Page 72 of Game on, Love
His soft laugh touched my ear, and I felt the warmth of it everywhere.
“Oliver.”
“Hmm?”
“Are you going to move?”
“Why? What’s wrong with this?”
“Well,” I was balancing Lilli on my arm—who still wasn’t a huge fan of Oliver—as she tried to swat his arm and tried (and failed) to drink my coffee with my left hand while being trapped against the counter.
“Yes?”
Before I could make an argument, the front door opened with a bang making us both freeze and Lilli jump from my hold. We both moved in sync, following the sound. Only to find what looked like a…drunkRihaan as he tried to balance himself using the wall next to the door.
He triedbeing the keyword because he misjudged how far it was and tripped sideways.
“Fucking hell, mate,” Oliver moved quickly to his side.
I watched them wide-eyed, unsure if I should move towards them or hide from his periphery. The door opened again, gently this time, as Vedant entered with a furious expression on his face.
Oliver’s face was now a mix of shock and relief, clearly glad to see him. “What happened?”
Vedant gave a blabbering Rihaan a dark look as he replied. “The same shit that happens every time.”
Understanding passed in Oliver’s eyes, and they both had a silent conversation before both of them looked in my direction making the hair on the back of my neck raise.
“What?” I asked, my voice more defensive than it needed to be. Vedant gave Oliver a look, who just nodded and hiked up Rihaan before helping him up the stairs.
Irritation ran through me. This was such classic behaviour. But I expected it from my brothers, and seeing Oliver silently follow Vedant’s request without any explanation threw me off. I almost forgot he was their friend first, before… well, he wasn’t really my anything, was he?
I walked back into the kitchen with Vedant hot on my heels. “Raina.”
“Yeah?” I didn’t bother turning around as I grabbed my coffee and moved to grab a snack.
“You see me after days and no hug?”
“We’ve gone longer without seeing each other,” I replied easily, and the bitterness in my voice was evident.
Once I was sure the hurt wasn’t on my face, I looked at him. His lips were pursed in a thin line.
“This is not about you.”
“Okay,” I replied after a beat, feeling Lilli wrap herself around my feet, almost as if trying to reassure me she was there.
“Then why do you look so upset?”
I opened my mouth but paused as Oliver entered the open space. I felt him watch us both with a worried gaze, but I didn’t meet his eyes.
He moved quietly around me, grabbed a glass of water and some painkillers and walked back out, but not without giving me a look.
What it said, I have no clue.
“I’m not upset,” I said evenly. It wasn’t what I was going to say earlier, but the interruption was enough to break my focus on the irritation.
“Yeah, now you’re not. Does Oliver have a secret spell or something? You defused in record time.” Vedant frowned, and I rolled my eyes.
“No, he doesn’t. It just took me a second.”