Chapter 37: Olive
For a second, when the waiter tripped with Chelsea’s cake, I wondered how hard it would be to hide a body. Now, however, with the cake safely on the table, I’m feeling more charitable towards the poor guy. I bet he was wondering how fast he would lose his job at the same moment I was contemplating my legal defense.
Shaking myself and releasing my death grip on Brooks’ arm, I relax just a bit. God, that was terrifying.
Brooks slips a warm hand down my back, his work-roughened hand caressing the exposed skin as he leads me towards the cake table. Lilah is headed in our direction and I can see the rest of my family sitting a couple tables back.
There’s a small crowd admiring the cake as Lilah meets up with us, grinning maniacally. “How close was that?” she asks.
“Oof,” I reply. “Way too close for that waiter’s safety,” I grin back. She scoops the fallen pinecone off the floor and sighs. I know what she’s thinking. What a waste of chocolate. We hand-crafted each one, filling them with soft caramel and spiced ganache.
“Brooks,” Lilah nods in his direction.
“Lilah,” he replies with a salute.
She laughs and leans in. “Gran sent me over to drag you guys back to our table. She wants the dirt on you two since you haven’t brought this guy to family dinner yet. She says she’s running out of patience.”
“Alright, alright. We’ll go over in a second. I just want Brooks to see the finished cake before another disaster can befall it.” Looking out to my Gran, I hold up a finger and silently ask her to give me a minute before pulling Brooks closer to the cake.
He holds me close as I point out the finer details. The gum paste flowers, crystalized berries, the chocolate curls that look like cinnamon sticks and the chocolate pinecones, airbrushed and painstakingly hand-painted to look real.
“I get wedding cakes now,” he speaks low so only I can hear him. His nose gently brushing my neck. His palm slides around to my stomach, pulling my back flush with his front.
Now would be a very inconvenient time to get turned on. I’m supposed to drag Brooks over to meet my family in a minute and I really can’t do that with soaking wet panties. Oh, wait! I’m not wearing any because this stupid beautiful dress will show panty lines if I even think about undergarments. Christ. I’m going to have to excuse myself to clean up if he doesn’t stop it.
With a sigh, I remove Brooks’ hand and lead him towards my family. Might as well get this over with. Pulling up to the table, I kiss Gran on the cheek before introducing her to Brooks.
“Brooks, this is--”
“So nice to finally meet you, Brooks. Call me Gran!” she interrupts. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, Olive,” she chastises while shaking Brooks’ hand and simultaneously feeling up his bicep.
“Hands off the goods, Gran,” I tell her as I peel her hands off my man. “She’s handsy,” I faux whisper to Brooks. He’s grinning broadly and winks at Gran. She melts so hard I’m surprised she doesn’t bust a hip and hit the ground.
“Everyone else, this is Brooks.” I gesture at my siblings as I give him their names. “Asher, Lukas, and Julia.”
Asher and Lukas both stand up to shake his hand. Julia waves from her chair. My brothers immediately start in on the build outs they want to do at the shop, asking Brooks a million questions. Julia stands, excusing herself to use the bathroom. I’ve had to pee for ages so I try to sneak off with her, patting Brooks’ arm as I go. I don’t make it more than a step before he pulls me back for a kiss.
“Don’t disappear on me for too long. I just got you back after waiting all day,” he whispers in my ear. It pleases me more than I should admit that he missed me today. I was so busy, but I missed him too. He was on my mind all day. All I really wanted to do was to hurry things along and get back by his side.
I swear I can feel his eyes watching me all the way out of the ballroom. Sure enough, turning to look back at him as we get to the heavy double doors, he’s still talking to my brothers but his eyes are glued on me. He’s positively smoldering, and it sends pleasure skittering up my spine.
Julia and I wait in line and then giggle while we both awkwardly wrangle our gowns in stalls next to each other. A floor length silk gown sounds great in theory and looks amazing for photos and dancing but no one stops to think about the logistics of trying to hold it up out of the way without wrinkling the shit out of it while you pee.
We wash our hands next to each other and take a second to touch up our makeup. Julia adjusts her boobs and straightens the top of her burgundy velvet gown. It’s off the shoulder and clings to her curves like a second skin.
“Brooks is quite the catch, huh?” she asks me nonchalantly as she carefully wipes a fleck of mascara from under her eye. The question comes out way too innocent.
Sighing, I put down my lip gloss. “Just say what you’re thinking. I know there was a ton of subtext hidden in that comment and I’m too tired to pull the truth out of you by force.”
Julia grins, pausing with her lipstick hovering over her lips. “I mean, we haven’t gotten to talk much the last few weeks.” She holds a hand up before I can apologize. “Not your fault. I’ve been working at the hospital and studying 24/7. It’s just… I don’t know what I expected when you told me you were dating your contractor. I guess I just didn’t realize he was such a daddy.”
Lilah walks in at that very moment and stops dead, “Brooks is a dad?”
Julia smiles at our shocked faces. “No, not like that. At least I’m assuming not. I mean, he’s a daddy. You know, a little older, salt and pepper on the sides, super big and muscly, those little smile lines around his eyes, likes to get all caveman when someone touches his woman... If the internet has taught me one thing, that man is a daddy.”
Oh, dude. “Julia, I swear to god, if you call him a daddy one more time, I will end you.”
“Relax, I’m not about to encourage the rumors of the Donovan’s collective daddy issues. That’s just like the internet definition of him. Besides, I’m not here to yuck your yum. I’ve got my own fish to fry.” She applies her lipstick and wiggles her eyebrows at her reflection in the mirror.