Begin Again (A Starting Over Romance)

12. Luke

I pull the truck up behind the bar and I open the door for her and help her out. I pin her against the truck and kiss her again. "Now that I've kissed you, that's all I want to do." I whisper in her ear and she shivers. "That's all I want too." She says as I put my face in her neck. The back door to the bar opens and Lexi comes out with a garbage bag. She sees us and a huge grin spreads across her face, she doesn't say anything which is not like her. She just throws the bag in the dumpster and goes back inside.

"We aren't going to hear the end of it now." I laugh and take her hand and lead her inside. Lexi is at the bar, making sure everything is stocked before we open in half an hour. Olivia goes behind the bar and says "Alright, put me to work. What can I help with?"

Lexi grins at her. "First, warn a girl when you are going to be making out with her brother outside...my eyes may never be the same." She jokes

"I'm sorry." Olivia apologizes. I put my arm around her. "Don't apologize. She will get it over it." I tell her.

"Remember that when I finally wear Owen down and you catch us making out, big brother. " Lexi says with her signature attitude. "Try it and see what happens." I warn her. She rolls her eyes and turns to Olivia. "Anyway, if you could go to the kitchen for clean glasses and bring them out, that would be great" Lexi tells her and Olivia nods and takes off.

"I'm gonna go get stuff done in my office before we open." I tell Lexi and she laughs and grabs my arm to stop me. "I don't think so, not so fast." She says and I roll my eyes.

"You wanna fill me in on you and Olivia?" She asks and I sigh. "Not much to fill you in on Lexi. I like her and we've kissed a few times but that's it. She just got out of an abusive relationship that lasted for years, nothing else can happen right now because she is prolly more fucked up that we realize." I tell her and realize I used the wrong words to explain it when I see Olivia standing beside me, holding the stack of glasses.

The hurt look on her face, pierces my heart. "Olivia, that came out wrong. I didn't mean it the way it sounded." I try to explain but she is shaking her head. "You don't have to explain anything Luke. Here are your glasses, Lexi. I'm gonna go use the restroom before we open." She says and she puts the glasses on the counter and turns toward the employee bathrooms. She avoids all eye contact with either of us.

"Fuck!" I say and I start to walk in the direction that Olivia went but Lexi stops me. "Let her have some time alone. I know what you were trying to say and your right, it came out terribly wrong." She tells me and although I don't like it, I don't follow Olivia. I take care of some paper work in my office for a few minutes before I hear Lexi talking to customers. I look at my watch and I've been in here for half an hour.

I go out to the bar to help Lexi bartend tonight. There are more people in here than I thought. The game is about to start. I look around for Olivia and I find her on the floor talking to a table of guys.

She laughs at something one of them says and she touches his arm and then nods, writes something down on her pad and walks back towards the bar.

She walks back to the kitchen and puts their order in before she tells Lexi the drinks that they wanted. She stands there waiting for them to get done and she avoids all eye contact with me. I walk over to her and say "Liv, can we talk about earlier?" She shakes her head. "No need Luke. I get it. I have a past and its not a pretty one. It's not going to be easy to find a guy that can deal with how 'fucked up' I must be." She says and I touch her arm. She pulls back. "Liv, I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." I tell her and she scoffs. "Luke, I was beat up every other day of my life, either by my mother, her boyfriends or Logan when I moved in with him. They talked down to me everyday. Nothing you say to me can be worse than what they said to me. I'm fine, really. Let it go and we will move on." She says and Lexi hands her the drink order she was waiting on. Olivia takes off to the table of guys.

I sigh loudly and turn back to the bar. "She's not going to make it easy on you, is she? She's a tough one." Lexi says and I nod. "That she is, I feel like a jackass."

"You should, you already ruined a good thing. I liked her for you." She says and then she waits on a guy waiting at the bar.

I look out and Olivia is still talking to the group of guys, she's laughing and she is paying one guy in particular more attention than the rest. I don't fucking like it. She touches his arm and smiles then turns to another table and get their order along with the table beside them. Every one she waits on, can't take their eyes off of her. Can't blame them because neither can I. It's going to be a long night and I need to find a way to make it up to Olivia.