Page 80 of The Time It Takes
“Are you trying to live up to your new title, sister?” Ben asked, his voice a lethal calm. He gripped my wrist tightly, pulling me to the side. I yanked my hand out of his grasp.
“What is your problem? I’m just dancing.” I rubbed my wrist even though it felt completely fine.
“Ask Oliver,” he said, his tone carrying a bite. He jerked his head in the direction of him, but I didn’t look. Not yet.
I scrunched my eyebrows together in confusion. “Why should I ask him when you’re the one who dragged me away from a perfectly good tie?” As soon as the words finished leaving my lips, my hand flew to my mouth. I’d saidtie, not time. My shoulders hunched forward and shook as I giggled quietly to myself.
“Oh Jesus,” is all he replied. He tried to keep his responsible big brother mojo, but it faltered. He was smiling and he couldn’t even deny it.
My laughter subsided and he took a deep breath, grabbing me by the shoulders. He jerked his chin back and I finally looked over at Oliver to find him watching me. He was no longer wearing a shirt and I could see every line of muscle in his body tense the moment our eyes met. His eyes might have been a heartbreaking soft green, but right then they were a raging flame. They rolled down my body and then back up.
I brought my attention back to Ben when I realized he was saying something. “What?”
He pressed his lips together, shaking his head, seeming to have realized my attention span was as pointless as a broken pencil. “It was either me stepping in or Oliver beating that dude’s face in.”
“Why?” I asked a little too excitedly.
Ben’s eyes narrowed on me. “What are you doing, kid?”
I shrunk a little, trying to go back to feigning innocence. I gave up fast enough, though. I brushed his hands off me with a glare.
“I’ll see you at home,” I told him. He hesitated before sighing and leaving me alone with a nod. With that, I headed over to Mr. Crabs.
Oliver was leaning over the bar when I approached him, looking like someone shit in his shoe.
“What’s up with you?”
His smile was tight when he faced me. “Nothing.” His clenched jaw told me otherwise.
I pressed the back of my hand to his forehead and then his cheeks. “Hm. Interesting, for sure.”
He swatted my hand away. “What are you doing?”
“You feel fine. So, I’m going to go with grumpy, and on your birthday. Shame,” I said with a shake of my head, pressing my lips tightly together in disapproval.
He glared at me, but he didn’t manage to hold it very long. “You’re drunk,” he said quietly and made it sound like the worst thing in the world.
I crossed my arms. “So?”
When I expected an explanation for stating the obvious, he didn’t give me one. He only stared at me with concealed thoughts behind those green veiled eyes.
“Ollie?” I pressed.
The only response I got was him slipping his hand through mine and walking me into the house.
“Definitely grumpy,” I mumbled under my breath, and it earned me a quick smirk over the shoulder from him.
The tiled floors were so white that the fluorescent lights reflected directly off of them. I found myself squinting and he must have noticed because he stopped to dim the lights. He walked me up the steps slowly like he thought I’d fall if we went at a normal human pace, which I totally might have.
We went up two flights of stairs and by the time we reached the top floor, my drunk bones had memorized the movements and I took a step that wasn’t there to take. I face-planted directly into Oliver’s back. I scrambled to compose myself by the time he turned around and whatever he saw made him chuckle.
“Come on, weirdo.”
I was frowning at him, but he couldn’t see it because he was walking ahead of me again. I was still standing in the same spot because he had let go of my hand.
I caught up to him by the time he got to his bedroom door. When he opened it, he ushered me inside. His bed looked so big and fluffy that it took everything in me not to jump into it with my soaked clothes. I heard him opening his mini fridge behind me. The curtains were open, giving a perfect view of the chaos going on downstairs.
I was pleased to find his bed still intact, though I ignored the reason why.
