Page 30 of The Love Penalty

“I’ll miss you,” he says, but reluctantly pulls away and starts moving backward toward security.

“I’ll miss you too, Bobbert,” I say with a wave and watch him walk away until he’s all the way past security. Right before he can get out of sight he turns toward me one more time and gives me that perfectly dimpled smile.

And as for me, my hands grip the wheel and I smile stupid the whole way home.

POND HOCKEY

Olivia

What should I wear to Thanksgiving dinner?

Robbie

You’re overthinking this, Olive. Whatever you want. Jeans, sweater, sweatshirt…as long as you don’t show up in your hockey uniform, you’re fine.

Why do I feel like there’s a story there?

One year, the lake behind my parent’s house was frozen solid so all of us brought our gear and played pond hockey. My mom was mad that we were all sweaty at the dinner table. We’ve learned our lesson since.

Bobbert, you rascal.

You know it ;)

Can I admit I’m kind of nervous to meet your family?

I promise you, there’s no reason to be nervous.

I just hope they like me.

NINETEEN

Robbie

I gotout of practice not too long ago and found a text from Olivia.

Boarding now. Can’t wait to see you.

I don’t reply because the text was from an hour ago, but I do head home right away. I shower and change my clothes, feed the cats, and make sure the entire house is clean and that the spare bedroom is packed with everything Olivia would need: blankets, extra pillows, toiletries. I even had my sister, Alice, pick out some candles and nice decorations. Let’s just say that room only had minimal furniture before I gave Alice my credit card and free reign on decorating.

Speaking of my sister, I see her name flashing on my screen and pick up the phone as I look around the house.

“Hey, Al.”

“Hey, Roro,” she uses my childhood nickname to annoy me, but little does she know, it’s actually one of the few I like. When Alice was little, she couldn’t pronounce Robbie so she alwayscalled me Roro. I’ll never tell her how much I like it though, she would be insufferable.

I give her an over-the-top sigh and groan and say, “What’s up? Why are you calling? I’m about to head to the airport.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to keep you away from this mysterious girl that has you completely smitten.” Alice is the only one I told about my feelings for Olivia. The rest of my family just knows I’m bringing an extra friend over for the holiday. “Did you like the stuff I bought?”

“Yeah, the place looks very homey. You did awesome, Al,” I say proudly.

“Yes, well, I would have liked to know some more details about her, but you were holding out on me.”

“I was not!”

“You didn’t tell me what kind of books she likes—I would have gotten her a couple and left them on the nightstand. OMG, I hope she’s a romance girlie so I can talk to her about all my favorite books!” Oh no, time to tamp down the excitement.

“Al, I know you’re excited, but please try not to overwhelm her, okay? I have the feeling she’s already going to be skittish.” Olivia and I spent the last week and a half chatting about the holiday and plans, and she mentioned she was nervous to meet my crazy family. I don’t blame her, she’s probably not used to our level of insanity. Between my parents, my two siblings, my sister-in-law and two nieces, and Jordan, Ash and Eli—they join us every year for Thanksgiving dinner—it gets pretty rowdy in the Elliot household.

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