Too Close

Chapter 4

Olivia's P.O.V

"So, what are we doing tonight girl?" Tyler asked. Though school just started last Monday, it was closed today because of some teacher's convention and we didn't have to go back until tomorrow. He rested an arm on the back of the couch and kicked his socked feet up on the coffee table. I narrowed my eyes at him and shimmied to the edge of my portion of the couch, away from him, then grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. A Halloween movie was just ending and I left it on the channel.

"Definitely not this." He grabbed the remote from my lap and flipped through the channels.

"Hey!" I protested, trying to grab the remote back but he held it above his head where I couldn't reach as he continued looking through the channels. He finally landed on one and leaned back on the couch, satisfied.

"Now that's more like it," he said. I looked at the TV at the football game he landed on.

"I was watching that." Ignoring me, he leaned forward and focused on the game.

I stood up and walked to the kitchen to grab something to drink when my phone started ringing in my pocket.

"Hello?"

"Heyy," Haylie chimed on the other end. "I just pulled up. Is the door unlocked?"

"Yeah, I'm in the kitchen."

"K."

A few seconds later I heard the door open and close and her footsteps coming toward me.

"That's him?" She shrieked. She must've spotted Tyler on her way in here.

"Shh!" I said. "Lower your voice."

"Ohmigod Liv!" She whisper-yelled. "He is hot." She peered into the living room from the doorway.

"Eh, he's not all that," I walked up to her so I could see into the living room too. He was looking through our gaming rack and picked out a game for the PlayStation. I watched the muscles in his back flex through his shirt as he shuffled through the games. My eyes traveled down to the back of his pants then back up to his face when he turned back to the couch. Haylie looked at me with a brow raised in disbelief.

"You're kidding right?"

"He's cocky. And he's trouble," I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Well he's ca-yute trouble. I wonder if he's single." She peered again into the living room then whipped her head back.

"He's coming," she whispered.

Tyler came into the room, humming a tune. When he saw Haylie he nodded at her and reached past me to grab a soda in the fridge.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey. Uh—Liv I wish our break was longer, I know school just started last week but I could've used another day off," Haylie directed her attention to me. "Why would they do that, have us start classes then tease us with a day off the second week?"

"Remember when we used to love school?" I grabbed two bottles of water from the pantry.

"Barely," she snorted and followed me down the hall to my room.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said when she climbed on my bed and leaned against one of my pillows.

"Ready for what?" I asked. I grabbed the jar of cheese balls I hid for my guilty pleasure beneath my bed and popped one in my mouth.

"For you to explain to me, your best friend, exactly how his fine ass winded up as your foster brother." I turned on my TV and landed on some reality show I knew she liked. She continued pressing for the details so I finally caved and told her the story of how we previously crossed paths and then he ended up here just days after.