Forever Love (3 page)

I walk over to the door, not wanting to invite anyone in here. I really don’t want anyone hanging around or even worse, offering to help. I swing the door open and look up into dark green eyes. Noah's standing in front of me with a half a smirk. His hands are fisted into his front pockets of his jeans. Fuck, I didn’t even know it was possible to have eyes that green, how did I not notice them before? I stare into them for a few forever moments, completely losing myself in the color. I shake my head as if that will get me out of this daze and raise my eyebrows in question.

"Dinner will be on the table in ten minutes ma'am." He says in a posh English butler accent.

I stare at him, completely unmoved. The jackass completely ignores the expression on my face and looks around me through the door at the bombsite behind me.

Giving a low whistle he raises his eyebrows.

"Need any help?" His voice sends shivers through me.

I give a smile that I know doesn’t reach my eyes.

"Nope, I got it. Thanks anyway."

"You sure? You know I'm pretty good at unpacking. I'd be more than happy to put all your little lacy panties and bra's away. It would really be no problem."

"You know what? Actually erm." And I slam the door in his face. Asshole.

I can hear him chuckling at the other side of the door and find myself resisting the urge to go out there and kick him in the balls.

I grab my deep purple long sleeved shift dress off the hanger. I'm uncomfortable in the tank top and jeans I've been wearing all day while driving. I really need to shower, I didn’t have a chance before I flew out of the Bitch's house this morning. I tighten the loose bun on my head and decide that I can have a quick two minute one and then get ready. I only really want to wash my body and then I'll wash my hair before bed. I grab a towel from the linen closet I was shown earlier and make my way to the bathroom which I apparently share with the asshole. He's lucky I'm not drowning him in the tub after his panty remark.

The bathroom's completely tiled in the style of a wet room. It's very palatial with its cream speckled tiles set in a diamond pattern. There's a clawfoot tub with gold taps and a separate corner shower. I peel my tank top off and unclasp the front clasp of my white lacy bra before dragging my faded skinny jeans down my legs along with my panties. The shower is amazing and I almost don’t want to leave. There are lights running along either side in a fluorescent blue and there are way too many dials and buttons for me to even begin to understand how to work the thing. Luckily the big blue button labeled ON helps me out enough. I angle my head away from the jets to avoid getting my hair wet and close my eyes at the relaxing feel of the jets pounding my skin.

I jump out, wrapping the fluffy white towel around me, it’s a little short and varely covers my ass. I grab my dress to put on before realizing I've forgotten to bring fresh underwear in with me. I really don’t wanna be putting the ones I've been wearing all day back on, that’s just gross. I tighten the towel around me, grab my stuff and then make my way back to my pink monstrosity of a room. I turn the corner out of the doorway of the bathroom into the hallway and am met with a wall of solid muscle.

"Shit." I hoomph.

It almost makes me lose my balance and drop the precious towel before I feel two strong hands gripping the top of my arms, helping me regain my footing. They cause a surge electricity to run through me, nearly causing me to lose my balance again.

I look up into the mossy green eyes that hypnotized me earlier. He's wearing that same half a smirk and his eyes are running the length of my body. He distracts me for a second from the fact that I'm only wearing a towel and when realization hits, I gasp, slapping his hands away.

After mumbling a thanks, I rush away back into my room, knowing that his eyes are following my retreating back. I slam the door and lean my head back against it while sucking in air. I remember his smirk as he looked up and down my almost naked body. Cocky bastard.

I've only been here a couple of hours and already the dumb jock's almost seen me naked. Trina would laugh to tears, no way am I telling her, I'll never live it down.

After getting dressed and brushing my hair so it falls in soft waves around my shoulders and down my back, I make my way down the stairs, looking around at the same time. I'm pretty sure I'm at least ten minutes late for dinner but nobody has come up to get me. The walls are lined with photographs of Noah and Chase, Pam and my Dad. There are pictures of people I don’t recognize and even a few of me from when I was little with my Dad. They more than surprise me.

I stop at the bottom of the stairs and look at the hallway phone table in the corner before the door. My Dad and Pam's wedding picture is sitting there. I didn’t go, mostly because I was mad at my Dad that he was getting remarried and leaving me behind. Pam's wearing a long ivory fishtail town. She looks beautiful with her hair pinned to her head with curly wisps framing her face. Noah and Chase look handsome in their tuxes at either side of her and my Dad's smile lights up the picture. I feel a pang of regret and guilt that I wasn’t there but push it aside. Regret doesn’t change the past, I should know.

The dining room is massive, much bigger than I expected. I realize I haven't even seen half of this house. My Dad showed me to my room, pointing things out along the way, promising to show me after dinner. There's a large oak dining table in the middle of the room with two large chairs at either end. Three smaller chairs run down either side and a candelabra sits in the middle of the table as the centerpiece. It looks very elegant, there's no way they eat like this every night.

I'm completely out of my comfort zone, I'm used to just kicking back in front of the TV with pizza or Chinese food. My Dad's in his seat at the head of the table with Pam at his left side. Noah sits next to her and Chase sits opposite him. There's a seat free next to my Dad that I'm guessing is for me. I mentally groan in frustration on seeing another banner across the wall facing the door. This one has 'WELCOME HOME OLIVIA' in sparkly purple letters. Pam is way too excited for this. I look back, quickly eyeing the door in case I need an escape route from all this craziness.

"Olivia, how's your unpacking going? We waited." My Dad says as he rises from his seat.

I almost want to tell him to keep his butt planted, this is all way too weird. I'm still standing in the doorway, not sure whether to go in or run as fucking far away as I can. I guess it's in I go.

On taking my seat Pam leaves the room to come back moments later wheeling a trolley. You've gotta be fucking kidding me. A trolley? What is this, Downton Abbey? Obviously my Dad notices the expression on my face by his next words.

"We have a lot of dinner parties so the trolley makes sense then. Plus it's so good to have you here and Pam wanted to make dinner extra special."

I slowly nod, not even knowing what to say to that as Pam places the plates in front of everybody. On seeing the tray I've become starving. I haven't eaten at all today and my stomach growls in appreciation at finally being fed. That is until the plate is set in front of me.

You've gotta be fucking kidding me. I scrape my chair backward harshly against the wooden floor causing a squeaking sound to vibrate through the room.

"Everything ok Olivia?" Pam says, looking to me with concern in her eyes.

"Are those prawns?" My voice is panicked as I look at the offending site.

The color drains from my Dads face.

"Shit, I completely forgot." He lays his head in his hands, dragging them down before looking to me. "I'm so sorry."

He jumps out of his seat grabbing my plate before making his way around the table taking everyone elses until a pile of plates lie in his hands. Everyone looks confused and looks to me for an answer.

"I'm allergic."

Pam gasps, obviously realizing how bad her mistake could have been.

Her distressed expression makes me feel sorry for her as anger bubbles up from inside. How can my own father forget that I'm allergic to shellfish? I suppose it's an easy thing to forget one of the things that can, I don’t know, kill your only fucking child.

"What am I gonna eat now? I'm wasting away here." Chase exclaims in a whiny voice.

Pams got a deer in headlights look on her face. My Dad comes rushing back in.

"I am so sorry sweetie. I just.....I don’t even....."

I put my hand up to hopefully put a stop to his rambling. Frankly I'm way too pissed at the moment to listen to his excuses and I'm also fucking starving.

"Can we just like order pizza or something? I'm starving."

"Oh yeah. Pizzaaaaa!" Noah bellows causing Pam to startle. The woman looks like she's ready to have a nervous breakdown and if it wasn’t so tragic it'd be funny as fuck.

She'd obviously gone to a lot of effort to make tonight special with the banners and fancy table, maybe she's not so bad after all.

An hour later and about twenty apologies from my Dad and Pam, the pizza has arrived and we're all sitting in the living room eating and watching The Expendables 2. Id had a quick look at their DVD collection before we picked one out and couldn’t help noticing they all had Sylvester Stallone in. On that thought a realization hits.

"Is the cat named after Stallone?" I ask as I take another bite of my slice of Meat Lovers pizza.

"Oh my gosh yes. Everybody always assumes its after the cat in that kids cartoon-" Pam's face lights up.

"Sylvester and Tweety." Chase interjects.

"Yes but I thought our little Sylvester should be named after somebody to look up to."

Noah rolls his eyes, he's obviously heard this a million times before. Pam has a starry look in her eyes as she gazes into space while listing out Sylvester Stallones accomplishments. Her obvious admiration for him makes me think of Ada.

"My friends Mom, Ada, went to some premiere for one of his movies a couple years ago. I can't remember which one."

"Really?" Pam sits forward encaptured by whatever I'm about to say.

"Yeah he took a picture with her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, the pictures in her bedroom which I find kinda strange. I'm pretty sure she threatened him into giving her a kiss."

"What makes you say that?" Chase asks, probably thinking if the story involves threats of some kind its gotta be interesting.

"The woman can be scary." My Dad jumps in, surprising me. I almost forgot that he knows Ada.

I laugh at the look on his face and the shaking of his head as I drop the crust of my pizza back onto the box.

"Women can't be scary." Chase says with a frown.

"Uh huh, her neighbor had some bailiffs come round once for some car payment or something, they were huge. She kicked their asses all over the front yard, It was awesome. Hey, I'm pretty sure its on YouTube or something."

Noah raises his eyebrows and gives a low whistle.

"Are you looking forward to starting a new school Monday, Olivia?" Pam asks changing the subject from whether girls can beat guys to something a little less controversial. She's a sweet woman overall and not once have I felt left out since we moved from the imposing dining room into the living room, it feels less formal and stifling in here.

"Sure and call me Liv." She smiles a bright smile as I look around the room to everyone conveying the same message for them to call me Liv as well.

I've always hated the name Olivia. Only my parents call it me and since I don’t see my Dad as much as my Mom, I usually associate the name with some kind of insult.

"Well Noah here is gonna show you around. He's the star quarterback on the football team." My Dad says looking towards Noah with pride.

Of course hes the fucking quarterback. As Pam has apparently always wanted a girl, my Dad has always wanted a son. He's a real man's man and I know that most of the time growing up he was just winging it when trying to keep me entertained.

Things are not so awkward as before but I'm still pissed at my Dad. Pam seems pretty nice, though a little irritating. Shes constantly fucking happy. I don’t think id ever seen a smile on The Bitches face so it’s a little unsettling.

***

I'm comfortable on my new bed, the mattress is like a dream with big puffy pillows. I'm so tired after the long day I've had. I've changed into my white sleep shorts and yellow cami and I grab my new green toothbrush out of my bag, pulling the packaging off as I walk towards the bathroom. Obviously some fucker doesn’t want anyone to actually get to the toothbrush since they’ve made it almost impossible to and I'm ready to lose my temper and lob it at the wall.

"Having some trouble there?" The deep smooth voice startles me, causing me to let out a small yelp.

I look up and HOLY FUCK! Here I am, struck speechless by the sight of Noah with a towel wrapped around his slim waist. His hair is wet and slicked back with water droplets dripping from it onto his chest. I'm entranced watching the droplets run down his torso. He is perfection. I look down his stomach at his one, two , three, fuck he has an eight pack. He makes no attempt to run back into his room like I did earlier and just stands there as if he's modeling.

"Like what you see?" He's got that same cocky smirk on his face, the one that usually makes me want to slap him. This one, however, makes me want to pull that towel and see what's underneath.