Learning To Love (The Griffin Brothers Book 4) (16 page)

“Seriously? You lost
you v-card a few days ago. You need to tell me all about it. I mean,
Luke was nice, right?”

“Umm, Luke was
very
nice and that’s all I’m saying.”

“C’mon, Liv. You
gotta give me something.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You’re really not
going to tell me?”

“No.”

“Okay. I guess we can
talk about work, then.”

We spend the next
couple of hours going over billing for shoots Candi has just
finished. She tells me I can start scheduling her again about a month
after she has the baby. I’m a little nervous about being out of
work for the next eight weeks, but I’m really happy for her.

“You’re a little
quiet.”

“Am I? I was just
thinking about how to keep occupied these next two months.”

“You know I’m
paying you, don’t you?”

“What? You can’t
pay me when I’m not working.”

“Yes, I can. I don’t
want you to go find another job. You’ve become the perfect
assistant and bookkeeper, and I need to know you’ll be able to
start working again once I’m back. So, I’m paying you your
salary.” I start to open my mouth. “No arguments, Olivia. Owen
and I can certainly afford it, and I want to do it.”

We settle on the fact
that I can still come in and go through the mail. The bills will
still need to be paid and emails will need to be answered. It’s not
going to be as much work as I would normally do, but I’m not going
to fight her on this. I wouldn’t win, anyway.

Once we’re done, I
take care of a few things and then head to the Forum Shops to pick up
something special for later. I also go to the grocery store because I
want to make dinner for Luke tonight. I have just enough time to get
everything cooked. I hurry to put on my purchases and curl my hair
into big waves. I’m leaning over the oven, taking out the fish,
when I hear him come in the door.

* * *

Luke

“Hi honey, I’m
ho—holy shit.”

As I walk in the door,
I see Olivia bent over the stove in a little lace thong with some
kind of skirt that skims her ass, and ribbons and bows around her
lower back. She stands up and turns to me, and I almost come in my
pants. What she’s wearing is hands down the sexiest bra and panties
set I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot. The bra has lace cups
and more ribbons with bows for straps. She also has on some heels
with lacy straps. Her hair is in curls, flowing over her shoulders
and back. I drop my bags on the floor as I stare at her, unable to
move for a minute.

“Hi, Luke. I thought
you might like a home cooked dinner after your hard day at work.”

“I think I want
dessert first because I’m
very
hard.” I walk over and reach for her, but she dodges me.

“Dessert first? Good
boys clean their plate before they get dessert.”

I reach for her again,
and this time I don’t let her get away. “I’ve never claimed to
be a good boy.”

“I was counting on
that. But only a quickie. I don’t want the food to spoil.”

I lift her onto the
dining room table while I play with the ribbons on her bra. “You’ve
been holding out on me.”

“No. I just bought
these today. I wanted something extra special for when you came
home.”

“I am a lucky, lucky
man,” I tell her as I pull the ribbons off her shoulder.

Dinner is still good
once we’re done since we were both pretty ready when I took her
hard and fast on the table. We’re both in our underwear, and she’s
sitting on my lap as we share a plate, feeding each other in between
kisses. “This is delicious, honey. I could get used to you cooking
for me.”

“As long as I don’t
have too much homework, I’ll be happy to cook for you. Especially
with your poker game next week. I mean, we can’t have you eating
ramen.”

“You have absolutely
no faith in me, do you?”

“Actually, I’ve put
all my faith in you. I’m just not sure about your poker skills.”

“Well, thanks for
looking out for me.” I nibble on her shoulder and she kisses my
cheek.

“Do you want to watch
a movie or something?”

“Sure, but you need
to put some clothes on. This shit is seriously a wet dream come to
life,” I tell her as I play with the ribbons over her hips.

“I thought you’d
like it when I saw it at the store.”

“Like is not a strong
enough word, Ollie. Thanks, by the way. For dinner, and for the best
welcome home I’ve ever had. Not that I’ve ever had anyone except
my mom welcome me home, but I can’t imagine anything better than
this.”

“Oh, so I have to
come up with a way to top this then, huh?”

“I didn’t mean it
as a challenge.”

“Well, I’m taking
it as one. As for getting dressed, I don’t suppose you brought an
extra t-shirt I could wear, did you? I kind of want to wear something
of yours.”

I pull the side of my
lip into my mouth before nodding to my bags at the door. “I, umm,
actually brought a bunch of stuff. I wanted to have enough stuff here
so we wouldn’t have to plan ahead when deciding where to stay. I
have my shower gel and stuff too. I hope that’s okay.”

Her smile lights up her
entire face. “That’s more than okay. I’ll bring some stuff to
your place tomorrow.”

“Cool.” And it is.
Talking about home with her wasn’t even a bit scary. I’ve loved
falling asleep with her and then waking up to her in my arms the past
few days. I don’t want it to ever stop.

We finish eating and I
wash the dishes while she looks for a movie. Then I carry my bags
into her bedroom and she shows me which drawers I can use. I hang up
my work clothes and then give her a Vortex shirt to wear. “This is
your favorite shirt.”

“Besides the one I
got signed, yeah.”

“Thanks for letting
me wear your favorite shirt.”

“Well, you
are
my favorite girl.”

“You’re so cute
when you’re being cheesy.”

“You bring out this
crazy side of me, so I’m glad you like it.”

She peeks around my
back. “I like all the sides of you, Luke. Your ass is particularly
spectacular.”

“I thought you wanted
to watch a movie, Ollie.”

“I do,” she says
with a laugh, grabbing my hand and pulling me back to the living
room.

We spend the next
couple of hours cuddled up on the couch watching the movie. We
actually manage to watch some of it, although there’s lots of
kissing and touching going on. When it’s officially over, I carry
my girl to bed and make love to her again. My life couldn’t get
much more perfect than it is right now.

* * *

Olivia

We’ve fallen into an
easy routine over the last week. We take turns staying at each
other’s places and haven’t spent a night apart. I
do
cook dinner for Luke most nights, but he makes
me
breakfast in the morning. I do homework at the rink when he has
practice, and he hangs out at the studio working on lesson plans when
I stop in to go through the mail. I went to Friday night barbeque at
his parent’s house with him, and we all were at his hockey game.
It’s pretty great, and I can’t wait for school to be out in a
couple months so we’ll have even more time together.

Tonight is Candi’s
shower, and as I pull up to Ryan and Chloe’s house, my mouth
literally drops open. The house is big, but not too big. It looks
like it should be in some old street in Europe, but there’s lots of
glass to give it a modern look. I get out and carry Luke and my
presents to the door. Chloe answers it and gives me a hug as I walk
in.

“Wow. I’ve never
seen a house like this. It’s really cool.”

“Thanks. Ry knows I
love the house in the Sound of Music so he took that design—where
you walk in and have to go up or down—and made it better by
actually putting things on this level, too. The party’s downstairs
in the casual great room.”

Great room is right.
It’s one huge room with couches, all kinds of entertainment options
like video games, air hockey and multiple TVs as a giant fish tank,
huge dining table, bar, and open kitchen. I’ve never been in a
house that’s so big, but it’s so comfortable at the same time. I
mean, the Griffin house is pretty awesome, but nothing like this.
Chloe and Ryan deserve all those awards they’ve won for
architecture and interior design.

I pause at a cool glass
sculpture. Chloe notices and smiles. “Ryan bought me that on a trip
to Seattle when we were working on our first building together. Most
of the rest of the art is Owen’s, though.”

“It’s amazing. All
of it. Really.”

“Again, thanks. It’s
truly our dream house.”

I shake my head,
thinking about how Luke could live like this if he wanted to. Except
for his car, he really lives a normal middle class lifestyle. It
makes me love him even more. It also makes me think about living in a
house with him. Nothing as big as this, but something we could share.
I think we’re maybe heading in that direction.

“Did you make that,
Liv?” Yasmin asks, pointing to the diaper cake I assembled.

“Yeah. Is it bad?”

“Are you kidding?
It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks. Don’t tell
anyone, but Luke helped me a little.”

“I won’t tell, but
that’s kind of awesome. I never saw him as the kind of guy who
would do something like that. He’s a great guy, but he was always a
party boy before you.”

“That’s what I
always thought, too. We spend most nights at home, though.”

“I’m so happy for
both of you. You’re great for each other.”

“Why are you making
Liv cry at my shower, Yasmin?”Candi asks as she waddles over.

“She’s not, Candi.
I was just touched by something she said.”

“Ah. You were talking
about Luke. Did you get any sex details from her? She won’t tell me
anything.”

Yasmin laughs. “I
didn’t ask and I doubt she’s going to offer me any details on her
own. Besides, for as much as you hound us, you
never
talk about what you and Owen do.”

“That’s between us,
but I’ll let you know that being pregnant has made me extra horny.”

“I didn’t need to
hear that,” Maggie says as she walks up.

“Sorry, Maggie.”

“It’s fine. I’m
not a prude, but talking about my sons and sex will never be a normal
thing for me.”

I blush and Candi winks
at me. Maggie notices. “Things seem to be going well with you and
Luke, Olivia. It was nice to have you over on Friday night.”

“They
are
great. It was great to be there. Thanks again for
including me.”

“You’re always
welcome, Olivia. Rose is over all the time already. Would you like to
invite your parents to join us this week?”

“Umm, not really.”

“Hold up, Liv. Have
you told them you’re dating Luke?” Candi asks, her eyes
narrowing.

“It hasn’t come up,
no.”

“Are you going to
tell them?”

Chloe and Alex have
come over now, and they’re waiting for my answer, along with
everyone else. “I want to. I do. I just know they have a bad
opinion of him because of his past behavior, and I don’t want them
to cause problems.”

“Isn’t your dad
having that party for his 20th year at work? You should take Luke as
your date. I think it would mean a lot to him.”

“Has he mentioned it
to you?”

Candi looks conflicted
and then answers. “Yeah. He really wants you to invite him, but he
doesn’t want to pressure you.”

Oh God. I’m such a
bitch. I
need
to take
him with me so I can show him how important he is to me. “I should
have realized that he wanted to go. I’m definitely going to take
him with me.”

Everyone else seems
happy with my answer and walks off to mingle. Candi, however, isn’t
done with the conversation. “What are you going to do if your
parents don’t accept your relationship with Luke?”

“I’m hoping that
won’t be the case.”

I’m evading and she
knows it. “I know you’ve never gone against them, Liv, but that
boy loves you and I believe you love him. I want you to think about
that when you make your decision. We both know how they are.”

She’s right and I
know it. They’ll never accept Luke, no matter how great he is. I
just hope they won’t try to forbid me to see him. It may be the
first time I have to defy them because I can’t imagine my life
without him.

I force myself to relax
and enjoy the rest of the shower. We play some games and Candi opens
her gifts. Owen already designed and built the baby a custom crib and
they bought all the big stuff themselves. We just bought them
clothes, and little things like diapers and bath stuff. They also
asked us to donate to a local children’s charity in their baby’s
name once he or she is born.

* * *

Luke

My playing is shit
tonight. I can’t stop thinking about the party Olivia’s parents
are throwing next week, and how she hasn’t asked me to go with her
yet. I know she’s not ashamed of me. At least I don’t think she
is. But for some reason she doesn’t want me there. Actually, I know
the reason. Her dad hates me. I want to change his mind, though. I’m
not the guy I was a year ago, or hell, even six months ago.

I had started to change
before Olivia and I got together, and her love for me has just made
things even better. I won’t say I don’t ever look at other girls
because any guy who says that is lying. But I don’t have any desire
to do anything with someone else. It’s all about her. Once, I
thought being this serious with someone was a death sentence, but
instead I feel free and so fucking happy I have to pinch myself
sometimes to make sure I’m not dreaming.

“Are you playing this
hand, Luke?” Owen asks me with a smirk on his face.