Jewel Ann - Idle Bloom

He paces the length of the room. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I laugh. “You do see the irony in you saying that to me , right?

He sighs. “God! I’m sorry, I messed up. I’ve said it a million times. What more can I say? What more can I do?”

“Nothing! That’s just it. I don’t expect you to do anything. I’m not asking for you to apologize anymore. But don’t ask me to spend the rest of my life reassuring you that it’s okay . I’m fine. I’m moving on and so should you.”

“Viv—”

“Don’t Viv me. Now, do you want to talk about Kate?”

He shakes his head.

“Go home, Kai. I have to get to work.”

When my dad was too busy working, Kai taught me how to ride my bike without training wheels. He lived four houses down from us, and I’m pretty sure I loved him from the moment he split his grape twin Popsicle with me after I took my first two-wheeled spill. We were inseparable. I played ninjas with him and he played house with me. He was my first kiss and I was his. We were seven and our moms had us kiss for a photo on Valentine’s Day, but it still counted. I wanted to be Kai’s first everything and him to be mine.

Me: Sorry I skipped out so early. I REALLY wanted to stay :)

Oli: Lunch?

Me: Can’t, Maggie is gone today.

Oli: You’re alone?

Me: Just me and the Cannabis.

Oli: What?

Me: For medicinal purposes of course.

Oli: Funny

Me: It is?

Oli: I’ll see you in an hour.

Me: :)!!!!!!

“I had to bring my sidekick. We’ll have to reschedule our nooner. Sorry, Viv.” Chance comes through the door first, carrying a pizza box.

I untie my green apron and wink walking past him and straight into Oliver’s arms. He hugs me and lifts me off the ground laying a long, sound kiss on my lips. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He grins.

I kiss one dimple and then the other.

“What are you doing?”

“Kissing your adorable dimples.”

He shakes his head and releases me to the ground. “Not the dimples.”

I slip my hands into his back pockets. “Oli, you count my freckles for heaven’s sake. I think that entitles me to kiss and swoon over your dimples.”

“ Oli ?” Chance turns around with a huge grin. “You let her call you Oli?”

“Zip it!”

I look back and forth between them. Oliver frowns with a scowl of warning while Chance feigns innocence with his single-dimpled grin.

“Would someone please explain what the big deal is? Oli is the common nickname for Oliver.”

Chance moves his gaze to me. “Oliver’s first girlfriend when he was … What were you? Nine? Ten?”

Oliver continues to glare.

“Anyway, her name was Molly. Oli and Molly sitting in a tree—”

Oliver begins to close the distance with his fists clenched at his sides.

Chance holds up his hands. “Okay, okay … I digress, said tree is still in our parents’ backyard with O plus M equals heart carved into it. Molly broke his heart a week later when she left him for Tommy who was a year older and, in her words, ‘had grown out of his boyhood name and was now going by Thomas.’ That’s the day Oli became Oliver and he threatened to beat up anyone who ever tried to call him Oli again.”

I laugh. “Is this true?”

Oliver looks down at me and nods just once.

“My point …” Chance speaks up, “… is that you must have some serious pussy power over him if he’s letting you call him Oli.”

“Shut up. You’re so crude.”

Inside I’m rolling around, holding my belly. After last night, I know that both the Konrad boys have the same dirty thoughts going through their mind. The only difference being Oliver is more refined, showing restraint and using a filter for his thoughts before they reach his mouth—except when he’s drunk.

Chance folds his slice of pizza toward the middle and shoves half of it in his mouth.

“So did you get this weekend off?” I pick the black olives off my slice of pizza.

They both look at me in confusion.

“Cape Cod? This weekend? Alex and Sean invited us to go with them?”

Oliver chews in slow motion, squinting his eyes.

“I asked you yesterday at Dunks.”

Chance chokes on his pizza. Oliver shakes his head and rolls his eyes. I see what I’m not supposed to hear.

“You told him?”

Oliver shakes his head while swallowing what’s in his mouth. Chance snickers, refusing to make eye contact with me.

“You told him!”

“No, I didn’t. I only told him I knocked over my coffee, that’s all. I swear. I don’t know why he’s acting like a dumb-ass who knows something he really doesn’t.”

I glare at Chance. He holds up one finger as he swallows. “True. When he showed up for work he told me he spilled his coffee.”

Oliver lifts his shoulders with a wide-eyed I-told-you-so look.

“ But … he shared a different much more interesting story after his fourth beer last night.” Chance wiggles his eyebrows and I want to die.

Now Oliver chokes. “I did … not!”

“Yeah, ya did, Bro. And I suspect there’s more to the cut on your head story, but we’ll save that for the next round of beers. By the way, Viv, you can take me out to breakfast anytime you want.” He winks.

I don’t question Chance because I too got quite the earful of Oliver’s uncensored beer lips last night.

Oliver shakes his head and chuckles. “How is it that I’m getting so much grief about this, like I did something wrong? Was public humiliation, hot coffee in my lap, and a trip to the emergency room not enough to warrant a pardon for the few indiscretions I may have had?”

Grabbing the neck of his T-shirt, I pull him closer and kiss his cut. “I forgive you, Oli.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“So, what I was trying to tell you yesterday is that Sean’s family has a place in Cape Cod and we’ve been invited to go with him and Alex to stay there for the weekend.” I look at Chance. “That is, if your boss will give you the weekend off.”

“Oliver doesn’t ask me for anything. It’s not up to me if he goes.” Chance tosses the pizza box in the trash. “Wrap it up, I’ll meet you in the truck. Thanks for the nooner, Viv.”

“Bye, Chance.” I look at Oliver, trying to decipher what his expressionless face means. “So you’ll go this weekend?”

“I don’t know. A weekend away with your friends, that’s …”

“What? Fun? Relaxing?”

“Serious.”

“Serious?” I twist my lips to the side and take a step back, leaning against the checkout counter. “Okay, well I’m still going.”

He nods. “You should. They’re your friends and you’ll probably have a lot of fun.”

“I’d have more fun if you were going.” I’m disappointed and hurt, but I’m only letting him see the disappointment. Somewhere over the past few weeks I thought we’d established an unspoken understanding that our relationship was serious —evidently not.

He holds out his hand, I take it, and allow him to pull me into his arms. “I have to go, but I’ll see you later.”

With a kiss and a smile, he’s out the door. I berate myself for feeling so let down. Oliver is everything I never expected. Asking for more is slapping mercy in the face. I’ll take every look, every touch, and every whisper he’s willing to give me. The problem is the only place I have to keep them is my heart.