Beautiful Oblivion (The Maddox Brothers, #1)(12)

“You’re welcome, Ew.” He leaned over and grabbed his keys from the table.

“Ew?” I asked.

Olive eyed me with sleepy twin pools. I didn’t push the subject.

The ride back to my apartment was quiet, but mostly because Olive had fallen asleep in her car seat. Her little cheek was smooshed against the cushion beside her face. She looked so peaceful, so happily lost wherever she had drifted off to.

“Her parents just let the neighbor covered in tattoos babysit their five-year-old?”

“No. This is new. We just started Chicken Joe’s this year on my days off. I watched Olive for Shane and Liza a couple times for about half an hour or so in the beginning and we somehow graduated to Chicken Joe’s.”

“Weird.”

“I’ve been her Twent for a long time.”

“And she’s your Ew?”

“Yep.”

“What’s up with that?”

“Her initials. Olive Ollivier. O.O. When you put them together, it makes an ‘ew’ sound.”

I nodded. “Makes sense. She’s going to hate you for that in six years.”

Trenton glanced at the rearview mirror, and then back at the road. “Nah.”

The headlights lit the front door of my apartment, and Trenton finally looked ashamed. “I’d walk you to the door, but I don’t want to leave Olive in the car.”

I waved him away. “I can get to the door by myself.”

“Maybe we can kidnap you again.”

“I work Saturdays. This was just a freak accident.”

“We could change it to Chicken Joe’s Sundays.”

“I work Sundays.”

“Me, too. But not until one, and you don’t go in until later, too, right? We could do lunch. An early lunch.”

I pulled my mouth to the side. “It’s just not a good idea, Trent. But thank you.”

“Chicken Joe’s is always a good idea.”

I chuckled and looked down. “Thanks for dinner.”

“You owe me,” Trenton said, watching me get out.

I leaned down. “You kidnapped me, remember?”

“And I’d do it again,” he said as I shut the door.

I walked to the building, and Trenton waited until I stepped inside before he began to back away.

Raegan was sitting up on her knees on the couch cushions, gripping the back with her fingers. “So?”

I looked around the apartment and tossed my purse onto the love seat. “So . . . that was maybe the best nondate date I’ve ever had.”

“Really? Even better than when you met T.J.?”

I frowned. “I don’t know. That was a pretty good night. But tonight was . . . different.”

“Good different?”

“It was kind of perfect.”

Raegan raised an eyebrow and lowered her chin. “This could get messy. You should just tell him.”

“Don’t be stupid. You know I can’t,” I said, walking toward my bedroom.

My phone buzzed once, and then again. I fell onto my bed and looked at the display. It was T.J.

“Hello?” I said, holding the phone to my ear.

“Sorry it took me so long to call . . . we just got in . . . everything okay?” T.J. asked.

“Yes. Why?”

“I thought I heard something in your voice when you answered.”

“You’re hearing things,” I said, trying not to think about how adorable Trenton looked with a sleepy Olive draped over his shoulder.





CHAPTER FOUR





THE BETTER PART OF SUNDAY MORNING WAS SPENT IN BED. Around ten thirty, my mother texted me, asking if I was coming to Sunday lunch. I informed her that because of the trip cancellation, Hank had taken the opportunity to call an employee meeting. It was mostly the truth. The employees hung out at the Red every Sunday afternoon, and then we’d all go home to freshen up for the Sunday night shift.

Mom didn’t hesitate to send back a message meant to make me feel guilty.

“I’m riding with Kody!” Raegan yelled from her bedroom.

“K!” I yelled back from my bed. The phone call with T.J. hadn’t ended until the wee hours of the morning. We discussed vague parts of his project that he could reveal, and then we talked about Trenton and Olive. T.J. didn’t seem even the slightest bit jealous, which sort of pissed me off. And then I felt guilty when I realized I was trying to make him jealous, so I spent the rest of the conversation being super sweet to him.

After a long pep talk with myself, I threw off my covers and shuffled to the bathroom. Raegan had already been in there. The mirror was still fogged, and the walls were still sweaty from the steam.

I turned on the shower, grabbed two towels while the hot water kicked on, and then pulled off my worn Bulldog Football T-shirt and tossed it to the floor. The fabric was so thin it was see-through in some places. It was T.J.’s shirt, heather gray with royal-blue writing. I wore it the night before T.J. left to go back to California—the first night we slept together—and he didn’t ask for it when he left. That shirt represented a time when everything was perfect between us, so it held a special significance for me.

By noon I had dressed, jumped in the Smurf with minimal makeup and wet hair, driven to the closest fast-food restaurant to grab a couple of items off the value menu, scrounged up $2.70 in coins to pay for lunch, and then made my way to the Red Door. The entrance area was empty, but music was playing through the speakers. Classic rock. That meant Hank was already there.