10

Chris’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. He couldn’t believe he’d let it get this far. Taking Olivia rock climbing was one thing. Almost kissing her was something else entirely.

Worse, he didn’t know if he was more disappointed that he hadn’t done it or more ashamed that he’d wanted to do it at all.

His parents would hate him if they ever found out he’d been hanging out with Olivia, and there was no telling how Paige would react if she knew about his feelings for her. He didn’t even want to know what Lucas would be thinking if he was watching it all happen. The betrayal would be too much for even him to forgive.

But then again, Chris didn’t blame Olivia in the same way he’d used to. How could he when she’d made it clear that Drew refused to listen to her, no matter how hard she’d tried to convince him not to drive?

“Are you okay?” Olivia asked quietly from the passenger seat.

Chris forced himself to relax his grip on the steering wheel. “Yeah, just lost in thought. How is your leg?”

“It feels fine,” she replied. “It will probably be stiff tomorrow, but nothing serious.”

“Good.”

“Thanks again for helping me,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

Despite the ugly past that lay between them, he’d liked spending the morning with her. He’d enjoyed himself far more than he should have. It was goddamned conflicting.

“Do you think we could do it again sometime?” she asked after a long pause.

She sounded nervous, scared of rejection, but Chris didn’t think he could let their relationship move past them sometimes sharing a library table. Not again.

“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” he told her, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

“Oh. Right, that makes sense. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t even think you’d agree to help me at all, so I—”

“Olivia,” he said before she could ramble further. His old nickname for her desperately wanted to leave his lips, but he didn’t let it. “It’s okay. I just think we should keep our distance.”

“Right. Sure.” The hurt was evident in her voice, though she tried to hide it.

Chris felt like a dick, but he didn’t change his mind. It would be far too messy to even be friends with her.

His phone started ringing after a minute of stony silence, cutting off the music playing through the car speakers. He was grateful for what could have been a perfectly timed distraction, but when he saw who was calling him, he quickly ended the call.

He went through a green light, and his phone started ringing again. If it had been anyone else, he would have hung up again, but he couldn’t do that to his sister-in-law.

“I need to take this,” he told Olivia before answering the call. “Hi, Paige. Is everything okay?”

He wished he could switch the call to his cellphone speaker, but doing that didn’t seem wise after Olivia’s earlier reaction to him being on his phone while driving.

“Chris, I’m so sorry, but are you free to look after Luke for a bit? The babysitter has a family emergency, and I’m just finishing up an errand. I called my parents, but they didn’t answer.”

“Of course,” Chris replied.

Paige let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you so much. I shouldn’t be long, but Roxy really needs to go asap.”

Chris glanced to the side. Olivia’s house was in the opposite direction of Paige’s. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said to his sister-in-law before ending the call.

“I can Uber from her place,” Olivia said, sounding off. “Or you can just stop here, and I’ll get out.”

They’d left Old Town behind them, and there wasn’t exactly anywhere good for Chris to stop, let alone for Olivia to get picked up by an Uber. Besides, he wasn’t leaving a young woman alone in the middle of a busy road.

“You can get an Uber from her place,” he said. “It’s safer there.”

“Okay.”

Chris changed lanes and turned right at the next intersection. It didn’t take him long to get to Paige’s house, but the young babysitter was already waiting outside holding Luke, mascara stains under her bloodshot eyes. An SUV was idling at the curb.

“Chris,” Roxy said when he got out of his car. “Thank you so much for coming.”

“Is everything okay?” he asked, taking Luke from her.

His nephew cooed happily and wrapped his tiny fingers around the pointer finger Chris held out for him.

Roxy shook her head and swiped tears from her cheeks. “My dad had a stroke.”

“Shit, I’m so sorry,” he replied. “Is that your mom?” he asked, nodding to the idling car.

“My sister,” she corrected. “My mom’s at the hospital.”

“I hope your dad’s okay,” Chris said.

Roxy thanked him and ran to the waiting SUV. The car sped off, and only once it turned the corner did Olivia get out his car and join him. Her gaze fell on Luke, and she swallowed.

“I’ll get an Uber,” she said, taking her phone from her jacket pocket.

“Just wait a minute,” he asked. “Would you mind coming in with me for a second?”

Olivia’s eyebrows drew together, and she looked back down at the baby uncertainly. “Why?”

“I really have to pee,” Chris admitted. “And I’d prefer not to leave this little guy alone for even a second.” He’d never had to take care of Luke while he was alone before, and he wasn’t leaving anything up to chance.

“Didn’t you go to the bathroom at the gym?” Olivia asked, taking a nervous step back.

Chris grimaced. Technically, he’d only gone to the bathroom at the gym to escape Olivia for a bit and splash water on his face. “Could we talk about my small bladder another time?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said, her eyes still fixed on Luke.

Chris wasn’t mad about the idea either, but nature was most definitely calling. “I’ll just be a minute, and then you can leave,” he promised.

Olivia bit her lip and lifted her gaze to his. “Okay,” she relented.

Chris led the way to the front door, which Roxy had thankfully left unlocked since he didn’t have the key. Olivia followed him into the house as if she were expecting an ambush, her movements skittish and her body tense. They went through to the living room, their steps careful as they avoided stepping on the toys scattered around the floor.

“I’ll just be a second,” Chris said, and then he did something he never thought he’d do. He held his nephew out to Olivia.

She looked at the baby wide-eyed before taking him in her stiff arms. She looked incredibly uncomfortable, but Luke simply looked up at her with his big blue eyes and smiled his toothless grin.

Olivia’s lips parted. “Hi there,” she whispered, her voice catching with emotion.

“I’ll be right back,” Chris told her before escaping to the downstairs guest toilet.

He rushed to finish up and wash his hands, but he was surprised by how okay he was with leaving Luke with her. He dried his hands and returned to the living room, his steps slowing when he saw Olivia sitting on the dark blue sofa. Luke was cradled in her arms far more comfortably, and she was smiling down at him with wet eyes.

“He’s gorgeous,” she said, looking up at Chris after a moment.

“Yeah, he is.” He cleared his throat and started cleaning up the toys on the floor, needing something to distract him.

“Do you babysit a lot?”

“I’m around here a lot, but usually not by myself,” he explained. Paige was always around when he came to see his nephew.

Olivia stood up, keeping Luke cradled carefully in her arms. “I guess I better go.”

He nodded but didn’t move to take his nephew from her. “Thanks for helping.”

She smiled down at the baby, her grin broadening when Luke lifted his chubby arm and touched her cheek. “It’s a pleasure.”

Chris heard the front door open, and he stiffened. Shit, shit, shit .

“Chris? I’m back.” Paige called out, the sound of her voice like a bucket of ice water being thrown on him. “I decided to finish shopping tomorrow instead.”

Olivia’s eyes were wide and frightened when they met Chris’s. He bit out a quiet curse and made his way to her, but he wasn’t fast enough. He was taking Luke from her when Paige walked into the living room.

At first, she smiled, looking ready to greet Olivia with a warm welcome, but her expression melted into anger after taking the woman in properly and recognizing who’d been holding her son.

“What the fuck is she doing in my house?” she asked Chris. She marched forward and took Luke from him.

“I was just leaving,” Olivia said quietly. Her shoulders were caved in as though she was trying to make herself look as small of a threat as possible.

“You let her hold Luke?” Paige asked, ignoring the other woman completely. Her eyes shone with rage-filled tears. “You let her hold Lucas’s son?”

“Just for a minute,” Chris replied, shame burning his cheeks. “I needed to go to the bathroom and didn’t want to leave Luke alone.”

“I’d rather you left him alone,” Paige spat, turning to the side to put her body between Olivia and her son.

“Paige, I’m sorry,” Chris said, his chest burning with guilt. Paige had asked him to look after Luke, and even though he’d known she would hate having Olivia in her house, he’d invited her in anyway. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have asked her for help.”

“What were you even doing with her?” Paige asked, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“I…” How could Chris explain he’d gone rock climbing with Olivia? How could he explain that he’d gotten too friendly with the person Paige hated?

“He was just giving me a lift,” Olivia said before Chris could dig himself a deeper grave. “He wouldn’t have done it if Noah hadn’t been the one to ask. He was just doing a favor for his friend.”

Paige let out a scornful huff. “Next time, just get a fucking Uber. This family doesn’t want anything to do with you.”

Chris grimaced. Paige’s hate for Olivia hadn’t diminished at all in the months since the accident. It burned just as furiously as it had the day she’d found out that the police hadn’t charged Olivia.

“I’m sorry,” Olivia said, her gaze on her sneaker-clad feet.

Paige only shook her head in disgust. “Get out of my house. You’re not welcome here.”

Olivia nodded woodenly and left the living room. The front door clicked softly behind her.

“I want you out, too,” Paige told Chris.

“Paige, I’m so sorry,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking properly.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Just get out.”

Chris looked between her and Luke, who was starting to fuss as though agitated by the tension in the room. “I really am sorry,” he said before leaving as well.

He walked across the front lawn and came to a stop beside Olivia, pretending not to notice when she wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket. He watched her open her Uber app.

“I’ll take you home,” he said.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to do that.”

Chris sighed. “Yes, I do.” He started walking to his car. “Come on.”

Olivia didn’t follow him immediately, and when she joined him in the car, she refused to look at him. Not knowing what to say, Chris started the car and drove in silence.

“I’m sorry things got so heated,” he finally said, unable to handle the tension any longer.

Olivia turned to him for the first time after getting in the car. Her eyes looked vacant, almost dead. “It’s fine,” she replied after a long pause, but she said it in a way that told him it wasn’t fine—that she wasn’t fine.