6. Ollie

Ollie

Chapter six

My heart still hadn’t calmed down from—well, all of it. Leaning in and wanting to kiss my best friend, my soon-to-be ex-wife walking into the house, and said best friend bolting out the door. Yeah, so maybe I had a bit to process.

Too bad I wasn’t ready.

Josie walked into the living room, casting a glance to the door that had slammed shut after Liam rushed out. “I’m guessing he hates me now, right?”

I ran my fingers along my beard and tugged at the middle. Josie had been the furthest thing on my mind tonight, and that should make me feel a hell of a lot guiltier. But despite the initial punch to the gut, we weren’t shedding any tears for a reason. What Liam said had been the truth. Josie and I had never gotten along great, and the past few years had been like having a roommate I occasionally fought with.

“Nah, he just realized what time it was,” I said lamely, the excuse sounding shit to my ears.

Josie didn’t give me a hug like she would’ve a few days ago or lay an absent peck on my lips, and the shift made my chest throb. Instead, she plunked onto the sectional, keeping some space between us. The casual affection in the past had been nice, even if it hadn’t been the wildfire I’d always dreamed about.

I swallowed hard. I’d just experienced pure fire—the way my pulse still hadn’t calmed down, how my skin had grown sensitized from awareness. Every fiber of my being had been tuned in to Liam Kelly, and that discovery delivered a punch to the solar plexus.

Who could have known my best friend would be a powder keg of heat and promise?

“You don’t need to lie to make me feel better,” Josie said, picking at her nails since she wouldn’t look up at me. “I know your family’s going to be pissed at me too.”

I shrugged. “If they are, they are, but I’m not leading the charge or anything.”

“You realized too?” she said, her tone hesitant. The woman I’d lived so long with—thirteen damn years—appeared wholly different for the first time. Sure, she had the same golden blonde hair I’d run my fingers through, the curves I’d gripped when we used to have a healthy sex life. Dark brown eyes that softened in amusement often, and a smirk so razor sharp it could slice. She was damn attractive and knew it, and she was talented as fuck.

However, now that I understood the truth I’d been avoiding—that we’d spent most of our relationship trying to force ourselves into boxes that never felt quite right—I saw she was never really mine.

Just like I’d never really been hers.

“Yeah, Jos,” I said, my voice softening. “We’ve both been stubborn, haven’t we?”

She nodded, her eyes shimmering with tears. “I didn’t want to hurt you, but we weren’t working.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, a resolve I’d never expected when she’d broken the news settling in my chest. I pushed up off the couch, sat next to her, and wrapped my arms around her. Josie leaned into me, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I hugged her tight, part of me not wanting to let go. The truth smacked me in the face with a two-by-four. We’d been sitting in a lukewarm tub together, trying to heat it up with water that had long since run cold. Tears dripped onto my shirt, and I clutched her a little harder, soaking in the time with her before everything changed.

And hell, it was changing at a rapid-fire pace.

“Sorry I already started moving things to my mom’s,” Josie said as she pulled back. “That probably came as a shock.” She wiped at her eyes, the wedding band still on her finger glinting in the light.

I squeezed her shoulder. “Just don’t go rushing off to the other side of the country without saying good-bye, okay?”

“I promise.”

“Sure, but does that mean a whole lot, given the whole impending divorce?” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

“You ass,” she said, shoving at my shoulder. “You’re seriously joking about this now?”

I grinned. “Come on, it’s me. Did you expect anything else?”

She shook her head, even as her eyes crinkled. “I’d expected you to hate me, so I’ll take your teasing any day.”

Maybe it was insane to be so chill about my divorce, but the fact that I wasn’t feeling the host of complicated emotions I should’ve been told me everything I needed to know. Josie and I weren’t meant to be together, and it was high time I found the right person.

A little flutter stirred in my chest, and I stared at my hands.

The flirtation between me and Liam was brand fucking new, but the feeling of desire wasn’t. I understood what had flared between us when we’d been gaming on the couch, the tension in the air during our little bout of strip Mortal Kombat.

And if my best friend thought he could dismiss what had happened and escape out my door without me following up, he was sorely mistaken.

The salty scent of the Wawa breakfast sandwiches I’d picked up tempted me. My stomach was empty as hell, but I strode up the walkway to the rental Liam shared with Maeve. The familiar sight filled me with warmth, the white house with the pale gray roof that had been split into apartments. He’d been living there ever since he moved back into the area, and I’d spent many a night at his place, sleepless or otherwise. The sun crested the horizon, a trickle of red and gold permeating the gray of early dawn.

Josie and I had talked the rest of the night and hashed out how we’d divide our belongings up in the divorce. I would buy her out of the house, since I planned on staying in the area, and we had such different tastes that splitting our belongings would be pretty simple. Overall, everything had gone a lot easier than I’d thought it would, and that had filled me with immense relief.

What wasn’t okay was the lack of a response to the text I’d sent Liam.

Which meant I needed to bother him before he headed out to work. Sure, we might’ve traipsed into different territory last night, but Liam Kelly was still my goddamn best friend, which gave me the forever right to show up on his doorstep at all times. I juggled the breakfast sandwiches and coffee with one hand while slipping my key into the door with the other.

When I stepped inside, the lights were on, which wouldn’t be Maeve’s doing. She was the opposite of a morning person.

“Hey, Liam.” I kept my voice low so as not to summon his roommate like goddamn Beetlejuice and closed the door behind me.

Rustling sounded, and a moment later, Liam stepped into view. “Ollie?”

Liam wore plaid pajama pants slung low on his hips so the vee leading down was prominent. Not like I hadn’t seen him shirtless a million times, but after the way he’d been teasing me last night, I viewed him in a different light. The light sprinkle of hair across his pecs, the tapered waist. His blond hair was tousled from sleep, the strands drifting across his forehead, and the sleepy look in his eyes reminded me of wrestling around with him yesterday.

My cock woke up, so I zipped past him and walked to the kitchen. I placed the bag of breakfast sandwiches and the two coffees on the counter.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Liam stepped up behind me. The scent of him, all spice and coriander, wrapped around me, and I found the comfort addictive. “It’s a work day,” he continued, confusion clear in his somewhat cranky tone. “I’ve got to leave in an hour.”

“Obviously.” I turned around and leaned against the counter, gesturing to the items I brought. “Hence the Wawa stop.”

“Okay,” Liam said, rifling his fingers through his hair as he glanced between me and the bag on the counter. “Am I missing something?”

I crossed my arms and stared at him. “You bolted out of my house last night without even a good-bye. And then you didn’t answer any of my texts.”

Liam shifted his gaze away from me as he reached for one of the coffees in the tray.

“This one’s yours,” I said, plucking the other out. “Irish cream.”

Liam’s cheeks pinked, and I blinked and then blinked again. Part of me had thought the flirtation was in my head, but no, my best friend was responding to me like he might actually be attracted to me. My heart fluttered. Liam had come out to me back in high school, and I’d never given it a second thought. I always had a string of girlfriends, and then I got steady with Josie, so I hadn’t questioned my sexuality.

Guess the lost time was coming to bite me in the ass.

“Josie had shown up, and I didn’t want things to be awkward,” Liam said as he clutched his coffee tight.

I heaved out a sigh. “Yeah, we had a talk last night.”

Liam’s throat made an audible click as he swallowed. “How did that go?”

“Really well.” I grabbed my coffee as well. The heat from the cup warmed my palms. Liam still wouldn’t look at me, which was driving me insane. I might be losing my wife, but I definitely couldn’t lose him. I edged beside him until our thighs touched, the contact soothing something taut inside me. “What you said made me think, and Josie and I agreed this divorce was a long time coming.”

“Wait.” Liam finally lifted his gaze. Those bright blue eyes locked on mine, all serious. “You’re not getting back together?”

My forehead wrinkled. “What the hell gave you that impression? Liam, she’s moving across the country.”

A shaky sigh exploded out of Liam, and he shook his head. “Never change, babe.”

“Don’t plan on it,” I said, opening the bag with breakfast sandwiches and picking out the bacon on a bagel with egg and cheese. From here, the clear view of his window featured a pretty view of a backyard the apartments shared, with a large oak tree and a few smaller crabapple trees. I didn’t bring up what I was pretty sure would’ve been a kiss last night because there wasn’t enough time. However, Liam was crazy if he thought we could sweep everything under the rug—because I refused to.

Movement fluttered by the window, and I wandered over with my coffee in one hand and breakfast sandwich in the other.

A bird flitted onto one of the branches of the oak tree, trilling, then calming down.

“What type is it?” Liam asked.

I grinned. “Tufted titmouse.”

Liam snorted. “I swear to fuck, that never gets old.” A moment later, he stepped beside me, and I basked in his proximity. “Did I tell you about the red-winged blackbird I spotted the other day?”

I arched a brow. “First you’re bolting out my door, and now you’re not telling me what birds you saw for the day? Are we even friends anymore?”

“I don’t need to report my daily activities to you.”

My lips pursed in amusement, and I didn’t pull my gaze from him, fully conveying where my mind had taken the statement.

Liam’s cheeks flushed, and he punched my shoulder. “You know what I mean.”

A thrill rose in me I hadn’t expected in the slightest but one I clung to now. “Hmm, I don’t. With all the secrets you’re keeping from me, it feels like I need to up my game.”

I waited to see if the comment would land, and the way Liam’s pupils flared was a reward in and of itself. He licked his lush lips, and I was mesmerized by the movement. I’d noticed he was attractive before, but I’d been in a relationship forever, so I’d never daydreamed beyond that.

However, now, my imagination seemed to be making up for lost time.

If I crowded him against the window, would I feel his erection pressing against me through the thin fabric of his pajama pants? I glanced down, trying to catch a glimpse of if he was as turned on as I was. I thought I saw the faint outline, but I’d need to be closer to get a better idea. My heart thumped hard, loud enough that it must be echoing through the room.

“Ollie.” His voice was throaty and wrecked, so different from how he’d said my name through the years. His blue eyes were big, too damn pretty, and his slight scruff made me wonder what it’d feel like if we kissed.

This felt private in a way that made me shiver, and I couldn’t stop the pulse of desire pumping through my veins.

“Why did no one invite me to this prework party?” Maeve’s voice broke through the moment. She trudged into the room from the hallway, her flame-red hair tied back in a sloppy bun, squinting at me like I was a hallucination.

I gripped my coffee a little tighter, and Liam tore his gaze from me as if we hadn’t just been eye-fucking each other in the middle of his apartment.

Which was undeniable at this point.

Neither of us had brought up the attraction that had flared between us, and I might be dense sometimes, but a five-alarm heat had emerged, and I couldn’t resist the draw. It was like stepping outdoors on the first spring day of the year, listening to the birds tweet, and seeing the sun sparkle on fresh buds. I’d been in hibernation with Josie for so long that this explosion of life that burst around Liam had me ensnared.

“Ollie brought me breakfast,” Liam said and stepped away from me. Maeve let out a grunt, and a second later, mugs clattered.

My heartbeat still hadn’t slowed as I watched the flex of Liam’s ass in those pajama pants. He might’ve dove onto the escape that Maeve had offered, but I wasn’t ready to drop this.

Next time, we wouldn’t have interruptions.