Loving Olivia

Chapter 24 - Just Feel

Olivia

"I'll be back. I'm going to the bathroom," I whisper to Nico.

We've now moved on to playing pool and from what I can tell, we're all pretty bad at it except for Nico.

He immediately puts down his pool stick. "I'll go with you. I need to go too."

I don't know if he's still feeling protective from earlier or thinks I might fall into the toilet from all the beer I've had tonight.

There are only two bathrooms in this place and they're unisex. As the first one is occupied, Nico opens the door for me to the second one, being the gentleman that he is, but I'm caught off guard when he follows me inside and locks the door behind him.

"I really need to pee, Nico," I say giggling.

"Me too. So hurry," he replies nonchalantly.

"Nico, I'm not going in front of you! Go wait outside."

"No way. Baby, just go. We're wasting time here," he jokes.

I hesitate. Are we really doing this? "You go first. I can wait," I say, thinking I can just kick him out once he's done.

"Fine," he quickly answers, moving towards the toilet and lifting up the seat.

I back up towards the opposite wall, not believing this is really happening until I hear him unzip his jeans. I can't help but laugh and turn around as he relieves himself.

"All yours," he says once he's finished, and lowers the seat back down for me after flushing the toilet.

My earlier plan is thwarted as he heads to the sink and I realize I can't hold it in any longer.

"Don't look," I warn him, and I can see him smiling as he nods. I tell myself he's already seen me in much more embarrassing situations as I go for it.

When I finally have the courage to look at him, I see he's playing with his phone and I'm thankful for the bit of privacy given the situation.

He comes up behind me as I'm washing my hands, wrapping his arms around my waist. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

I stubbornly try not to agree with him as I dry my hands with a paper towel. I look at him through the mirror and he grins at me. Just when I thought I couldn't feel any closer to him, he breaks down another one of my barriers in such an unsuspecting way.

I watch him as he ducks his head down to kiss my temple and then the crook of my neck and shoulder. There's something exhilarating about being able to see his expression through the mirror as he does it. I almost don't recognize my own. It's worriless and carefree. It's happy. I'm happy, I realize.

Who knew this trip would turn out to be the best form of therapy?

I squirm as he nips at my ear before looking at me again through the mirror. "I missed being with you like this," he says.

"I really missed it too." I turn around in his arms, reaching up to kiss him. I don't know how he managed to do it, but I suddenly feel better than I have in weeks. And it feels like the beginning of more to come. "I want you, Nico."

I mean it in the entire sense, and he's quick to understand it as he immediately groans. He pulls back from me, quickly checking his phone, before announcing, "We're leaving. Right now."

Nico rushes us out of the bathroom and back to the pool table. "We're leaving," he repeats to Adrian and Sofia as he picks up our coats. "See you in the morning."

I'm barely able to say bye to them, partly because I'm trying to hide my reddened face behind Nico and partly because he practically carries me towards the exit.