-OLIVIA-
We had a BBQ today.
:
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Family in the backyard. Smoke from the grill. Tessa arguing with Caleb about seasoning. Blair in a chair with
a plate she was barely eating. I had an apple slice in my hand and a plan to look normal.
Then Roman walked in with Eden.
Annoyance hit me so fast I almost snapped the apple.
Of course he brought her. Ethan waved them over. Grayson lifted a beer.
Someone laughed too loud near the pool. I stayed by the fruit tray and tried to remember Blair’s advice about not setting myself on fire.
Eden found me anyway.
She smiled the fake smile. I knew it well. The same one that had looked at my sweats like they were an insult.
“You must be pretty close to Roman.”
I frowned. Why was she suddenly bringing that up?
“Close enough,” I said. “We’ve known each other for years.”
Eden’s eyes flicked to him at the grill, then back to me, and the smile sharpened. Territory. That was what it was. She was drawing a line.
“I see the way you look at him.” Her voice stayed pleasant, low enough that people around us would not hear
Propose.
I froze.
She walked off before I could answer. She rejoined the group near Ethan as if nothing just took place.
I could not believe what I had just heard.
Anger came in behind the shock. The kind that fueled the bad decisions.
Propose? A ring? A future with her hand on his arm in every photo I would have to swallow for the rest of my life.
Roman came over a minute later for a drink. He did not look at Eden. He looked at me. That was the first mistake. The second was opening his mouth like he still had the right to lecture me about my poor decisions.
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“I hope you’re staying away from Luca.”
I lifted my face and glared at him.
He actually looked shocked at how angry I was.
Good. Let him catch up.
“Again, why do you care?”
His jaw clenched. “I already told you I fucking do. So just drop that question.”
“How about you drop Eden first?”
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The noise around us kept going-grill, music, Tessa’s voice, while the air between us went tense. I felt eyes. I did not have to look to know who was watching us.
He paused.
“Olivia-”
“Forgive me if I am not in the mood for another lecture about Luca. Maybe I should meet with him.”
Something flashed through his eyes. Panic.
“That is not-” He stopped, then tried again, lower, heated. “You do not get to throw Luca at me every time you are angry.”
“You do not get to walk into my house and then my backyard with another woman and expect me not to act out after my last confession to you.”
“I asked you to stay away from a man who uses women.” He growled.
“And I’m telling you that you don’t control me.”
We were too close. The drink in his hand was forgotten. I could see the muscle jumping in his jaw. I could smell smoke and his cologne and the fight we had started in a Mustang and never finished.
I sighed, sharp. “Maybe I should call Luca and invite him. Let him charm my father a bit. Dad wants a groom. Luca already has a reputation. They can negotiate.”
Roman froze. “Have you lost it?”
“No. I’m finally thinking straight.”
“Do you want to end up married by the end of the week?”
The words came out of him too loud. A few heads turned. Ethan glanced over from the grill, frown starting. I did not look at him. I looked at Roman, frustration burning behind my teeth, and whispered it before someone noticed.
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“Only if you are the groom. But clearly you want Eden.”
His eyes widened at the bluntness.
I saw her then. Eden.
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She was watching us with a glare she had not bothered to hide. Fake smile gone. One hand around a glass. The other tight at her side.
Territory again. She had drawn a line and I had stepped on it in public.
A few feet away, Blair sat with her plate untouched and an amused look on her face so obvious I wanted to throw the apple at her.
She mouthed something that might have been I told you and lifted her tea like this was better than television.
They clearly had an audience.
Ethan. Tessa. Caleb pretending he was still arguing about seasoning. Grayson’s eyebrows up. Eden burning a hole in the side of Roman’s head.
I should have stopped.
I did not.
“Now if you would excuse me,” I said, “I have Luca to call.”
I stepped around him.
He caught my wrist. Not hard. Just enough that I felt it in my stomach. Heat. Claim. The same grip he had used on my thighs in the dark.
“Do not.”
The word was rough. Public. Stupid.
I looked at his hand, then at his face. “Then tell her to stop talking to me like I am a fan who got too close. Just do not stand here and act like my life is yours to manage. I will do as I please.”
“Olivia.” My name again in his mouth. “You are not calling him.”
“You do not get to decide that.”
“I will decide it if you are about to hand your father another reason to put a stranger in front of you.” His voice dropped, furious and hot. “You think I came to that club for fun? You think I left practice because I enjoy Luca’s face? You want a reaction? You have it. Do not make the next one a wedding I cannot stop.”
My pulse raced. I hated how much that did to me. I hated that Eden was watching. I hated that I still wanted him to pull me closer instead of letting go.
“Then stop bringing her where I have to look at it,” I shot back. “Since you’ve already brought her here. Then I
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have no choice but to act out. Don’t I?”
His hand tightened once on my wrist.
Ethan turned fully from the grill.
Roman let go like my skin had burned him. The space rushed back in. Too much. Not enough.
“We’re good,” he said to no one in particular as though only just realizing we had an audience.
We were not good.
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I walked into the house with the apple still in my hand, heart pounding, and pulled up Luca’s name because I had said I would.
I did not hit call right away.
I stood in the kitchen and stared at the screen, hearing Eden’s voice, seeing Roman’s face when I told him I would only marry the groom if it was him.
Through the window I could see Eden still watching the door I had gone through. Blair still smiling into her tea. Roman standing at the drink table like a man who had almost said too much in front of everyone he was trying to protect.
He cared.
Yet he still had Eden on the lawn.
And I was angry enough to make the next mistake with my eyes wide open.
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14:58 Thu, Sep 17
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.