Page 21 of Finding Cory

Chapter Eight

Olivia woke with a sore, stinging back, and an exceptionally comfortable front. At some point during the night, she'd apparently migrated completely atop Cory and now lay with her cheek on his chest, head tucked under his chin, breasts pressed against his rock-hard abs, their legs tangled together. It could scarcely be a more intimate position.

Cory was still asleep, his broad chest rising and falling slowly. It was a comforting rhythm, and if Olivia hadn't been so sore, she'd probably have been soothed straight back to sleep. As it was, one of his broad hands was splayed across the small of her back and she felt hot and sweaty. Edging carefully off him, she headed for the bathroom.

"What time is it?" Cory mumbled sleepily as she returned.

"Almost six," she replied quietly, checking her watch.

"Ugh, I gotta get up. I'm taking a group on a rainforest hike." He sat up, eying her appreciatively in the early morning light filtering past the blinds. Olivia smirked at him as she sat on the bed, making no effort to cover her bare breasts.

"Getting a good view there?"

"Magnificent," he breathed, eyes riveted as she deliberately took a few deep breaths. Giving himself a shake, he reached to the nightstand. "But I know the back view won't be pretty. Down on your face, angel."

She lay down without a word, extremely keen to get another soothing layer of aloe on her back. The skin felt hot and tight; she hadn't gotten much of a glimpse in the dimly lit bathroom when she peered over her shoulder at herself in the mirror, but enough to know that her back was practically glowing.

"You should really stay here and rest today," Cory said, generously slathering the aloe over her back. "I'll get someone to bring you some breakfast and check in on you through the day. I've got a really busy one scheduled, unfortunately. I'll get some more aloe for you too."

"I don't want to be a bother, and really, I should get up..."

"You should absolutely not. I saw Luke last night when I was fetching dinner and told him you'd got a nasty burn; if he sees you around the resort today, he'll be ordering your ass back to bed, so you may as well stay here."

"I'll go mad with boredom!" Olivia protested mutinously.

"No, you won't, because Suze left you her laptop." Cory gestured to where it sat on the desk. "She'll have it connected to the resort's staff Wi-Fi too, so you can binge on Netflix all you like."

"Netflix and chill?" Olivia gave him a wicked grin as he moved away, heading for the bathroom to wash his hands.

"In the most literal use of the term, yeah." He grinned over his shoulder at her, so she knew he was aware of the colloquial meaning. "But when you're better, I would love to Netflix and chill with you."

Cory dropped a kiss on her cheek and smoothed her hair before departing. "Try and get some more sleep," he said before closing the screen door quietly behind him.

Feeling wide awake, Olivia thought she wouldn't go back to sleep, but she must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew, there was a quiet tapping on the screen door.

"Olivia, you awake?"

"Uh-huh," she managed vaguely. It was a woman's voice, so she didn't worry about pulling a sheet over her, though she wished she had when the door slid open and Jill came in.

"Hey." Jill set a tray down on the desk. "How are you doing... oh wow, that is some burn. Cory wasn't exaggerating."

Her back felt sore again; too much so to hold on to her pride. "Would you put some more aloe on for me?" Olivia begged pathetically.

"Of course. Cory told me to bring more." Jill held up a fresh bottle. Her expression looked genuinely sympathetic, Olivia thought. "I'm sorry."

Did her words have more than one meaning? She sounded contrite rather than just sympathetic. "What for?" Olivia asked as Jill squirted a fresh glob of aloe onto her back.

"I've been a bitch, and you didn't deserve it."

Olivia lay silent for a moment before saying, "I feel like someone's read you the riot act. Was it Cory?"

"Rosie, actually. She said you were really nice and it's none of my business who Cory wants to date. Which is absolutely true." Jill's hands stilled on her back. "He's not really a player, if you hadn't figured it out yet."

"I was pretty sure."

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious." Jill sighed and got up, going to wash her hands. "I'm not really still in love with him," she said, returning and sitting at the desk, reaching to put the tray beside Olivia on the bed. "I was just... jealous that he's finally moving on. He hadn't so much as looked at anyone in ages."

Olivia said nothing, just picked up the sealed cup of orange juice on the tray and opened it. The tray held a covered plate that contained a still-warm croissant and a flaky Danish, a little pat of butter on one side. "I don't suppose your olive branch extends to making me a coffee, does it?" she asked hopefully.

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