Page 76 of Gone for You

He grins. “Well, if you ask me –“

“I didn’t.”

“I think you need to check your pants to make sure you still have your balls and see if they’re still in there.”

“Asshole.”

“I’m serious. Go after the girl. Stop being a fucking pussy and go. After. The. Girl.”

“So eloquent.”

He rolls his eyes, takes off his glasses and cleans them with his t-shirt then slides them back onto his face. “I’m not gonna sugar coat anything for you. That’s not going to help anyone. Do you want her?”

“You know I do.”

“Then figure it out. She’s spooked and I know I’m not a genius,” he smirks because he actually is a genius, “but you mentioned that she’s had some bad relationships in the past and you think that’s what’s stopping her from moving forward with you. Not that you gave me details since you’re all about privacy,” he says, acting like he’s annoyed by that fact. I know he isn’t. He wouldn’t expect me to tell him her personal business. “But, despite the fact that Olivia seems to like you, she’s a smart girl. She knows what you’re about, that you’re not going to be an asshole. Something else happened that she can’t move on from. My spidey senses are telling me so.” And because he’s a complete jackass, he pretends to drop the mic.

“You’re annoying. And a nerd.”

“Because I’m right or because I’m so fucking good looking while doing it? I get both a lot so I usually like it when people clarify.”

“Obviously the second,” I say, fully knowing I just fed the beast.

“Figured,” he nods knowingly as he finishes drying some glasses. The Goat is usually pretty quiet in the middle of the afternoon and today is no exception, even with it being a weekend.

“I’m leaving in about an hour. I’ll be finishing a few things up in my office if you need me.”

“Got it.” He salutes me then moves to help a customer.

I shut the door behind me and lean against the solid wood. He might have been joking about the whole mic drop thing but he wasn’t that far off. I had never considered it was anything more than her past failed relationships being the reason for her not wanting to be in a committed relationship.

I probably don’t deserve her if it never crossed my mind there could be something more going on. I think I know so much about her. That I can read her so well but I’m beginning to realize maybe I have room to grow.

Pushing off the door, I sit behind my desk and flip open my laptop to take care of a few bills. When I bought the bar, I did it with the intent to make money. And while it’s doing well, part of the reason for that is because I do it all including the bookkeeping, which I hate with a fiery passion.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I glance at the door, back to my computer, to the door…

Is this dumb?

I can’t necessarily ask Owen if something happened to his sister that caused her to be so relationship-shy. But maybe…

Fuck it.

I open up Facebook and tell myself that I’m not acting like a stalker.

I search Olivia’s name and go through her posts from before Jared.

It takes over an hour because I keep getting distracted by looking at pictures of her but eventually I make it all the way back to 2008 when she started her account and all I have to show for it is a deeper desire to be with her and a strong level of irritation when I scrolled through posts that included Jared or Aaron.

But the one thing I wanted to find out doesn’t seem to be there. Nothing obvious, anyway.

My phone chimes and my eyes widen when I see Owen’s name. It’s like he knew I was thinking of him.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“She driving you crazy yet”?

He has no idea.

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