CHERYL
For a moment, I couldn’t tell if the thudding in my chest was from the alcohol or the words he’d just said.
“Because I don’t plan on holding back.”
Oliver sat there so calmly, like he hadn’t just dropped a live grenade between us. His face gave away nothing—no nervous twitch of the lips, no uncertain glint in his eyes. Just that same cool, casual mystery that had always surrounded him, even back when he was just the quiet kid in science class with ink-stained fingers and oversized glasses.
But he wasn’t that boy anymore.
He was something else now. A little rough around the edges. Confident. Measured. Attractive in a quiet, dangerous kind of way that made your mind wander where it shouldn’t.
My fingers tightened around the base of my wine glass. “Oliver…” I started, then stoppe
