How do you feel about motorcycles?
Olivia paused, not really having an opinion on the topic. She didn’t like or dislike motorcycles, but she did like how Rhys looked straddling one. She could practically hear the girls screaming at her to answer him. Admittedly, she was tired of constantly going back and forth about her feelings for him. Yes, he was Lila’s brother-in-law and Drake’s twin, but that didn’t mean it would do any harm to have a casual conversation with him over text.
Olivia: Morning, Rhys. I love motorcycles, why?
Immediately, three dots appeared at the bottom of the screen, as if he’d stayed up all night waiting for her to wake just so he could ask her this question.
Rhys: Do you have any afternoons off this week?
Olivia grinned, but then caught herself. God, she was acting like a giddy fool. Was Rhys asking her to hang out? Was he asking her on a date? Did this count?
Olivia: Are you asking me out on a date?
Rhys: Are you saying yes?
Olivia: Was there a question for me to say yes to?
Rhys: If there were, would you?
“Damn it.” Olivia laughed.
Olivia: If there were a question, then I would say yes to it.
Rhys: Then yes, that was me asking you out on a date.
Adeline won the bet, and Olivia couldn’t even be that upset about it. Worst case scenario, Rhys would take her on a motorcycle ride and realize that Olivia wasn’t his type and move on. Then Olivia could focus on Lila’s case and stop getting all lightheaded and pleasantly nervous whenever Rhys was mentioned.
Best case scenario, Olivia got to ride on the back of a hot guy’s motorcycle.
It wasn’t the worst thing she’d ever subjected herself to.
Rhys
Rhys paced back and forth in his office. God, his job was boring. He really should have gone into something more exciting than mechanical engineering. To his credit, he really thought that it would be more fun that it was, but he spent more of his day doing paperwork and attending meetings than anything else. If he could go back and do it all over again, he would’ve pursued something like becoming a motorcycle mechanic. His parents would’ve been horrified, and his brother would’ve judged him even more harshly, but at least he would’ve been happy.
The rapid buzzing of his phone on his desk drew attention away from thoughts of missed opportunities.
It was Lila. It was unusual for her to call him—usually, she texted.
“Hey, Lila,” he answered.
“Hey! How’s it going?” she asked.
“Oh, you know, can’t complain. How about you? What’s up?”
Rhys shut down his computer before striding across his office to grab his motorcycle jacket from the coat rack.
“About the same.” Lila sighed. “I’m antsy, though. I’m so anxious to be free but waiting to get to that point is killing me. I hate that these things take time. I just wish I could snap my fingers and it would all be over.”
“I get that,” Rhys replied. “I think that’s a normal feeling to have when you’re in a state of limbo. I think the most important thing we can do right now is to be patient and calm. The worst thing that could possibly happen would be Drake catching on to us, so we need to play it cool. Of course, I never talk to him, so it’s easier for me.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “That’s why I’m just sitting at home like a good wife and watching reruns of Grey’s Anatomy.”
“Is that what good wives do?” Rhys chuckled as he left his office and locked the door behind him.
“Oh, who the hell knows anymore? Every time I try to do something to make him happy, it backfires. Now I just kind of try to lie low and not piss him off,” Lila said.
Rhys nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. “Yeah, I understand that, for sure. I don’t know how you’ve put up with it for this long.”
“Me neither.” She sighed. “I mean, there’s the fear, but I also think that every woman hopes that one day she’s going to wake up and her husband will realize what he’s doing. You know, that he’s throwing away a good thing. I’ve only ever wanted to be good to him. Don’t ever make a woman think she’s not worthy of you, Rhys.”
“Of course not.” Rhys frowned. “Do you really think I would do that?”
“No, I don’t.” Lila assured him.
He smirked. His sister-in-law was very intuitive. “You know about Olivia?”
“Duh,” she said, a smile evident in her tone. “There’s so