I unlocked the door and pulled it open. “What the hell, Mi—”
Olivia was standing in front of me. She smiled that smile that used to bring me to my knees.
Now, it did nothing to me, not a damn thing.
“What are you doing here, Liv?” I asked.
Her smile dropped. She shook her head and started to push past me. She walked in and shooed the dogs away.
“Well, I had something very important to talk to my party planner about, and I tried calling her all last night and this morning. Then, I ran into her overly talkative friend slash business partner”—she said with air quotes—“at the coffee shop this morning. Ugh, she was arguing with Reed about some stupid fucking tree. ”
I had to smile, thinking about Reed and Court arguing about trees.
I wonder if Courtney knows what he does for a living. I’ll have to ask Whit.
I grinned, thinking about my sleeping beauty waiting in bed for me.
“Um, hello? Layton, I’m trying to talk to you!”
I looked up and shook my head. “Sorry. ”
I saw her glance down, and she frowned at the tray of food. Her head snapped up, and she glared at me.
“Do you have company?” She stood there, staring at me.
Whit had pulled her car around back, so Olivia probably hadn’t seen it when she pulled up.
“Yes, I do. So, if you don’t have a real need for anything, Olivia, I’m going to ask that you go. ”
At first, she looked pissed. Then, I saw tears building in her eyes. She put her face in her hands as she sat down and started crying.
My first reaction was to run to her and hold her in my arms. Then, I thought of Whitley saying, Please don’t ever hurt me.
I took a deep breath, leaned against the door, and waited for Olivia to finish her show. I wasn’t falling for her games anymore. The only thing I wanted was for her to leave, so I could get back to the love of my life waiting for me, naked, in my bed.
The love of my life.
I truly did love her. I loved her so much that it almost hurt. I’d never imagined I could fall in love with someone so hard and so fast.
“Layton, are you even paying attention?”
I glanced up at Olivia. “Oh, sorry, Liv. ”
“I’m having second thoughts about marrying Justin. ”
Nothing—I felt nothing for Olivia.
“Oh yeah? Why’s that, Liv?”
She looked at me and gave me a small smile. “He’s not you. He could never be you, Layton. Please, please can we just maybe go for a ride or something? I really need you right now. ”
I pushed myself off the wall. “Is that so? Kind of like when I really needed you after my brother died, and instead of being there, you walked out on me?”
She started to shake her head. “No! Layton, I didn’t want to leave. It was just…you were so upset, and so…I don’t know. It was like a part of you was missing, and it scared me. I didn’t know how to deal with that. ”
“A part of me was missing, Liv. A big part of me is still missing. All I needed you to do was stay with me, hold me, and show me you loved me to prove I wasn’t alone in this fucked-up world. ”
She started to walk toward me. “I can do that now, Layton. I promise you, I’ll never leave you again. I promise. Just please…give me another chance. I’m begging you. I’ve loved you since we were young kids. Layton…please. ”