Mine to Watch Over - Book 3

Chapter 20 - Olivia

Olivia

I felt his eyes on me.

"What?" I cringed at the terse tone of my voice. "I'm sorry."

Doug's face was full of concern. "Are you still not sleeping well?"

I shook my head no.

"Maybe you should see a doctor? Get a sleeping pill or something? It might help you get back on track."

He didn't understand. No one did. It wasn't that I couldn't sleep. It was that I didn't want to sleep. I didn't want to close my eyes and plummet into darkness. I felt my heart quicken just thinking about it.

"I'll look into it." I know he only wants to help me. Doug took my hand across the table and smiled.

"I worry about you. You know that, right? You mean a lot to me."

This made me smile. "I know, and I thank you for caring so much. It's just something I need to get over. I'll figure it out." At his look of uncertainty, I added, "I promise."

"Have you heard from Cat?" It was obvious he chose to change the subject, probably because he picked up on the fact that it was making me uncomfortable.

I nodded. "She's staying until after the funeral, which will be the day after tomorrow. I'm worried about her. She's going through a lot, and being stressed out is the worst thing for her. Liam isn't making it any easier on her either."

Doug took a forkful of food and shrugged. After swallowing, he stated, "That's what Liam does best. Makes things difficult for people. When the team is in trouble, he blames everyone else for what's going wrong, never does he take the blame on himself even though he's the team captain."

"Well, where Cat's concerned, he's long overdue for taking responsibility and the moment he decides he's going to, it comes out as a threat to Cat and the baby. He's an asshole."

"You're not going to get any argument from me."

"He is your teammate." Doug and Liam's relationship always made me wonder. Doug seemed to have a rather large chip on his shoulder when it came to Liam.

"Doesn't mean I have to like him," Doug countered. "Let's do something fun this weekend."

"I'd love to but I promised Cat that I would help her register for her baby shower."

His eyebrow rose. "And that will take an entire weekend?"

"Well, no. I guess not, but I'm not sure when she'll be available and wanted to keep things open, you know?"

He grins that grin I love. Another grin flashes in my mind's eye. Dillion's. I shake my head to release myself from the thought.

"It's a good thing then that I can be a very spontaneous guy."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. And versatile, too. Quick at adapting to almost any situation so..."

"You'll figure out a way around my plans?"

"If it means finding a way to spend more time with you, you bet I will." He brings my fingers to his lips and it causes goosebumps to cascade down my arm. I sighed.

"Remind me again how I got so lucky to get you in my life?"

"Your best friend turned me down flat and offered you up as a sacrifice."

I try not to dwell on the fact that Doug was interested in Cat. I know she was his real objective that day at the club. I wondered how long he had a crush on her.