Page 9 of Finally Home

“Oh my God. I can’t, I can’t.” Ollie laughs, shaking his head. “There are two other Topher Armstrongs in the world? Oh, shit.” I notice he emphasized both “toe” and “arm” when he said it.

Our joint disdain for my brother’s name eases the tension I felt between us.

“Before I forget, if you reach in the back seat, I packed a bag of road snacks if you get hungry.”

I carefully reach around and pull out a canvas bag. My eyes and smile widen as I go through it.

“Ooh, excellent choices, Mr. Mosby. I approve of these. Although I have to say, I totally wish you had brought some of those egg rolls from the other night. Those were chef’s kiss.” I kiss my fingers and release them into the air.

“If I remember correctly, I believe your choice of words was the ‘best thing you ever put in your mouth.’”

My cheeks heat, and I turn away from him, finally choosing a pack of red Twizzlers as my snack of choice.

“I’ll take one of those, actually.” I pull a second piece of candy out of the pack and turn to hand it to Oliver but notice instead of him holding out his hand to take it, he’s leaning over with his mouth open for me to feed him.

His eyes challenge me to see if I’ll actually do it.We’re pretending to be dating. I need to get comfortable with this.So I lift the candy and bring it to his lips. He bites down on the red treat, securing it in his mouth before straightening back up.

I place the pack in the cup holder between us so that we can both share.

“Okay, we have our meet-cute nailed down. In your mind, what is the perfect date night?”

I chew on my piece of candy while I contemplate his question.

My dating history is pretty limited to Brett. And those dates were never public or romantic. It’s pretty pathetic when I really think about it. I was so dumb back then.

“I’m sure the introvert side of my brain is probably going to scream at me, but I also love experiencing new places and things. So my perfect date night would be something out of the box. Maybe like instead of going to a dinner to eat, we take a cooking class and learn to make it together. Or I read somewhere online that rage rooms are all the rage. Pun intended.” We both laugh at my choice of words. “That could definitely be fun. I mean, what’s not to love about smashing shit?”

“I can definitely agree with that. Want another?” He holds up another piece of candy for me, and I accept.

“See? Isn’t just having a conversation way better than stressing over a job interview?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Can I maybe get that in a recording?” he teases, followed by a wink, before taking another piece of sugary goodness from the pack.

I playfully roll my eyes at him and reach across to steal his piece of candy, but he’s too quick and pulls it further away from me.

My laughter halts when a phone call comes through the speaker. The name “Payton” appears on the display. Ollie tenses for a moment before quickly hitting the Ignore button. Music plays softly again as if nothing had happened.

Moments later, a text pops up on the screen from the same name—Payton. Ollie quickly swipes it away instead of allowing the jeep to read the text out loud to him.

What the hell? Who is Payton?Whoever she is, she’s clearly trying to get a hold of him.

He clearly wouldn’t have agreed to this if he had a girlfriend, right? No, he definitely would have said something. Jealousy swirls in my belly, but that’s absolutely ridiculous. I have no right to be jealous. Oliver’s not mine; it’s all just pretend. After this, he can go back to whoever he wants, and I’ll just be a memory of the past.

Chapter 5

Hollie

Ollie pulls up to the hotel, and I direct him toward the valet drop-off circle. The attendant rushes over and opens my door.

“Thank you,” I say, my legs feeling a little wobbly as they finally touch the pavement.

Oliver comes around the front of the jeep, meeting me, and places his hand on my lower back.Let the show begin.

“Good evening. Do you folks need help with your luggage today?”

“No, thank you, we’ve got it,” Ollie replies. When I reach for my bag in the open trunk, Ollie knocks his hip into mine.

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