Page 63 of Tangled

Kane settles in to the couch and removes my tray once I’m finished. His arm finds its way around my body, hugging me tightly to his.

“You don’t have to stay, you know. I don’t want you to get sick, Kane.”

“I’m fine. My immune system is killer and I’m not leaving you alone. I missed you today and I want to take care of you,” he leans down and kisses the top of head, lingering longer than necessary, allowing me to melt even further into him with his touch and his words.

He cares about me. He’s real. And he’s choosing me.

I look up at him, waiting for his eyes to meet mine. And when they do, I speak. “I missed you too.”

His smile returns before fading, his eyes drawing intensely together.

“God, I wish you weren’t sick,” he growls while resting his forehead against mine. “If you were well right now, I’d have you on your back and your mouth on mine so fast, you wouldn’t even know what happened,” he spits out, his grip on me tightening. I know he’s feeling the same intense pull towards me that I feel for him. I want him so badly too, but it’s obviously not the right time.

“You would do that and miss Ryan Reynolds?” I tease him which makes him laugh, pulling back away from me.

“If I had the chance to kiss you or watch Ryan, you’d win every time, Red.”

Kane's words do nothing to quell my arousal, but him pulling me back into him as I rest my head on his chest while we watch the movie sure does something to my heart. I must doze off at some point because the next thing I know, I’m being carried down my hallway to my bedroom.

“Kane…” I stir as he carefully places me in bed.

“Shhhh. It’s alright, Olivia. I’m gonna go. You get some rest and call me tomorrow, okay?”

I reach for his shirt, pulling his face close to mine. I want to kiss his lips so badly, thank him for being there and taking care of me, keeping me company when there were a million other places he could have been.

“Thank you,” I whisper before placing a soft kiss on his cheek, the feel of his beard against my face sending a live wire of electricity over my body.

“Anything for you, Red.”

I watch Kane leave and that’s the last thing I remember before drifting off to sleep and dreaming of being in his arms again.

Chapter 28

Kane

My usual sit-in at Tony’s gets postponed after tending to Olivia last night, so when Saturday comes around, I decide to pay Tony a visit, and Drew’s able to tag along.

Holding Olivia in my arms less than twenty-four hours ago calmed the ache in my chest I felt all day yesterday, knowing she was sick when I realized she wasn’t at work. This innate need to take care of her kicked in—scaring me a bit—but also making me realize that I’m developing feelings for her, real fucking feelings, which makes my palms sweat, but also this sense of purpose come over me. The memory of what that feels like is fuzzy, but with each time I see her, the familiarity comes back.

The only other person I ever felt this for was she-who-will-not-be-named. Yet somehow, this differs from that. Maybe it’s because I’m older now or I was so young with her that I can’t remember entirely. But deep down I know that part of it is because it’s Olivia that’s sucking me into her world with her eyes and her smile, her quick wit and intelligence, and every morsel of information that I learn about her.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile as much as I have in the past few weeks,” Drew jests as we exit my truck and walk into Tony’s.

“Believe me, you’re not the only one who’s noticed. Even my students said something to me the other day."

Opening the door, I usher Drew in first, then follow closely behind as we find my usual seat at the bar. Tony waves his hand over at us from the other end of the counter, letting us know he’ll be with us soon.

“So, I take it things are going well, then?” Drew turns to me on his stool.

And I can’t help but crack another smile. “Yeah, man. They are. The woman owns my mind right now. I… I can’t get enough of her.”

Clasping my shoulder, Drew shakes me in a brotherly manner. “That’s great, Kane. Lord knows you deserve this. Hey, maybe the four of us can go out sometime? Tammy would love that.”

“Sure, I’ll ask Olivia,” I say, just as Tony makes his way over.

“Well, if it isn’t the two best teachers at Emerson Falls High School?” He mocks while giving us a shit-eating grin.

“Just changing the world one hormone-enraged teenager at a time,” Drew replies.