Chapter 134
-OLIVIA-
:
I called Blair to my room before I could talk myself out of it.
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If I sat thinking about the kiss alone I was going to start screaming. I needed a witness. I needed my sister. I needed someone who would not tell dad.
She took one look at my face and shut the door. “What did you do?”
“He kissed me.”
Blair stared. Then she laughed so hard she had to sit on the bed, one hand on her stomach like the baby needed to hear this too.
“I do not want to say I told you so,” she said, wiping her eyes, “but I told you so.”
I could not contain myself. I paced. I sat. I stood up again. My mouth still felt like his was on it. My knees still felt like betrayal.
“He followed me upstairs. He asked what it would take for me not to call Luca. I said kiss me. And he did.”
Blair’s grin was bright. “I am so happy I could scream. I will not, because everyone is in the yard and I am supposed to be a calm pregnant woman. Internally I am screaming. Internally I am throwing confetti. Internally I am texting Grayson I was right and then deleting it because he does not need this much Monroe drama before dessert.”
“He had his hands-“I stopped, face hot. The memory hit in a rush and I had to sit down again. “He pulled away. He said remember the deal. I cannot call Luca now. Then he walked out.”
“Of course he walked out. He is Roman. He has to sprint from the crime scene and pretend he is still Ethan’s respectable best friend. He is probably downstairs right now eating a burger like a man who did not just have his tongue in your mouth.”
Blair pointed at me. “But he kissed you. That is giving in. Pretty soon he is not going to be able to hold back completely. The dam has a crack. I have seen this movie. I starred in this movie.”
I dropped onto the bed beside her, still buzzing so hard I could have powered the house. “Ask me how the kiss was.”
“How was the kiss?”
“I have never experienced anything like that.” The words flowed out of me in a giddy rush I could not organize. “I am freaking out. I want more. Luca was nothing. Anyone was nothing. I thought I was going to faint. I actually thought, for one second, that I might slide down the wall and die happy. He smells like—I cannot explain it. And he tastes so good. I want to do it again. Immediately. In this room. I do not care about the BBQ. I do not care about him being best friends with my brother. I do not care if dad freaks out. I want his mouth back.”
Blair laughed. “Been there. Done that.”
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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife
Then she wiggled her eyebrows.
“Wait until the sex.”
I blushed. I grabbed a pillow and hit her with it.
“Roman would never.”
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Blair gave me a look I did not like because it was knowing. “Never say never. The man who swore you were off-limits just had you against a wall during a family BBQ while his girlfriend ate coleslaw downstairs. The ‘never’ already died. It had a funeral. I attended. There were snacks.”
I covered my face. I was smiling so wide it hurt.
Giddy was too small a word. I felt alive. I felt like I could run laps. I felt like if I opened the door he might still be in the hall having a crisis and I wanted to watch.
“Eden told me he was going to propose soon.”
Blair’s laugh cut off. “She said what?”
“That he is hers. That he is going to propose. That I look pathetic.”
“And then he followed you upstairs and kissed you.” Blair nodded once, viciously pleased. “Eden Hart can propose to herself. That man is not marrying her. He is drowning in you. You are the water.”
I peeked through my fingers. I could not stop smiling. It was embarrassing. It was wonderful.
“He looked guilty when Ethan thanked him at the club. He looked worse when he left this room.”
“Guilt means he knows it mattered.” Blair bumped my shoulder. “Enjoy the high. Do not call Luca. You already spent that card and got paid in full, with interest, against a wall. If you threaten it again this week, dad will have a florist and a stranger in the foyer and I will have to hide you in my guest room, which is currently full of baby stuff I have not organized.”
“I was not actually going to call him,” I admitted. The confession came out on a laugh. “I wanted Roman to stop me.”
“And he did. With his mouth. You are welcome for my advice from two days ago, which you ignored, and also for this moment. I am so proud. I am also terrified. Both can be true.”
I fell back on the pillows, smiling at the ceiling like an idiot.
The ceiling looked friendlier than it had this morning. Everything did. “I told him I would only marry the groom if it was him.”
Blair put a hand over her heart. “I love this era of you. Honest. Please never mention this to our brother.”
“I am not insane.”
“Debatable.” She stood, still grinning. “Wash your face. You look like you made out with someone. If Ethan
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sees you like this he will think you have a fever, and if Roman sees you like this he will kiss you again and then have another crisis in the hallway. Which, for the record, I support. I will stand at the bottom of the stairs and clap silently.”
I touched my lips.
I wanted the crisis.
I wanted more.
I wanted to replay the groan in his chest until I memorized it. I wanted the moment he said fuck against my throat like he had lost an argument with himself.
Blair paused at the door. “Never say never. I said that to myself about Grayson once. Look at me. Pregnant with his baby. Your basketball player is already halfway off the ledge. Give him a push that is not Luca Vescari this time. The man folded for a kiss. Imagine what he will do if you ask nicely.”
Then she left. I wasn’t sure if asking nicely worked with Roman.
I stayed on the bed, heart racing, replaying the kiss until it felt like it might happen again if I just opened the door.
I did not open the door.
I smiled at the ceiling instead, giddy and ruined and so alive it almost hurt, and for the first time since Eden walked into our kitchen, I did not feel like I was losing.
I felt like I had finally been kissed by the only person who had ever counted.
And I was already dying for the next deal.
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.