Loving Olivia

Chapter 13 - The Past Finds You

Nico

"You sure you're okay with this?" I ask Olivia one last time before we go in.

"Yes. We need to celebrate, right?" she responds coyly.

"We can celebrate in other ways," I say, not able to help myself.

She grins at me. "Nico, it took me an absurd amount of time to get ready. We can't go back now."

I look at her in appreciation for the fifteenth time since I picked her up. She looks absolutely beautiful. Her hair is curled in long waves, which I can't wait to run my fingers through. And that dress. It should be illegal. If dresses could kill this would be it.

"Okay," I say, even though I'm still not convinced coming to a party is the best thing for her right now. But when I texted her saying we had won our first game she was so excited and surprisingly said that she wanted to go out.

Thankfully the party is at Eric's house tonight, one of the defenders on our team. I don't think I would have been able to handle another party at my place.

As we walk inside, I see a lot of my teammates gathered around the kitchen doing shots. I don't want to drink as I'll be driving home later, and I don't think Olivia should be drinking either in case it makes her sad, so I bypass them and guide Olivia towards the living room.

"Want to dance?" I ask her.

She nods, and I pull her with me towards the crowd. It feels amazing to have her in my arms again. I've waited all week for this.

"I missed you," I lean down to tell her over the music.

"I missed you too," she responds, and rests her head on my shoulder.

This is exactly what I wanted. I let my hands fall from her waist to her lower back. I want so much more with her. If I could, I would take her home with me right now. I don't care about celebrating our first win or anything else. I just want to be with her.

"Durant! Drinks. Now."

I lift my head to see Ben beside us. Of course it had to be him. Can't he see I'm busy?

"No man, I'm good."

"Dude, you scored a freaking hat trick. The guys are waiting on you."

I'm about to tell him I don't care, when Olivia pipes up. "Nico, that's amazing! You should go be with them."

Her excitement surprises me. I guess I forgot to mention that part to her earlier. "Come with me then."

"I better not. But you go, I'll be fine. I wanted to find Gael anyway."

I frown, not liking this idea at all. I don't want to leave her, and I definitely don't want to do shots with the guys or whatever they have planned. But now I feel like I have to for appearance's sake.

"Okay, I won't be long." I kiss her before walking away reluctantly with Ben.

"There he is!" one of my teammates says as I join them in the kitchen. He immediately hands me a cup of beer. I toast with them and try to relax.

I gulp when they start pouring out shots of tequila. Last time I got drunk off of tequila shots it did not end well, to put it lightly. The beer I can handle, but definitely not the shots.

The worst part is if I tell the guys I don't want it, they'll just ride my ass about it all night. I know how they are. Freaking peer pressure. But I want them to respect me, not make fun of me. They all look at me expectantly, and in a panic, I take the shot with the rest of them. The alcohol burns in my mouth and I grab my beer to chase it down, but I end up spitting the tequila back into the cup.