Olivia looked at Melanie with a questioning look on her face.
“Oh, don’t worry, Libby,” she said. “I told him I’m not single. Plus, he’s gay.”
Olivia laughed, slightly relieved.
Bridget approached with the guy she had been dancing with. He had a rather strong resemblance to the young man standing at Melanie’s side.
“Lucas, it's great to meet you.” Olivia extended her hand to him. “Where in Boston…? Oh, fuck it. Come back to our table with us,” she yelled, not wanting to shout over the music anymore.
The guys followed the girls back to their booth, Olivia letting the bouncers guarding their area know that it was okay to let them in.
After pouring champagne for everyone and ordering a few more bottles, Olivia turned back to Lucas. “Well, where in Boston do you live?”
“I live in Brighton. This is my brother, Dylan,” he said, gesturing to the guy sitting next to Bridget.
“Dylan went to Harvard!” Bridget said, her dark eyes brimming with excitement.
“Oh, really?” Kiera asked. “What do you do now?”
Dylan smiled and his hand disappeared beneath the table. “Oh, a little bit of this. A little bit of that.”
“Who's older?” Olivia asked, noticing Bridget’s face flush red. She could only assume that Dylan had his hand on her leg.
“Dylan is,” Lucas said. “He's twenty-seven. I'm twenty-five. I started college a little late, but I’ll graduate this December.”
“Me, too!” Melanie exclaimed. “I can’t believe we haven’t run into each other before!”
Lucas nervously shifted in his seat, obviously flustered with Melanie’s beauty, even if he was gay. “Well, Northeastern’s a big school, and there are a lot of psych majors.”
Melanie rolled her eyes, an adorable look of mock irritation crossing her face. “You can say that again. We should totally form a study group for Professor Meecham’s seminar next fall. I hear it’s a bitch.”
“Definitely. I could use all the help I can get.”
“You both live in Brighton?” Olivia asked, interrupting Melanie’s conversation.
“I live in Cambridge,” Dylan explained, sharing a look with Bridget.
“You guys need to come to MacFadden's one of these nights and see Miss Olivia sing! She's a rock star!” Melanie said excitedly.
“Olivia?” Lucas said. “That’s it! I thought you looked familiar. You’re Olivia Adler, aren’t you? You’re about to marry Alexander Burnham! Man, if he was gay…” He flashed a dazzling white smile.
Olivia took a sip of her champagne, hiding her grin as the entire table erupted in laughter. She still got butterflies just thinking about marrying Alexander. She wanted it to be August twenty-fourth already. The past few months felt like a big waiting game and part of her wanted to just drag Alexander to Vegas that weekend and marry him there without all the bullshit of having a big wedding.
“Well, congratulations,” Lucas said, raising his champagne glass. “I wish you the best of luck in your marriage.” A strange look crossed his face. Olivia tried not to read too much into it, but something seemed off. Then again, maybe Alexander’s paranoia was just rubbing off on her. These guys meant no harm. They were in Vegas on a guy's weekend, having a good time…just like she was.
They danced the rest of the night away, Bridget attached to Dylan’s hip throughout the entire evening. Melanie seemed content to be her wingman, spending time with Lucas and talking about school.
“I gave him my number!” Bridget slurred on the limo ride back to their hotel. “And I got his, too!”
“That's great!” Kiera said excitedly.
“I know! He's so sweet, guys! I mean, like really, really sweet. He kept telling me that I was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and that he felt like he had been waiting his entire life to meet me.”
“You two make a really cute couple,” Olivia said, watching Bridget brim with excitement.
“We already have plans to see each other on Tuesday. He wants to take me out to dinner! I have a date! I haven't had a real date in so long!”
Olivia smiled at her friend, hoping that everything worked out with Dylan and Bridget because she deserved someone who treated her like a princess.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NO CHOICE
“I’LL JUST PARK THE car and be right up with your luggage, ma’am,” Carter said late Monday night after picking up Olivia from the airport. She had a wonderful time with her friends, but was thankful to be home. At that moment, she finally realized that Alexander’s penthouse was home.
“Thank you,” she said quietly, climbing out of the car and making her way into the waterfront building. She ascended the twenty-five stories and quickly punched the code into the door, eager to see Runner. As the door to the penthouse slid open, the fifty-pound ball of energy wrapped in fur came bounding up to her, nearly toppling her over.
“Hey, boy. I sure did miss you!” She scratched his head before walking over to the couch, ready to collapse. Runner jumped up and snuggled next to her. Nepenthe stalked down the corridor, his keen eyes trained on the dog, debating whether or not he would allow him to live another day. He stretched and yawned before walking down the stairs to find another warm, dark spot to sleep in.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Carter said, interrupting Olivia’s relaxing minute with the dog. “Where would you like your bags?”
“Up in the master bedroom is fine, Carter. Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure, Miss Adler.”
Olivia collapsed back into the couch, feeling absolutely exhausted from the weekend. She fell asleep before she even heard Carter leave the apartment, dreaming of beautiful green eyes once more.
Several hours later, she woke up with a start after hearing Cam’s voice in her sleep. She had no idea what it all meant. Why, after all this time, was she dreaming of Cam? It wasn’t as if she had feelings for him in any way other than him being a good friend who had helped her during her darkest time. But there was something about the dream that made it feel so real.
She raised herself off the couch and walked into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she grabbed a bottle of water and glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn’t even midnight yet, but she felt completely exhausted. After rummaging through her purse, she found her cell phone, wondering why she hadn’t heard from Alexander yet.