Read Online Connections by Emilia Winters - Free Book Online

he’d been disciplined not to.
    “It was so long ago, but I was so young.   Too young.   That kind of thing leaves an impression, you know?”   He shook his head, trying to clear the lump in his throat.
    Alex glanced up at Olivia then.   He saw her tears and he stood, brushing them away with his fingertips.   “You were just a boy,” she said softly.   She looked up at him with glassy eyes.   His chest squeezed because he hated seeing her cry.   Especially for him.   “You could never be like him, Alex.   Never.   Don’t ever think that you could be.”
    He nodded his head because he couldn’t do much more.   His heart swelled for her and he felt too many emotions at once.   They threatened to overwhelm him, but he anchored himself to Olivia so that he wouldn’t drift away.
    Another knock sounded on the bathroom door.   The spell was broken and Alex took a calming breath and kissed her lips lightly.   “I think we’ve held up the bathroom long enough,” he said, almost sheepishly.
    Olivia simply nodded and grabbed the damp towel still hanging from his neck.   She went to ring it out before replacing it on the rack to dry.
    “Liv,” he called quietly.   She turned to face him, her eyes still watery and the tip of her nose red.   “Thank you, darling.”

Chapter Ten

    Olivia sighed heavily as she plopped down in Alex’s car, leaning over to shut the door behind her.   On her left, Alex waved goodbye to Derrick before he plugged the key into the ignition and buckled himself in.
    The last hour of the party had gone by relatively easily compared to how the first half of the evening played out.   Olivia was thankful that Alex hadn’t had any further encounters with his father because seeing him break down in the hallway had been pure agony for her.   She never wanted to see him hurt that badly again.
    She glanced over at him as exhaustion crept over her.   It had been a trying evening but Alex seemed to be holding up well.
    As if reading her mind, he smiled and said, “Let’s get you home, darling.   You look beat.”
    Half of her wanted to protest because all she wanted was to go home with him .   She wanted to crawl under his sheets and breathe in his scent until she felt dizzy and warm and safe.   And loved.   Because he made her feel all those things and more.
    But she bit her lip, knowing that she needed to process everything she’d learned this evening.   Nothing changed the way she felt about Alex.   If anything, she respected and admired him even more.   But he probably needed a little space too.
    The car ride back to Olivia’s apartment was quiet.   Olivia imagined that he was thinking about the evening, since she was doing the same.   And in less than a half hour, Alex parked himself on the street in front of her building.   Letting the engine idle, he grabbed her hand and brought the back of it to his lips.
    “Thank you for coming tonight, Liv.   I don’t think I could’ve gotten through it without you,” Alex admitted.   Olivia’s throat tightened at the sincerity she saw in his darkened eyes.
    Giving him a wobbly smile, she protested, “You’re strong, Alex.   You would’ve done just fine.”
    He didn’t say anything.   He simply gazed at her, stroking her palm with the tips of his fingers, unintentionally awakening her body.
    Finally, he said, “I’m going into the office to work tomorrow—,” she cut him off.
    “But it’s the weekend, Alex.   You work too much,” she said, frowning.   She knew how stressed he got about work.
    He smiled, “You’re one to talk.   You’re at the shop everyday.”
    “I just check in on weekends.”
    “And that’s what I’m doing,” he replied.   “Just for a longer period of time.”
    Olivia laughed, conceding.   The sound echoed in the car, reminding her just how close they were at the moment.
    “Anyway,” he started again, giving her a playful—and sexy—reprimanding look.   “Since I’ll be