Page 35 of On the Double
I ran into Oliver in the hallway, walking past him warily as I recalled our fight the night before. To his credit, he looked slightly upset with himself, hopefully over the nasty comment he’d made. But I didn’t bring it up. Today was a new day, and I didn’t want to be angry with him. He was the only family I had.
“You were out late last night,” he said gruffly.
I shoved the sheets in the wash, pushing my unruly hair away from my face. “Uh…yeah.”
He was quiet as I finished loading the washer, but when I turned to him, his eyes were focused on me. “I take it you didn’t bring anyone home.”
“Did you see anyone?”
“No.”
“Well…there’s your answer.”
“It’s not that I don’t want you to find someone,” he said, stepping in front of me as I tried to walk around him. “It’s just…that’s not something I want to hear.”
“Same goes for me.”
His face pulled in an awkward frown as he stepped aside. “Noted.” But he grabbed my arm as I passed. “Harper, are we okay?”
I gave him a tentative smile. “Of course we are.”
“Good. You know, I didn’t mean it.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“You just…you always want to move on.”
“And you always want to stay in the past,” I retorted. “But we can’t.”
“I know. But it’s harder for me. I knew them better.”
I didn’t need the reminder. Oliver had always had a closer relationship with them than I had. I felt like an outsider whenever we were together. My parents laughed and joked with Oliver, but with me, it was like they never knew what to say. And I didn’t know how to fix that. Maybe that was why it was so much easier for me to move forward. How could you miss something you never really had?
“I should get ready for work,” I said, stepping out of his grip.
“Yeah, I’m running late. I should have been in a half hour ago.”
“I doubt you’ll be in too much trouble,” I smiled at him.
“Try not to cause any runs on the grocery store today,” he teased.
I stuck out my tongue at him and headed back to my room.
“Hey, Harper?”
I turned back to him with a smile. “Yeah?”
“Why were you dreaming about James Earl Jones?”
Blushing furiously, I couldn’t hide my reaction. He burst out laughing, making me dash for my room and slam the door. I could hear him cackling until he left, and even then as he walked to his car.
I was never going to live that down.
I rushed into work,tugging on my hideous red vest as I hurried through the store to the back where the employees clocked in. My manager was already eyeing me, but I ignored him, choosing instead to act like this was the time I was supposed to arrive.
“Ooh, somebody’s late,” Luna laughed, falling into step beside me. “So, did you go home with the hottie last night?”
I side-eyed her. “Luna, you were with me.”