Never 'Til Now

Chapter 2

Sam stepped back happily, allowing Olivia space to exit the vehicle, and pulled the cups out of the plastic bag. "I got these." He said as he held them up to show that he came prepared.

"You thought of everything," Olivia said as she closed her car door and walked to the front. She turned her back and scooted up on the hood with her bottle of wine in her hand. "And how do you propose we open this?".

Sam put the case of beer on the hood and stuck his hand in his pocket before pulling out his lighter. "With this." He said as he wiggled his eyebrows and smiled cockily.

"How will you open a bottle of wine with a lighter?" Olivia asked, interested in the trick that he knew that she didn't.

"Just tilt the bottle horizontally," Sam told her passively as he flicked the lighter in his hand, turning on the flame. "Turn it in your hands as I hold the flame to it." Sam once again instructed as he concentrated on not burning her.

Olivia rotated it using both hands as she had been told, and she became more intrigued as the cork slowly began to push out of the bottle.

Sam put the lighter away and took the bottle out of her hands. He grabbed the cork with his teeth and pulled it out until he heard the hollow pop. "See. Easy," he said as he handed her back the bottle. Once it was in her hand again, he opened the plastic packaging of the cups and took one out for her.

Olivia grabbed it from his hand and poured some red liquid inside as Sam took a beer out of his case and opened it with a hiss. "Cheers." She said as she held her cup up to meet his can.

Sam joined her on the hood of her car and leaned over to nudge her shoulder with his own. "So."

"So?" Olivia countered as she put the cup to her lips to hide the blush on her cheeks.

"C'mon, we're friends...." Sam started, lowering his head to catch her eyes that were mid-roll. "Or at least two people that know each other. You can trust me."

"This was your idea; you should go first." Olivia challenged. Even though she was thankful for the wine, she had never been vulnerable with him before, so she wasn't in a hurry to start.

"But I'm supplying the alcohol for this therapy session, so it's only right if you started it off."

"Not going to happen. Either you're first, or I'm going home." Olivia threatened as she began scooting down.

"Fine. Ok..." Sam began, taking her seriously. "I had a bad date.... like an awful date. Like a monumentally bad date."

"And this is a problem for you? Don't you have plenty lined up?"

"I've been trying to date more seriously," Sam explained a bit more. He looked over at Olivia, who was watching him closely. "I've been on seven dates in two weeks, give or take, and this was the worst."

"And what made it so bad?".

Sam chuckled as he thought back to where the date went wrong. "Her personality seemed vapid, and she was trying to jump my bones even after I told her I wasn't interested. She wasn't the kind of person I envisioned settling down with."

"She sounds on par with the ones I usually see you with. Why change now?". Olivia inquired as she poured a little more wine to carry her to the end of the conversation.

"Ouch." Sam paused at the insult and put his hand over his heart dramatically. "You wound me."

"Sorry. I can be a little too forward." Olivia apologized, realizing she might be a little too tough on him. "Why the sudden need to date seriously?"

Sam took a drink from his beer and wiped the corners of his mouth. "I'm almost 40, and I want certain things: a family and kids. But I don't just want a wife. I want..." Sam took a beat to gather precisely what he wanted to say. "My parents were high school sweethearts. They've been together since they were 16. They've had this big, gigantic life. They gave me and my siblings lots of memories, but I don't think it would've been as great if they didn't love each other. I want that."

Olivia wasn't expecting so much honesty from him. She had always thought he would be the eternal bachelor because that's all he had ever presented in their friend circle, but if he had given it that much thought, maybe she was wrong.

"Is that not a manly thing to say?" Sam asked nervously when Olivia hadn't responded after a few moments. He was expecting at least for her to call him a baby.

Olivia cleared her throat and took a drink to hide that she had been caught off guard. "If that's how you feel, then it shouldn't matter what anyone thinks."

A smirk grew on Sam's face when he got validation from her that he wasn't even aware he needed. "Thanks."

Olivia cleared her throat before she shared her worries out loud. "I have writer's block. I have a one-month deadline, and I'm only halfway through my next book."

"I didn't know you were a writer," Sam confessed as he tilted his head in curiosity. "I've known you for at least seven years. Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I only tell people I can trust and use a pen name," Olivia explained as she turned her body to face him. She raised her hand and moved a piece of hair behind her ear.

"What's your pen name? You can trust me." Sam inquired as he turned his body to mirror hers.

"Mmm...no. Writing is very personal. It's my deepest personal thoughts laid out for the entire world to read."

"So, you're ok letting the whole world see that part of you, but you keep it from people in your actual lives? That doesn't make sense."

"It's different when it's people you don't know and who don't know you. I don't have to see them in my life every day."

"But don't you want the people who care about you to know what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" Sam asked, scooting closer to Olivia and focused on her brown eyes behind the black rim of her glasses.

Olivia scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "Are you saying you're one of those people?"

"I mean..." Sam stuttered over his words. "I'll admit this is the first time you and I have talked this in-depth, but..."

Olivia rolled her eyes and hopped down from the hood of her car. "I've gotta get home, but it was nice running into you."

Sam nodded his head when he knew he had just made it awkward. He brought the beer can to his mouth and chugged the little bit that was left. He joined her before the car and stuck his free hand out. "It was nice seeing you too."

Olivia shook his hand and felt a warmth heat up her body. She thought about the blue of his eyes as the prettiest she had ever seen, how badly she wanted to sweep the black strand of hair that had fallen over his face back in place, and wondered what it would feel like to have his beard brush against her skin.

Sam felt like he was seeing her for the first time. The light brown freckles that sprinkled her face, the streaks of brown mixed in the black onyx curls, the full lips that looked like they were pillow soft and were now stained red from the wine she just had. Her deep brown eyes were his favorite; they felt like they were looking into his soul.

"Have a good night, Sam." Olivia was the first to break the silence as she dropped his hand and stepped back to open the door to her car.

"Yeah, you too, Olivia." Sam returned the sentiment as he watched her. When the door closed and the engine started, he made his way to his car and parked the next lane over.

Sam watched her drive forward, toward the exit, and eventually out to the street. It was the first time in 7 years he felt he may have been wrong about her, and he knew he wanted to find out if the feeling was right.