Chapter 9
Cody
Cody checked himself in the mirror, brushing his damp hair away from his face. He was picking Olivia up in a few hours, and he was more than looking forward to it.
He was also inexplicably nervous.
When the hell had he ever been nervous in his life? Never, that was when. But going on a date with a beautiful woman was apparently enough to do it to him.
No… that wasn’t entirely true. He’d been on a few dates with attractive women before. Not a whole lot, and they never progressed past the third or fourth date, but this wasn’t his first rodeo.
There was one major difference there, though. None of them had been Olivia.
He’d never felt this pulled to a woman, felt this level of awareness, or had the urge to spend every moment with her, to give her the world and do everything he could to make her happy.
How was it possible to feel like this for someone, so fucking fast?
It might have felt like he’d known her forever, but the reality was, it had been only a short
amount of time.
She had secrets. It was easy to see if a person just looked, and he was always looking at her. She had hidden pain, hidden scars, and he didn’t know how deep they ran.
He didn’t know if she could move past them to give him a shot, because he didn’t know what they were.
None of that was going to stop him, though. He was going to put his all into wooing Olivia and just hope for the best.
There was no other acceptable option.
A flare of heat seared his chest, like the beast that lived inside him agreed with his plan.
Olivia wasn’t the only one with secrets. The difference was, nothing she could tell him would scare him away—but he was positive his truth would send her running so fast, all he’d see was the dust cloud behind her.
She’d see him as a monster. Hell, he was a monster. He’d accepted it long ago, but he wasn’t sure he could ask her to do the same.
He’d tell her eventually, of course. It wasn’t something he could hide from her. Not if he wanted to live with himself.
But he wouldn’t tell her until she was as invested in whatever this was between them as he was. He didn’t want to sabotage them before they ever really had a chance.
Giving himself another look in the mirror and resolving that he wasn’t going to change clothes like a teenage girl getting ready for her first date, he left his room, running lightly down the stairs.
He went straight to the kitchen and poured a glass of water, chugging it in an attempt to wet his dry throat. Were the nerves and anticipation so strong that all this was really necessary?
Yes. Yes, they were, and he couldn’t bring himself to give one single fuck.
Lindsey strolled into the kitchen, a knowing smirk on her face that he didn’t trust a bit. Eyeing her suspiciously when she just stood there looking at him, he turned to face her, irritation coloring his voice when he spoke.
“What? I just got a shower, so I know I don’t have anything on my face. Why are you looking at me like that?”
Shrugging, she picked up an apple as she leaned against the island. She didn’t take a single bite, just tossed it in the air repeatedly, the sound of it smacking against her palm increasing his agitation.
“Where are you heading off to?”
Her question might have been innocent, but the look in her eyes was not. He tried to keep his tone even when he replied, but even he could hear the defensiveness creeping into his tone. “What makes you think I’m going anywhere?”
Smirk deepening, she nodded to his shoes. “Those are your fancy boots. You only wear them on special occasions. So, what’s the special occasion tonight?”
Cursing over observant sisters, he took another sip of his water, trying to appear unconcerned. He and Lindsey were close, so it wasn’t like he didn’t want to tell her—he just wanted to keep it to himself for a while.