Love Online

“Uh-oh.” I laughed.

“Yeah. He’s so funny, though. It was worth getting in trouble.”

This kid definitely had a mischievous side. He reminded me a lot of myself when I was younger, always trying to get into things I wasn’t supposed to.

Eden explained, “Because Ollie can’t see, he’s drawn to really strong voices, and I guess Gilbert fits the bill.”

“I thought I knew all the cool people, too. But apparently not,” I said.

Ollie shrugged. “Guess not.”

My gaze wandered over to Eden, who was now leaning against the counter, crossing her arms. Our eyes locked, and it hit me that it was probably a good thing Ollie couldn’t see me, because it was inevitable that I would get a hard-on for his sister at some point tonight.

I could get hard just looking at her. I couldn’t remember ever having this kind of physical need for anyone before. The past several weeks had been like one long episode of foreplay. Now that I was near her, I couldn’t help being so physically turned on, even though she wasn’t doing anything specific to incite that. She didn’t have to do anything except exist.

My brain was telling my dick to slow the fuck down, that we had to back up several miles now that we knew what was really happening here. But he wasn’t quite getting the message.

I snapped myself out of my gawking. “Alright. Are you ready for me to take over the kitchen? Chicken pot pie-making is serious business. You need to steer clear, because I’m gonna need all this counter space.”

Eden smiled. “Well, it’s not every day we have someone cooking for us, so we will gladly steer clear. Right, Ollie?”

“Yeah, no one’s cooked for us since Ethan.”

Ethan?

Who the fuck is Ethan?

“Oh yeah?” Looking over at Eden, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Who’s Ethan?”

Ollie laughed. “I bet you thought I said ‘Eden’ at first, right? Ethan sounds like Eden.”

“Yeah…sure does,” I said, still curious as to who the heck Ethan was.

“Ethan stopped coming around a long time ago,” he said.

“Ethan is my ex-boyfriend,” Eden admitted.

“I see.” Not wanting to ask in front of Ollie, I didn’t pry about what had happened to Ethan. If she wanted to tell me, she would. But right now, wherever Ethan was, I was glad he was gone.

I’d picked up a bottle of white while I was out. I remembered she’d once told me she loved pinot grigio. I poured Eden a glass so she could relax while I cooked.

Eden and Ollie sat at the table while I prepared the ingredients. I even made the crust from scratch, because that’s how my mother taught me to do it. It took a little bit of time, but I always thought it was worth it.

We made small talk as I cooked. Eden and I stole glances at each other as Ollie told us stories from school.

About two hours later, we finally sat down to dinner, and when I say Ollie devoured half the entire pie, that’s no exaggeration.

“Someone liked the pie,” Eden teased.

“Not the kind of pie I’m used to, but really good,” he said.

“Well, I’m very glad you liked it,” I said.

Eden licked her lips. “It was really delicious, Ryder.

Those lips look delicious.

“Well, it’s a good thing you like it, because like I said, it’s all I know how to make.”

Ollie stole my attention from Eden’s lips when he said, “Wanna come hang out in my room?”

I paused, caught off guard by the request. But there was only one answer. “Oh yeah, sure.”

“There’s not a lot in there to see, but I can show you my iPad.”

“Yeah. That sounds cool.”

Eden tried to intervene. “Ollie, Ryder’s probably tired from his trip.”

“No. I’m good.” I smiled. No way was I about to disappoint this kid.

She smiled back and mouthed, “Thank you.”

I winked at her.

Ollie got up from his chair and led me to his bedroom. To say I felt like a fish out of water was an understatement. Not only did I have no real experience with kids, but I was terrified I’d say something fucking stupid without thinking, like I had when I used the term blind with Eden earlier.

Exhaling, I sat down on his mattress, which was on the floor. He sat on the other side of it.

“You seem nervous,” he finally said.

“You think so? How can you tell?”

“Your breathing.”

That reminded me of how Eden used to be able to sense the same thing back when she could only hear my voice. I chuckled because she’d probably thought about her brother when she said it.

Ollie’s features were definitely darker than Eden’s. His skin was tanned, and his hair was almost black. He had big brown eyes to her green. But they had different fathers, so that made sense.

He reached for his device and clicked on the YouTube icon, which actually sounded out the word YouTube in a robotic woman’s voice as he pressed it. It must have been a special app that allowed him to hear what he was selecting.