The Heart That's Meant to Love You

Chapter 31: Oliver

Naomi stared at the man in the driver's seat with a sense of deja vu and trepidation.

It had been years since she last saw him. His hair had been shorter. He hadn't walked with the confident arrogance that now cloaked him like a second skin. Last time that Naomi had seen Oliver Bettencourt, he had been a boy. Now, it seemed he had grown into a man.

Naomi could guess how he knew her whereabouts. Her mother must have told him where to find Naomi, since Naomi had refused to go to Oliver.

Naomi didn't mind Oliver. He had been a friend since middle school. She just hadn't expected him to show up with flowers and a sports car on the day of her mock exams.

"You look like you have questions," Oliver shot in Naomi's direction, though his aviator sunglasses never turned away from their forward position. Better that he focus on the road.

Naomi plucked at a pleat in her long skirt. "I don't know where to start."

"Start by telling me you missed me." Oliver's grin pulled his lips in an evil supervillain type of expression.

Naomi shook her head at him. "I didn't."

"Ouch. That one hurt."

"I won't lie to you." Oliver should know that. Naomi had never told him a lie in her life. She wasn't a fan of hiding things that would eventually get out, anyway.

Oliver shrugged a shoulder. "That's why I like you."

"Like me? You?"

"Didn't you know?" Oliver's smile turned to a frown. "You don't know why I'm back? But it's in your plan."

"What?"

Why would Oliver bring up The Plan at a time like this? What did he mean when he said he had come back because of The Plan? The Plan existed for Naomi and her mother. No one else had ever been included. So why did Oliver think he had a spot in the middle of it?

"If I'm wrong, never mind. It doesn't change anything about why I'm back."

"Tell me what you meant."

Oliver shook his head. "Like I said, it doesn't change my motives. Shall I tell you why I'm back?"

"You're going to even if I say no." Naomi knew Oliver too well to imagine that he would pass up this opportunity to brag about himself.

Oliver's smile returned, full force with a blinding set of teeth. "I've been appointed to my family's corporation."

"Good for you." Naomi clapped her hands twice, as patronizing as she could manage. Oliver needed no more reasons to be proud of himself. He had flaunted his family's wealth since young, a habit that hadn't changed in all these years.

"I'll be honest. I asked for the position. I wanted to come back home." Oliver glanced toward Naomi. "Because I missed you."

Oliver had missed her? Naomi stared him down, trying to process and decode the announcement. They were friends, after all. If she weren't so indifferent to the people around her, Naomi might have found time to miss him while he had been away.

Since Oliver was a few years older than her, and always bowed to his family's whims, she just assumed that he had left for good. No use missing someone who would never come back.

"I'm not worth changing your life for, you know," Naomi warned him.

"Sure you are. You're Naomi. You've got that going for you."

"So you're back to boss me around again?" Naomi said it with good humor, but it held a lot of accuracy.

Oliver had always operated as a sort of older brother, protector figure. Looking back, most of what Oliver had done had been for Naomi's good, but in the moment she hadn't liked the way he thought he was in charge all the time.

Oliver laughed. "If you'll let me."

"Do I have a choice in the matter?"

Naomi could picture how things turned out like this. Her mother had a propensity for finding things or people to keep Naomi in check. Oliver had undoubtedly been sent to remind Naomi to behave.

Truth be told, Naomi didn't mind it. She would rather Oliver stick around her than her mother. At least he had a more lenient view on life.

The car slowed and finally pulled off the road and into a restaurant parking lot. "Let's eat dinner," Oliver offered. "You've had a long day, haven't you?"

Naomi tipped her head to study the restaurant, a brick building sporting a one-word name above the door. The kind of place guys took girls to impress them.

"I should probably get home since school is over."

Oliver reached over Naomi to pop her door open. "I got special permission from your mom. You've got to be hungry by now."

Hungry? Of course she was hungry. Naomi barely ate breakfast and had been too intent on doing well for her mock-ups to think about lunch. Oliver's offer should tempt her. She should go along with it to make everyone happy.

The thing was, Naomi couldn't focus on the cuisine offered. Her mind kept roaming backward, to a couch made out of sandbags and pillows. To a bowl of ramen and a bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Fine dining no longer sounded appetizing.

But she wouldn't tell that to Oliver. He hadn't seen her in years. She could offer him this one dinner to catch up. For old times' sake.

Naomi allowed Oliver to open her door and escort her inside. But her brain still didn't return from the place it had gone. The place where junk food, gentle touches, and moonbeams resided.