Mouth to Mouth (Beach Kingdom 1)

“Well done, kid,” his father had said, clapping slowly. “We might make a man out of you after all.”

Treading water and trying to keep the panic off his face, Rory remembered the unwanted pride that stole through him. He’d pleased his dad. Had that ever happened before? Jumping first and asking questions later had become a theme in his life after that day.

Right now, though? For the first time since the day he’d hurled himself into the community pool…he wasn’t jumping first and asking questions later. Not with Olive. When he found her, he’d wanted nothing more than to devour her. Keep her all to himself. But he’d stepped back, hadn’t he? He’d given her space to make sure he was the right man. He’d started the lifelong journey to improving himself. Staring back at that man on the boardwalk fifteen minutes ago, he hadn’t felt like an escaped animal. Every time he’d imagined running into the person he’d attacked, that’s how he assumed he’d feel. Like he should still be in a locked cell. But he had a new confidence in himself tonight—and it had felt damn good.

So good that he didn’t want to keep the past locked inside anymore. As he helped Olive off his bike and they walked toward her building, his pulse ticked loudly in his ears. What would she say if he told her everything? Already he knew the conversation was inevitable, her silent curiosity speaking volumes, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous as hell to recount the night he acted like an animal. The night he was put away for the safety of the community.

When they were a few feet from the entrance, the doorman stepped to one side, holding the door open. Just like the last two times he’d encountered this guy, the doorman’s expression turned distasteful at the sight of Rory—and his confidence dipped momentarily. The guy had every right to regard him like a miscreant. Hadn’t he just fucked his sweet, beautiful girlfriend in public—hard and from behind—like the depraved asshole he was?

Olive tightened her grip on his hand and smiled up at him, though, and Rory remembered how she’d sighed into his chest when he picked her up. How she’d begged and gone down on her knees willingly. Eagerly. No, she’d been right there with him. He needed to respect that she knew her own mind, this incredibly intelligent girl.

Her smile dipped when she saw how the doorman sneered at Rory, her mouth opening in an outraged O. “Mike, this is Rory. He’s going to be here. A lot.” She leaned into Rory’s side and passed through the entrance, her chin raised. “We bid you goodnight.”

As soon as they were in the elevator, Rory let out the laugh he’d been holding, and Olive joined him. “We bid you goodnight?”

She pressed her palms to her pinkening cheeks. “Oh God. It seemed appropriate in my head, but then I just sounded like the dad from Mary Poppins.”

Rory pulled her into his arms, his body still shaking with amusement. “It was cute.”

Olive tilted her head back to meet his gaze. “That’s not the first time he looked at you like that, is it?”

Reluctantly, he shook his head.

“You should have told me.” She ran her hands up his chest, over his neck and into his hair. “It’s not okay. He doesn’t even know you.”

The elevator slowed to a stop and Rory swallowed. “You don’t know all of me yet, either. Is that something you really want, sunbeam?”

She knew he referred to the truth of the night he was arrested. Her solemn expression made that obvious. “Yes. I do.”

When the metal door slid open, Olive took Rory’s hand and led him into a carpeted hallway with sconces on the walls and apartment numbers engraved on golden plaques. He was glad to see the cameras located on either end of the hallway. It meant she’d be safe. Which meant he’d sleep soundly at night. The tight security didn’t make him feel any less out of place, but he focused on the hand inside his. How she gripped him so tightly and continued to throw reassuring looks over her shoulder, as if to say, you belong. You’re here because I need you.

Rory took a deep breath…and made the choice to believe her.

Olive stopped outside the door at the north end of the hallway, sliding her key into the lock and letting them inside. She flipped on the light and the first thing Rory saw was books. So many books. They were color coded and arranged on shelves, stacked on tables, in piles on the floor. Swanky or not, this place had Olive written on every inch of it. So he felt nothing but comfortable as he entered, following her lead and kicking off his shoes near the door.