Chapter 31
Wesley
I woke up Tuesday afternoon and drove straight to work. I couldn’t wait to tell Chad about everything that happened, especially since it was Chad’s advice that had kept me on the road with Olivia. Without Chad pushing me toward her, no matter the type of turns it took, I wouldn’t have made it this far with her. I never would’ve gotten to a point where I could ever utter those beautiful words to her, and I wanted to fill my friend in on everything.
“Hey there, champ,” he said. “Need a drink?”
“A celebratory drink, yes,” I said.
“Oh, celebrating are we? And what is the special occasion?”
“I told Olivia I loved her.”
Chad’s eyes widened before he got to work behind the bar. He put down the syrups he was filling and began making us both margaritas. He added an extra shot of tequila each before he rounded the bar, and then he sat next to me before we clinked plastic cups.
“To admitting the truth,” Chad said.
“To the next leg of the race,” I said.
“So, what happened? When did all this take place?”
“Over the weekend, like you told me I should do.”
“Nice to know I’m finally being listened to,” he said. “So, what was the grand gesture?”
“I tracked her down to her mother’s and drove over to see her.”
“Oh, shit,” he said. “You met the mom, too?”
“Well, you gotta understand I wasn’t meeting her for the first time. I met her all the way back in high school.”
“Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting you two go way back. So, how’d you find her?”
“A quick search on the internet refreshed my memory of where her mother lived,” I said. “Then, I just drove. Got there at almost two o’clock Monday morning, and she met me out on the porch. I think she heard me pull up or something.”
“Did you jump her bones and give her a sloppy kiss?” Chad asked.
“No, that was later. I did give her the spiel, though. About how I was sorry for breaking her heart in high school and how I was an idiot back then. I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice, so I came for her. And I told her that. Then, I told her I loved her.”
“How’d she take it?” Chad asked.
“She said it back, dude,” I said, smiling.
“Oh, you should see the goofy smile on your face right now,” he said, smiling. “Did you stay there with her and her mom?”
“Oh, I most certainly did. We defiled her childhood room like we’d wanted to so many times in high school. It was incredible.”
“Of course, you did,” he said. “Seems both of you get off on that risky shit.”
“And it’s a different facet of her personality I’ll greatly enjoy exploring,” I said, grinning.
“So, how did her mom take it? I assume you guys saw her the next morning, unless you snuck out like the little dog you are.”
“Nah, we stayed for breakfast,” I said. “Her mom was surprisingly happy. She went on this little tangent about how she never thought Olivia really got over me. Olivia was so fucking embarrassed, it was great. I was half expecting her to bust out the naked baby pictures before I told her about Destiny.”
“Oh, shit. You interrupted that awesome conversation with some bullshit drama?”
“I actually asked her for her help,” I said. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to resolve the Destiny thing without her, so I told her what happened. About how she came to the bar screaming and cussing and about how she threatened my life.”
“Yeah, I was good and all right until that happened,” Chad said.
“But yeah. She helped me without batting an eye. She’s incredible, Chad. I never should’ve let her go the first time.”
“You actually sound like you’re in love,” he said. “It’s a new look on you, but it looks good.”
“He always looks good,” Olivia called out.
I whipped my head around and saw Olivia walking toward us. The smile that ricocheted across my cheeks caused my best friend to smile. I felt Chad tapping me on my arm, and it killed me to rip my gaze away from that beautiful woman. But once I did, I found the stern stare of the man who’d tried so hard to keep me on track for the past four years.
“Don’t fuck this up,” he said. “You’ve screwed over enough people. It’s time to accept that you can be happy with a woman.”
“I won’t,” I said. “I promise.”
“What’s he promising you now?” Olivia asked, smirking.
“Something he better keep,” Chad said. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“Oh, no. I’m fine. Thank you, though. Actually, you’re Chad, right?”
“The one and only,” he said, nodding.
“I want to apologize for an outburst that happened a couple days ago,” she said. “Apparently, a woman came into your beautiful establishment ranting and raving at Wesley. My earlier warning apparently didn’t stick, and I’m sorry I didn’t address it any sooner than now.”
“I promise it’s all right,” Chad said. “I take it you and Wesley are safe?”
“I don’t know,” Olivia said. “Wesley, have you heard from our friend at all since we paid her a visit?”
“Oh shit,” Chad said. “You went to go see her?”
Olivia gave me a look, but all I did was nod my head. I knew Olivia was looking for permission to continue the story, scared of revealing too much to someone I might not want as informed as she was.
“We did,” Olivia said. “We returned the items in question and then served her with papers.”
“You’re suing her?” Chad asked.
“No, we just showed her the papers of what we would be countersuing with should she press charges,” I said. “Everything from intimidation to multiple counts of threatening bodily harm.”
“Whoa, you don’t hold back, do you?” Chad asked.
“Not when it comes to threatening someone’s life, I don’t,” Olivia said.
“Have you heard from her since?” Chad asked.
“Hasn’t contacted me at all,” I said. “Olivia?”
“I got a text message from her early this morning stating, among other things, that she had no intentions of pressing charges. She did imply that she might be seeking a restraining order against you, but I have a feeling it’s not going to go through. The moment she files something like that, it’ll go straight to Nelson, and Nelson will take care of it.”
“Do you have the text message?” Chad asked.
“Yep,” she said. “Printed it out and filed it away for safe keeping just in case my phone does something weird.”
“That’s a good woman you got there, Wesley. Don’t fuck it up.”
“Ah, was that the promise you made?” Olivia asked.
“Maybe part of it, yes,” I said.
“And the other part?”
“You’ll just have to find that out later,” I said, winking. “At any rate, Chad and I were celebrating some victories, but it sounds like we have some victories of our own to celebrate.”
“All right,” Chad said. “This doesn’t sound like a conversation that concerns me. Wesley, if you were looking for your work schedule, you’re off tonight. But you work Wednesday and on through the weekend, so brace yourself.”
“Bracing already occurring. Come on, Olivia. Why don’t we go celebrate?”
“Well, I do have a couple more loose ends to tie up, and maybe some things to shred at my office before we get together. I’ll meet you at your house?”
“Sounds good,” I said. “I’ve got some things I should do anyway. Groceries and all that. I’ll see you back at my place, say, in three hours?”
“Sounds perfect, Wes.”