Free Olivia by Lori L. Otto Page B

didn’t come home?” I ask him.
He shakes his head in obvious disappointment.
    “ It’s okay, Will. Put Max on...
hey, kiddo. I know you’re hungry,” he says to his youngest brother
with a chuckle. “No, you won’t starve. I’ll bring you two
something, okay? Anything you want.”
    I sigh, slumping my shoulders, realizing that he’s
not going to hang out with me at the house tonight. I walk a few
steps away, leaning against the brick wall and picking at my
fingernails while he takes orders from his brothers.
    “ Chicken nuggets,” Jon tells me
after he hangs up. “I hate that his favorite food is chicken
nuggets. Not to mention it’s past his bed time and the poor thing
hasn’t had dinner.”
    “ Where’s your mother?” I ask
him.
    He shrugs. “It’s the second time she’s done this
since I left for college. I mean, they’re already left to fend for
themselves on Wednesdays because she has to work the dinner shift,
but she’s supposed to be there the rest of the week. This can’t
continue,” he mutters, tipping my head up with his index finger.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
    “ Me, too,” I tell him, jutting my
bottom lip out. He weaves his fingers between mine and starts
walking again toward my house. When we reach the corner, I glance
into the yard, noting how quiet it is outside.
    “ Where’s your dad?” Jon
asks.
    “ Trey had a parent-teacher night at
school,” I explain. “I think they were going to pick Mom up at the
Art Room and go get cupcakes at the bakery.”
    “ Wait, so no one’s
home?”
    “ Nope.”
    “ Man, Liv. I’m really sorry now. We could have been
alone?”
    “ Not for long, but
yeah.”
    “ This sucks... but hey,” he says,
his voice becoming cheerful. “In two nights, it’s just me and you,
right? All night?”
    I feel my cheeks turn pink at the thought of it, and
I can’t help but smile. My stomach flutters in nervous jitters.
“All night,” I whisper, unable to look him in the eyes.
    “ I can’t wait, Olivia. I mean,
we’ve waited so long for this. We should go somewhere romantic for
dinner... or maybe cook?”
    “ We have to have dinner with
Abram,” I remind him of the meeting my agent had set up.
    “ Oh, I forgot.” He crinkles his
nose. He’s never been a big fan of Abram’s.
    “ But hey, we are going somewhere
romantic. He wants to go to La Créme.”
    “ I don’t even know what that
is.”
    “ I just know my parents have gone
there on date nights. They’re really good about maintaining some
level of privacy. Abram suggested it to keep the photographers at
bay.”
    “ A romantic dinner for three ,” Jon says in a mangled British accent. “I’m so chuffed.”
    “ You’re a dork,” I tease him once
we get across the street. “Go get your chicken nuggets so Max won’t
starve.”
    “ But I’m hungry, too,” he says with
an intense gaze.
    “ For?” I wrap my arms around him
and hug him tightly, looking up at him expectantly.
    “ You,” he says seriously, making my
heart skip a beat. “For a kiss.”
    “ Make it good,” I challenge him.
“Make it count.”
    He grins, clearly accepting the challenge, and his
hands move to the nape of my neck. Before he leans in, we both
check our surroundings, making sure we don’t have an audience.
Feeling safe that we’re alone, he angles my head to the right and
moves in slowly, beginning the kiss tentatively, like he’s teasing
me.
    “ I said, make it count,” I remind
him. Before I even realize what he’s doing, his left hand moves to
my lower back to support me while he dips me theatrically and
allows his lips to attack mine. I giggle through the kiss until I
lose my footing and fall back onto the lawn. Even though I know he
could have stayed upright, he comes with me, laughing with me in
the grass.
    “ So what do your brothers do on
Wednesdays for dinner?” I ask him.
    “ I take them for a sandwich or
something.”
    “ Come over,” I urge him. “Bring
your brothers. That way we