The Hookup Hoax (17 page)

Overcome by the pain radiating through her chest, Olivia sank to the floor and leaned against the bed. Tears rolled down her already blotchy cheeks. As much as she’d tried to deny it, as much as she didn’t want it to be true, she couldn’t ignore the facts any longer.

She’d fallen for Sawyer.

Fake boyfriend or not, baby or no baby, she’d given him her heart, her soul, her everything. He was supposed to be a placeholder so she could get her life settled before finding the love of her life. Instead, she’d fallen for the playboy, the man who never wanted a future with any woman, let alone her.

How had she been so stupid again?

Aidan had warned her not to get too close, and she’d ignored him, believing she was strong enough to handle Sawyer. But she wasn’t. He’d become her whole world and now he’d agreed to leave it without so much as warning her first. He didn’t care about her, or their relationship. He didn’t care about their child.

How was she going to continue this charade for another few weeks?

She wasn’t, that’s how.

Screw him.
Screw his stupid cabin and his deceitful plan. If he could make choices for his future without even considering her feelings, then so could she. Starting right now.

Pulling herself from the floor, she grabbed the last of her things, took one more look around the room she’d enjoyed for the last two months, and closed the door—leaving Sawyer in the past along with the rest of her dreams and hopes for the future with him.

She was back to having no apartment, and after she called the human resources department tomorrow and quit, she’d have no job either. The last two months of hard work, gone with a positive pregnancy test. But she had the baby, and regardless of how Sawyer felt about being a dad, she was ready and excited to be a mother—even a single mother.

Maybe her future wasn’t exactly as she hoped, but she would do whatever it took to make a good life for her child. With or without Sawyer by her side.

After a long, snot-filled taxi ride, she used the key her brother had given her to his apartment. Seeing him and admitting what she’d done was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had nowhere else to turn.

Grabbing the extra blanket and pillow from the closet, she curled up on the couch and gave into the pain, hoping by the time Aidan got home from work, she’d be ready to take his lecture. She didn’t want to hear it, but she certainly deserved it.

Chapter Nineteen

“Olivia!” Sawyer threw open the door to the apartment. It was late. He’d been forced to celebrate with Marcus and the rest of the team for the better part of the evening, much later than he’d anticipated or wanted. He strode down the hall toward her bedroom and knocked on her door. “You in there?”

Silence.

Pounding on the door, he called out again, louder. “Talk to me.” The breath caught in his throat as he waited for her response.

Again, silence.

Twisting the knob, he inched the door open and peered inside.

Her room was as vacant as the rest of the apartment. Empty hangers littered the closet. Her dresser drawers were picked clean. The bathroom vanity confirmed his fears—Olivia was gone.

He’d known she’d be upset with him over the travel, and especially his reaction to the baby, but he’d never expected her to move out. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed her number, then sat on the edge of her bed, waiting for her to pick up. When she didn’t, he left a quick message to call him back, that he was sorry, and he wanted to talk.

Flopping onto her pillow, he breathed deep, taking in her scent, still lingering on the fabric. God, he loved the way she smelled, like sunshine and vanilla.

He’d been working so hard for so long for the success he’d achieved today and now the only person he really wanted to celebrate with had moved out and wasn’t taking his calls.

He dialed her again, leaving a more urgent message when she still didn’t pick up. After the sixth message, he had to restrain himself from throwing his phone across the room. Instead, he dialed Aidan.

“I warned you not to hurt her like you did Tammy,” Aidan said, in a tone so eerily soft that it told Sawyer he was pissed and barely keeping it together.

He sighed with relief. “Good. Then you’ve spoken to Olivia.”

“I’d sound a little less excited, if I were you.”

“Where is she?” If she was at Aidan’s, he was going over there immediately.

“I found her curled up on my couch with a mess of used tissues littering my floor. What did you do to my sister?”

“Nothing. It’s a misunderstanding. I’ll come over and explain.”

“No.”

“No what?”

“You won’t step foot inside this apartment until I talk to her.”

His blood pressure spiked with his anger. This had nothing to do with Aidan and he had no right to play gatekeeper. “This is between me and her. Not you.” He practically growled the last few words before hanging up.

She might be Aidan’s sister, but she was his girlfriend. Fake girlfriend. Whatever.

She was his. He just had to win her back.

…

“Wake up.”

Olivia stirred and batted at whatever was making noise. Her head thumped to the beat of her pulse and her eyes felt as if she’d walked through a sandstorm. Pulling the blanket up around her ear, she attempted to block out the rest of the world. She wanted to stay tucked away in her cocoon forever.

“He’s on his way over, so you better tell me what happened.”

She groaned. The thought of admitting the pain and rejection to her brother, his best friend, made her nauseated. Or maybe that was pregnancy hormones.

Aidan had been right. Sawyer was bad news from the start, but she didn’t listen and now she was a giant ball of snot and sore eyes with a big old broken heart dying in her chest. Not that she was being “overly dramatic,” as Sawyer would say.

Tears welled in her eyes at the memory of him teasing her, calling her out on her behavior. He simultaneous annoyed and amused her every time. She’d miss that part of their relationship.

Fake relationship.

She pushed herself to a sitting position and met her brother’s gaze. Anger and protectiveness hardened his features.

“What happened?”

She sighed, feeling defeat throughout her entire body. “He got the Marcus project.”

“But that’s a good thing.”

She chuckled. “I used to think so, too. It still is, I guess.” She didn’t want to admit her feelings to her brother, or Sawyer, or anyone else. If she said them out loud, then they were out there in the world. If she kept them to herself, maybe she could convince herself they didn’t exist.

“And?”

She chewed the inside of her cheek. “And Marcus wants him to travel, to kick off the marketing teams in each region so nothing about their brand message is lost in translation.”

“That’s bad why?”

“Because he didn’t tell me it was part of the deal. Because he didn’t even once consider I might care he was going away. Because I fell for him, okay?” A sob bubbled up as the pain in her chest reared up again. “Because…I’m pregnant.”

Aidan’s arms were around her in seconds, cradling her to his chest, rubbing her back while she sobbed. When her cries turned to stuttered breaths, he called down to the doorman, barring Sawyer from the building.

“I should’ve listened to you. I should’ve known better than to get involved with a guy like him. I never meant to put myself through this again. But, he was just so…”

“He’s just so dead,” Aidan said flatly.

…

Sawyer stretched out his hamstrings, groaning with the tension in his muscles. It was as if his body was rejecting him, too.

A stab of pain pierced his chest for about the hundredth time. Maybe he was already in the thousands. He’d lost count somewhere around last Tuesday. Now he was numb most of the time.

Focus. Stretch. Kick the ball. Kick some ass.

Then go home. Alone.

He pushed the negative thoughts from his mind as much as he could. They were still there, always there, lingering in the shadows, haunting his dreams.

If he’d known back when this whole thing started that his life would end up a mess, vacant and void where it used to be full, he wondered if he’d still make the choice to get involved with Olivia. During the day he’d been able to keep busy and convince himself that no, given the choice, he wouldn’t go through this again. No woman was worth it. This experience with Olivia proved how much hurt came from relationships. At night, however, when he couldn’t keep himself distracted by work, she consumed his thoughts. His missed her scent, her laugh, her sarcastic teasing. He missed the tenderness in her eyes, the heat in her caress, and the passion in her kisses.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Aidan asked.

“Yoga. What does it look like?” If his so-called best friend wanted to get between him and his woman, then the gloves were off. Aidan should be his wingman right now, helping him get his girl back, not playing gatekeeper and stopping him from seeing her.

“You sure you want to be here? I might accidentally kick the ball into your pretty-boy face. Then how will you get girls into your bed? ‘Cause it certainly won’t be your charming personality.”

Sawyer sprang to his feet, getting in Aidan’s space. “Why don’t you ask your sister?”

He barely saw the motion coming, and dodged to the left, but it was too late. Aidan’s fist clipped him on the jaw. Sharp stabs of pain radiated through his face and his eyes watered momentarily before he blinked them clear and lunged toward the attack instead of away. His shoulder crashed into Aidan’s ribs and together they went down hard on the artificial turf. He grunted when a shot connected with his kidney.

From somewhere in the distance, voices yelled at them to stop or cheered at them to hit harder—he couldn’t tell. The only thing he could focus on was Aidan’s face, and taking out his frustration.

He threw a fist and felt it collide with bone, but without the crunch of breaking. As another hit slammed into the side of his head, making his ear ring loudly, arms pulled on his shoulders, separating him from his target. Breaking free, he scrambled to get in another shot.

“Why did you do it? Why did you have to screw with her?” Aidan asked as he came at him again, a whirlwind of blows landing along his ribs.

“She wanted me as much as I wanted her. Deal with it.”

“You think you can use her like some chick from the bar and I’m going to
deal
with it?”

“I didn’t use her and I would never think of her that way.”

“Like hell you didn’t.” His friend pulled his fist back, ready to pulverize him again. “Then why, you son of a bitch? Why couldn’t you stay away from her?”

“Because I fucking love her, okay?” Sawyer shot back, bracing for the punch, but as soon as the admission left his lips, his body went weak.

Aidan was pulled off him and a second later Sawyer was dragged to his feet. He had no strength left to fight back. Confusion flashed across Aidan’s eyes.

“Enough!” shouted Jason, coming between them. “If you have issues with each other, take them off the field.”

Sawyer pulled free and tugged his shirt back into place. He focused on his team captain, unable to look Aidan in the eye. “It’s over. Let’s get this game started.”

“You’re out of the game. Both of you. I can’t let you take this shit out on the other team.”

Sawyer sat on the bench with his head in his hands. What the hell had gotten into him? Years he’d been friends with Aidan, through girlfriend indiscretions, drunken mischief that almost got them expelled from college, and even a frat prank that could’ve landed them in jail, and never once had they ever gotten into a fist fight with each other. None of that had ever meant as much to him as losing Olivia.

Fuck. I love her.

But did he love the idea of a baby, too?

Aidan flopped down onto the bench beside him, wincing. “Goddamn it. I’m too old for this shit.”

Sawyer laughed, his anger long gone, replaced by a mixture of regret and rejection. And pain. He wasn’t bleeding anywhere he could see, but he’d definitely be bruised. Hopefully they’d all fade before the big birthday party in a couple of weeks. The last thing he needed to do was show up there not only alone, but beat to a pulp as well.

“When did you get so good with your right hook?” he asked, rubbing a particularly tender spot along his jaw.

“I don’t know. When did you fall in love with my sister?”

“Fucked if I know.” He rolled his shoulders, cringing. What would he give for one of her massages now? “Listen, I didn’t mean to. It just sort of…happened. And I didn’t mean to sleep with her either. That just sort of happened, too.”

“Oh yeah? You were walking along one day and slipped and found your dick somewhere it shouldn’t be?”

“Something like that.” He laughed. If he could go back to that first night with her, he’d never leave the hotel room. “How is she?”

Aidan sighed. “She’s a mess, thanks to you. I’ve never seen her like this before, even after everything that happened with Sam. This time is different. Worse. If you really love her, then you need to figure out a way to make this better.”

“How can I? She won’t return my calls. Has she listened to any of my voicemails? Read the multiple emails I’ve sent? Texts? Anything?”

“Not as far as I know.”

“Then there’s not a lot I can do. I promise I’ll make this right if she gives me the chance. Get her to listen to my messages, okay?” He hated begging, but when it came to Olivia, he was willing to do whatever it took.

“I’ll see what I can do, but she’s pretty stubborn.” Aidan dabbed at the blood trickling down his chin from his busted lip. “I better go put some ice on this. I have a big meeting tomorrow and I’ll have a hard time explaining why I look like I got in a bar brawl.”

“Sorry. I mean it. For everything.”

Aidan sighed, looking defeated. “If she decides to take you back, I’ll cease and desist on the ass kicking I owe you. But you better spend the rest of your life making her happy.
If
you’re lucky enough to get the chance.”

“Deal.”

He couldn’t let Olivia walk away without ever talking to her again. What would he do without her in his life? What would happen with the baby?

These last few months had started out as a scam, but somewhere along the way, he’d gotten used to having her by his side. Now that she wasn’t anymore, his whole world had shifted and he didn’t see any way to get it back on track without her. Before, he couldn’t imagine a future with anyone, ever. Now, he couldn’t imagine a future without Olivia.