Nepenthe (Bracing for Love #2) (26 page)

“Don't even go near her, Dean, or so help me, I'll break both your hands,” I warn, completely serious.

“Corey,” Olivia chides as she appears next to me. I immediately wrap an arm around her waist, tugging her closer to my side. “Hi, I'm Olivia,” she holds her hand out to Jamal, who shakes it.

“Nice to meet you. I'm Jamal and this is Dean.”

Olivia only smiles at Dean.
Good girl.

“I was trying to figure out how our boy is doing at his new school,” Jamal fills her in.

I pause, wondering what I'm going to say as Dean quietly makes his exit to bother someone else. “I'm taking a break from school for a bit. I'm working with a carpentry company for now.” Maybe for forever.

“Really? That's great, man. You look good, a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you.”

The last time he saw me was during a particularly rough time. I hadn't shaved in who knows how long, I barely left my room to do anything at all. We got into an argument over something stupid, I don't remember what exactly, but he pissed me off so much that I hit him. Guilt rises up within me because I was a terrible friend and person in general to him.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I offer.

He shrugs like it's no big deal. A few other teammates come and drag Olivia and me away to do more talking. I'm offered a drink numerous times, but I always answer with, “No, thanks.” The surprised looks get annoying quick, but I ignore it. Tonight isn't half bad. Football doesn't come up as much as I thought it would. It helps that girls and others start showing up to take the focus away from me.

What doesn't help is that Dean keeps glancing over at Olivia. It wouldn't bother me nearly as much if I didn't know what a pig he is. He wouldn't have any issues trying to get Olivia to sneak away with him for a quickie. I hate that he's looking at her, but I do my best to ignore it for the simple fact that she's mine and she wouldn't sleep with him.

Finally, I make it into the kitchen where my siblings are. I lay an arm around Lucy's shoulders since Grant has finally left her side.

“How are you feeling, Luce?”

“Good. Should be back to one hundred percent just in time for our trip.” More softly, she asks, “You're not mad at me about this, are you?” Her blue eyes beg me to say no. Out of the four of us, she's the only one who got Mom's eyes.

“No, I'm not. You did good, Luce.” I want to tell her no more surprises, but I know how much she loves them, so I don't.

She smiles wide. Grant returns, so I drop my arm as she moves towards his side. “Did y'all have a good drive here?” he asks.

“Yeah, but I think I'll tie Olivia to the roof on the way back. She likes to sing.” I fake a cringe and she slaps my arm.

“You loved it, don't even lie.”

I laugh because I did, a little bit. We hang out with everyone for a while before Patrick starts shooing people out. Jamal slaps me on the shoulder and is the only one who tells me to keep in touch. Olivia and I leave too, since it's been a long day for us both. Once we get settled in, she turns her head to look at me.

“That wasn't so bad, was it?”

“No, not really.”

She smiles. “Are you going to text Jamal sometime? I think he misses you in however guys miss each other. Plus, he was the nicest.”

“I don't know. Maybe. You know,” I turn on my side to face her. “I never realized how much of a jealous person I was until I met you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Dean,” I grit. “His eyes hardly left you all night.”

Her brows bunch for a moment. “The creepy guy? The one where you threatened to break his hands?”

I smile wide. “Yes, the creepy guy.” Who knew those three words would make me so happy? “I would have made good on my threat, too.”

She rolls her eyes as if I'm kidding. “What's so bad about him and not every other guy there?”

“He has no boundaries. He'll sleep with anyone. Even if he knows they are in a relationship, he'll pursue her anyway because he thinks if she'll cheat, he might as well benefit from it. Trust me, if he could have gotten you alone, he would have tried to fuck you in the bathroom.”

Olivia makes a disgusted face and I'm pretty sure I love her. “That's terrible. Were you friends with him before?”

“Not once I found out how he is, but that was mostly because I didn't want him anywhere near Luce.”

She nods in understanding. “You did good tonight. You weren't grouchy even once! Although, I kind of like you grouchy.”

I laugh. “You do?”

“Well, sometimes. I don't like the arguing part we seem to do so much, but I like that you get ill with me. It means there's still a fight in you, even if you're fighting for the wrong thing.”

Reaching for her hand, I interlock our fingers. “You do realize that all our fights are because you don't know when to stop pushing, right? Your see-into-my-soul radar stops working and you keep going.”

“Don't try and blame it all on me, Corey. There's still things you clam up on and barely acknowledge. You—”

“I know, Olivia,” I interrupt. “But you've said yourself that there's no quick fix, so sometimes, you gotta give me some space and let me breathe first.”

It seems I've stumped her because she's quiet as she mulls over what I've said. “I never thought about it like that. Only that you need a good kick in the ass to get something accomplished.”

“At some point while we're here, be sure to give me a kick in the ass, so I can tell them, okay?” Tonight, I made the decision to fill my siblings in on what's been going on with me. Ms. Cynthia is right. I want them to know, so they know what to expect. Even though I don't want them to worry, it's better than keeping them in the dark.

Olivia's eyes widen. “Really?”

The surprise so clear in her voice halts me. “Yeah, unless it's a bad idea? I thought I needed to tell them, but if you think I shouldn't—”

“No, no. That's not what I meant. I'm just surprised you want to.”

With a wry smile, I say, “I don't, but I do. Looks like seeing Ms. Cynthia is a good thing for sure.”

“Most definitely.” She snuggles closer to me. “Want to do some yoga? I brought the mats.”

I laugh. “Seriously? Date weekend is yoga-free. Let's find a movie instead.” I reach for the remote as Olivia gives in. We don't even make it to the halfway mark before what starts as simply cuddling turns into something so much better. Once again, Olivia has the power to make me forget tomorrow's battles. She's all that exists tonight and that's just the way I like it.

EARLIER TODAY, WE met up with Olivia's brother for lunch, and spent most of the rest of our time hanging out with my siblings, and sometimes Grant as well. Saturday night comes and so does our date. This is date weekend, after all, so I need to take her out. There's a place not too far from our hotel where I plan on taking advantage of Olivia's competitive side. There's arcade games, laser tag, air hockey, darts, and all sorts of stuff like that. It's mostly a local hangout for teenagers, but I don't think she'll mind.

When she exits the bathroom, she's dressed in jeans and a purple v-neck short-sleeved shirt with some sort of white design on it. She's pinned her bangs back and looks like she's even wearing a little makeup. The thing I notice most of all is her wide smile, my favorite thing about her.

“Ready?” I ask, standing up.

“Yep!” She walks over, holds out her hand, and I take it before leading the way. “Where are we going?” she asks once we're in my car.

“You'll see.”

Nervous, I run my now-clammy hand down my thigh before switching to do the same to the other. Olivia doesn't seem to notice since she's looking out the window, humming the tune to the song playing on the radio. All I can think about are a thousand questions designed to annoy and worry me. What if she hates this? What if this is really stupid? What if, what if, what if? What if's can go to hell because I can't stand them.

Once I park and we walk inside, I give in and check Olivia's reaction. A smile creeps onto her face as she takes in all the games. Then she laughs and glances at me. “You're so going down.”

We first feed money into a machine that spits out the coins we'll need for the games. Olivia drags me to the air hockey table first. Before we start, I give her my most serious expression.

“There are two rules.”

At this, she props her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes. “And those would be?”

With one finger up, I say, “No playing dirty.” I lift another finger and add, “No cheating.”

“You're no fun, Corey, but okay.” She shrugs.

Her eyes stay focused on the red disk as it glides across the table. I'm focused too, but when I score first, sending a smirk to Olivia, she gets serious about the game. The moment she exaggerates leaning forward to push the puck back my way, I get a glimpse of her cleavage.

“Hey,” I start when she does it a third time, causing me to almost allow a goal. “No playing dirty, remember?”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she grunts, hitting it hard and making it bounce off the wall. I'm not quick enough to keep her from scoring this time. “YES!” she shouts, throwing her arms in the air and doing a little victory dance.

I shake my head at her. The trick doesn't work after that, as I keep my eyes on the red blur as it moves across the table. It doesn't matter either way because Olivia wins the game, 4-2.

“What's next? I'm ready to kick your ass again.” She grins.

We slowly make our rounds, playing nearly all of the games. I start winning too, although Olivia gets some wins in as well. She's keeping score, and once I get three wins ahead of her, she folds her arms over her chest, glaring at me as I feed coins to the next machine where we'll toss basketballs into the net.

“You're playing dirty,” she states.

“What?” I laugh. “I am not.” I so am.

“Were you not the guy standing behind me a little too closely during darts, whispering dirty things in my ear?”

“Nope. Here.” I hand over her basketball. “Redeem yourself.”

She tries, but the poor girl can't shoot a basketball to save her life. “Uggghhh!” she groans as the buzzer sounds and she's had zero goals. “Corey, you know, I'm not the kind of girl who will get mad if you start letting me win,” she tries, her voice turning sugary sweet as she slips her arms around my waist.

“Yes, you are. Maybe we should up the ante.”

“Like with a bet?”

“Yeah. All or nothing showdown in laser tag. Whatcha think?”

“Hmm,” she hums, pretending to think about it as she tilts her head. “If I win, which I will because I'm a beast at laser tag, then I get a hundred bucks. If you win, then I'll give you my spare key to my apartment and whatever else you want. Deal?”

“Hmm,” I mimic. “Deal.”

I want her to win, so she can say she won and to have bragging rights. On the other hand, I want that spare key. Not because I necessarily need it. If I knock and she's home, she'll open the door. Or if it's unlocked, I can just walk in. But the action behind her giving me the key is huge. That much I understand. Or maybe I'm overthinking this and she's trying to dupe me by getting the better prize. I don't know.

We divide up, joining separate teams of a bunch of teenagers, and soon it begins. My brothers and I used to play a lot when we were younger, so I'm pretty damn good, if I say so myself. I help out my team as much as possible, but Olivia is my ultimate target.

“Ha!” I hear seconds before I lose. When I turn around, Olivia is standing there with a victorious smile from her success.

“Shooting me in the back is wrong,” I try, but I can't lose my smile at seeing how happy she is.

“That wasn't one of your rules,” she sings. Even if it was, it wouldn't have mattered. One of these days, it'll make it through my thick skull that Olivia doesn't play by the rules.

I love that about her.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON, WE'RE sitting on the couch in the living room at Patrick and Jon's house, hanging out before I have to leave. Olivia keeps subtly poking my thigh, reminding me that I'm supposed to talk to my siblings. Grant is out and about somewhere, so it's only us. We've come to a lull in conversation, Olivia pokes me hard again, and I clear my throat. Might as well get this over with before a bruise forms on my leg.

“I know y'all want to know what's been going on with me, and I'm ready to talk.” That immediately catches everyone's attention. “I need you to wait until I finish to say anything or ask questions, okay?”

They nod. This is the moment where I bare my soul for them to see. The thought makes me freeze, my mouth seals shut. Olivia takes my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. Each of them is watching me, looking a little nervous and worried, but expectant and ready for answers. I need to do this for them and for me. With a deep breath and my eyes on my baby sister, I get started.

“I've been battling depression.” That's easily the hardest sentence I've ever had to say to them. Lucy immediately looks concerned and I have to force myself to continue, to ignore the big brother protective urge to keep this from her, to save Lucy from any worry. “This isn't something that started with my injury. It's something I've been struggling with for a long time, definitely since high school if you want a time frame, but my injury is what triggered it again.”