let some of the memories pummel me. Hit me and slam me.
Instead of hating them, I welcomed them.
Finally, I looked back at her. “You were whispering with Sydney. She said something about a guy, and I just knew it. Knew it. That you had a boyfriend or someone had kissed you.”
I took another step forward, and she sucked in a shivered breath.
Energy pulsed.
“I’ll never forget the way that felt, Nikki. The way my stomach balled up in a fist and it felt like my heart was gonna bust right out of my chest. I played it off that I was just looking out for you, but it was more.”
One step closer, and I dropped to my knees in front of her, my hands going to her knees. I palmed them, dipped my head in closer, my mouth an inch from hers “You were more.”
She reached out and cupped the side of my face, tenderness moving through her expression as she studied me. Her thumb traced along the hollow of my eye, and her head tipped in emphasis. “I think you were always more. I just didn’t know what that meant yet.”
I lunged at her, tackling her to the soft earth. She gasped and yelped and then laughed.
That sweet, sweet sound floated on the wind.
Twisted through me.
I pushed up onto my hands and stared down at her. The girl who’d always been my forever.
There she was, all laid out on a bed of blazing stars.
Purple a halo around her head.
I reached out and plucked one, twirled the stem between my thumb and index finger. I brushed the tip down her cheek.
Fight for Me: The Complete Collection Page 94
