Never 'Til Now

Chapter 25

****Trigger Warning****

The sound of Olivia typing away on her computer filled the air in her cozy home office. The room was adorned with shelves of books, favorite quotes, and a collection of meaningful trinkets. Now that the cast was removed, she had spent the last two weeks catching up.

She constantly glanced at the clock because of her anticipation for the upcoming event. She would be meeting Ashley at the recording studio to support her during the auction of the new song. It was an exciting moment for her friend, and Olivia was determined to be there for her.

Amid her work, Olivia's eyes wandered to the calendar hanging on the wall. The date suddenly caught her attention, and a sharp pain pierced her heart. It was two days away from the anniversary of Anthony's death day, which had forever altered the course of her life.

A wave of grief swept over her as the memories of that fateful day flooded her thoughts, and she felt the weight of loss in every breath. The world around her seemed to shrink as she allowed herself a moment to feel the pain that still lingered despite the passage of time.

With a deep sigh, Olivia closed her eyes, briefly surrendering to the sorrow that welled up within her. She did her best to remember the breathing exercises that had gotten her through the last ten years, but it felt pointless.

-10 years ago-

Olivia was awakened by the tightening of Anthony's arms around her in the bed beside her. His eyes were still closed, but his breathing had changed, a sign that he was slowly waking up. Her eyes studied his face, starting at the freckles layered over his caramel-colored skin, then to the eyelashes that seemed to kiss his cheekbones, and finally to his full lips, which would typically be the ones waking her up right now.

A devious grin enveloped Olivia's face as she leaned over to place soft kisses on his face. With each one, Anthony began to stir. First, his lips curled into a smile. Then his fingers laced themselves into her mess of curls falling around his face, and his brown eyes began to flutter open until they stared into her chocolate ones.

"MM...And what do you think you're doing?" His morning voice was deep and gravelly from sleep. The laugh he released lingered in the air around them.

"Giving you your wake-up call." Oliva leaned down and found the sweet spot on his neck. Her hand roamed over his bare chest and inched slowly down to the morning wood that was pressing against his boxers. "You don't want to be late."

Anthony flinched at the sensation of her rubbing him softly with her hand. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as her hand slipped past the waistband, touching his flesh. "If you were so concerned with me being late, why are you starting something you can't finish?"

Olivia peeked back up to him from under her eyelashes and smiled sneakily. "You know you're right, that's mean." She said as she removed her hand and climbed off the bed.

Before Olivia could step away, Anthony rose from his lying position and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back to the bed. "Oh no, you come back here." He playfully demanded as he pinned her body beneath his.

Olivia squirmed underneath him, trying to free her body, but his body weight wouldn't budge. "Let me go." She pleaded, feigning helplessness.

Anthony grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head, keeping them in place with one hand while his other hand roamed over her body. His hand snuck under her t-shirt and found her breast. He squeezed hard. "Mm, you got me going, and now we're not stopping until we both finish.