course for as long as humanly possible. Dinner lasted two hours and while helping clear the table I shot a quick text to Corey.
Get here ASAP! I need to get out of here! Save me!!
If that didn’t send his rear end into gear—I had no idea what would. “Well, guys this was a wonderful dinner, but sadly it is time for me to go,” I announced nice and loud so all in the house could hear me.
“Good night, Dolly.” Grandpa said, squeezing me tightly to his side, placing a kiss on the top of my head.
“Good night, Gram,” I managed, as sweetly as possible. Although I did have a problem keeping the daggers from shooting out of my eyes at her.
“I’ll talk to you later, Ollie.” I waved goodbye and stepped out front to wait for Corey’s Jeep to rescue me.
The front door opened again and Ollie walked out with his jacket on ready to go. His expression still beamed as he looked at me.
“Sorry you got dragged into a dinner.” I felt a little guilty about making my getaway.
“Dani, I was happy they invited me. It gave me a chance to see you again.” The back of his knuckles grazed against my cheek.
“It is always fun to catch up. I promise to call you this week and set something up.” I said, hoping he’d took that as a ‘goodbye’ and leave. It wasn’t that I wanted to be mean to him or brush him off but I just knew that if Corey pulled up with Ollie still there—it wasn’t going to be good.
“Where’s your car?” He asked.
“Oh a friend is picking me up.”
Ollie tilted his head with a frown. “You didn’t need to have a friend pick you up; I would have been more than happy to drive you home.”
I smiled, my eyes darted to the road again searching for the Jeep. “I didn’t know if you’d have plans or not, besides—they offered.”
“Alright.”
Before I had a chance to react, he reached out and pulled me snugly into his chest. The last time I was wrapped up in Oliver’s body I felt something so strong I could hardly breathe. The way his warmth and strength held me was a feeling I usually wanted to get lost in. Right now though, I tried to keep my distance, but the hold he had around my waist was difficult to break away from. To appease him, I gave a swift squeeze back. When he finally let go, he leaned down and kissed the corner of my mouth. Making his lips curve up into a half smile.
“I already can’t wait to see you again.” Oliver gave my arm one final squeeze then retreated towards his car. A sigh was about to escape when my eyes darted up and saw Corey, parked just 20 feet away from where I was rooted to the spot. His arrival, had completely escaped my attention; meaning he more than likely saw the whole embrace and almost kiss. Awesome. Before Corey could react and jump from his car and attack (which was exactly what the expression on his face looked ready for) I ran down the steps and took my spot in his car. Corey’s piercing glare was focused on Ollie as he watched him get into his vehicle and drive away.
I needed to defuse the situation as fast as possible; the tension in the car was already suffocating. My hand quickly reached out, letting my fingers intertwine with his, Corey seemed startled at the touch. My lips pressed delicately against the back of his hand; he looked at me and sighed.
“Who’s that?”
“Oliver.” I braced for his reaction.
“Figured.” He spat out. I felt his grip tense against mine, but I refused to let go. He threw the car into gear and took off toward my house. Though the silence killed me, I remained quiet and allowed him to work through whatever it was that brewed about in his mind. All the while my thumb traced slow, lazy circles on his hand to smooth out the tension in whatever way I could. As we approached my house I felt him relax; he lifted our intertwined hands to his lips and kissed the back, just as I had done.
The fact that he was calming down was a complete relief to me. Corey was not only one of the closest friends I’d ever had, but he meant more to me than I was able to admit. Hurting him was the furthest thing from