no.
His mother’s head twisted slowly toward the hallway that housed the bedrooms and bathroom. The shower sounded unbearably loud in the otherwise silent house. Then she twisted her head around until she faced Sammy again.
The glee in her expression made him take a step back.
“Who’s in the shower?” she asked, her eyes wide. “Is it a girl? Do you have a girl over?”
She couldn’t have been more excited if she found out she won free round-trip tickets to Hawaii.
The jackhammers in Sammy’s head pounded anew. Between this and his earlier argument with Olivia, they’d had a busy day. “No. I mean, yes, but no.”
Amy frowned. “You’re not making any sense. Is it a girl or not?”
“It is, but—”
She flew toward the bathroom, leaving him alone in the kitchen.
“—it’s not what you think,” Sammy finished. He followed his mother into the hallway, where she stood outside the bathroom door with anticipation gleaming in her eyes. His stomach pulsed with dread. “Mom, she’s in the shower. You can’t wait for her outside the bathroom like this. It’s creepy.”
“I need to use the toilet,” she said. “What’s creepy about that? People wait outside public bathrooms all the time.”
This isn’t a public bathroom, he wanted to say, but he knew it wouldn’t get him anywhere. There was no arguing with his mom once she set her mind on something.
Sammy could only watch in slow-motion horror when the bathroom door opened a few minutes later and steam poured out, partially obscuring an unsuspecting Olivia as she stepped into the hall. For once, he wished she was one of those women who took forever in the shower—no way would his mom wait here for an hour—but she was quick and efficient, as always.
Olivia’s tanned skin glistened with crystal droplets of water, and her dark, damp hair was slicked back, highlighting her cheekbones. She held onto the top of the towel wrapped around her slender frame with one hand and reached for her bedroom door with the other. Judging by the far-off look in her eyes, she was deep in thought and didn’t notice she had company in the hall.
In any other situation, Sammy would’ve been turned on as hell—hot girl in a towel!—but it was hard to feel lustful when you were watching an imminent car crash.
“Hello,” Amy said in English.
Olivia jumped and screamed, which caused his mom to scream in response.
“Aaaaaaah!”
“Aaaaaaah!”
Olivia’s grip on the towel loosened, and the pale green terrycloth slid onto the floor, revealing her in all her naked glory.
“Ai-yah!” his mother exclaimed while Sammy gulped, torn between averting his gaze and soaking in the visual feast.
The gentleman in him won out—barely. He raised his eyes to the ceiling, jaw tight, but the image of Olivia’s smooth, bare skin and luscious curves had been ingrained in his mind. He’d seen her naked before, but damn, the years had been good to her. Those breasts, those hips...
Fuckity fuck fuck.
His tranquil Saturday had turned into an epic shitshow.
“Olivia.” His mother recognized the woman Sammy had once introduced as The One. He’d been young, stupid, and in love, and when he’d broken the news about his and Olivia’s split, Amy had looked at him with sad eyes and fed him what she’d claimed was a “Love Cure” soup. It hadn’t worked. “This is a surprise.”
Olivia snatched her towel off the floor and covered herself once more. Her face matched the reds in the sunset painting hanging next to the bathroom door. “Mrs. Yu. Hi,” she squeaked.
“Sammy didn’t tell me you were here. In his house. Naked.” Amy’s laser-beam stare drilled into Sammy, whose grimace deepened.
He chose not to point out that Olivia had been in the shower and therefore had to be naked—it wasn’t like she was strolling around the living room in her birthday suit. That wouldn’t go over well, and he’d like to live to see thirty, thank you.
Olivia didn’t respond. For once, she appeared speechless.
“Well,” his mother said wryly, switching back to Mandarin. She knew Olivia was fluent in the language. “At least now I know why Sammy was so besotted with you back in the day. You have beautiful breasts.”
Aaaand they blew right past Awkward territory into the town of Highly Inappropriate.
Olivia’s face went from fire-engine-red to purple, and Sammy squeezed his eyes shut, wishing with all his might that the floor would open up and swallow him whole.
It didn’t.
Bastard.
Chapter Seven
Wah Sing was one of San Francisco’s oldest and most popular Chinese restaurants. Spread out over two floors in bustling Chinatown and