Chasing Ivy (Oak Hill 1)

Mia stuck her tongue out. “I’m not nearly as bad as this one,” she answered, pointing at me.

She and Dawson fired back a few jokes about me falling down and running into things constantly before I realized that Dawson was standing, looking over at me.

“Huh?” I asked.

Dawson’s face twitched with humor. “I said I was going to head home tonight so that you and your sister can hang out.”

“You don’t have to go,” I answered, almost sounding desperate.

Dawson chuckled. “It’s fine, babe. You hang with your sister.” Then he walked over to me, pulling me up to my feet. I felt the blush running across my cheeks.

I grinned. “I like you calling me babe.”

A Crest commercial worthy smile appeared. “I like calling you babe.”

We both turned our head at the sound of Mia making puke noises. Then she stopped and smiled. “I’m just kidding. I love you two together. Even my twelve-year-old self thought you two were the coolest couple ever.”

I laughed. “We weren’t even a couple back then.”

She rolled her eyes. “Tell that to twelve-year-old Mia who watched her cool, older sister stare across the dinner table with Cupid eyes at her ‘best friend.’”

I laughed again and walked Dawson over to the door. He bent down, slipping his shoes on and leaned in, his scent wrapping around me like a blanket.

“I’ll come by tomorrow, after work?” he questioned, bending down to brush his lips over mine.

I reached up on my tiptoes, planting an eager kiss on his lips, slipping my tongue in for good measure.

He whispered, “Careful, now.”

I smirked. “Yeah, come by after work. I’ll cook.”

I heard Mia say, “You cook?”

Rolling my eyes, I shot her a dirty look.

“Love you,” Dawson said, pulling back and smiling at me once more.

I smiled back. “Love you more.”

Then he walked out the door and I turned around to a squealing Mia.

“What are you screaming about?!” I shouted.

“YOU GUYS ARE SO CUTE!”

Yes, yes, we are.

I was literally dragging at work. Like, eyelids blinking so slowly that I might have caught a 5-second nap in between the blinks. Mia and I stayed up way too late going over everything that was going on with Dawson and me and her filling me in on the stupid, ass-hat jock who thought he could play my sister.

I was still pissed about it now, hours later, sitting at my desk.

My phone rang, causing me to shake off my anger and put my customer-service voice on (we all have one, don’t pretend you have no idea what I’m talking about).

“Hello?” I said cheerfully.

“Hey, it’s me,” Abigail said, incognito.

I laughed. “Why are you whispering… and why are you calling me from the next office over?”