The Trade Off | The Lost Boys

Chapter 4

Dwayne sat across from her, and every so often she could feel his gaze lingering a moment too long. Their eyes met, and she offered a small smile, averting her gaze to Paul who had been telling a story about the worst storm he had ever been through. He made it sound like the storm that night was baby stuff. She listened on as the other guys rolled their eyes, snickering at Paul's story. He must have been exaggerating. There was no way that he would have fought the Kraken in a hand to hand battle. And won. Even Ollie rolled her eyes, looking back to Dwayne.

She couldn't figure out why, but she found herself gravitating back to him. He was silent, any expression hidden in his gaze. He wasn't fazed by Paul's outrageous story, but the corners of his mouth twitched in delight as the others called him out on his bullshit. For a second time that evening Ollie had found herself staring, a long forgotten feeling of excitement coursing through her. She had to cool it; this wasn't her first rodeo, and she wasn't about to embarrass herself in a room bustling with testosterone.

"Hey there, guest of honor. Why so quiet over there?" David questioned Olive, picking at his plate with disinterest. She glanced over to David, the smile on her face falling slightly. Guest of honor? What a weird choice of words. David made her uneasy, his icy glare shifting from her to Max, a subtle smirk across his features. Paul quieted, ending his story. Silence fell over the table, and they were waiting. Waiting for her to answer.

Well, she didn't think she'd have the be the one entertaining the group.

Olive didn't say it out loud, but clicked her tongue to hold back. She didn't want to come across as condescending.

"Well, I don't have any fun pirate stories like your friend here." She joked after a moment. "Besides barnacles and a handful of jellies, I wouldn't call our trip treacherous." Ollie mused. Content with her own answer, she took the opportunity to invest a lot of energy into eating her cheeseburger.

"It's no story, it really happened. Honest." Paul chimed, putting a hand over his heart, blinking innocently. Marko rolled his eyes, wadding up his napkin and hitting Paul in the face. Paul's disbelieving look was enough to have Ollie covering her mouth to stifle her own laugh.

"How was the ride over?" Max cleared his throat, quickly gaining the attention of the table. "You must have had plenty of exciting stories for such a long trip." He directed at Mark, a hint of prodding in his voice.

"Oh, nothing that Olive hasn't heard before." He started in defense with the wave of his hand, but Ollie shook her head next to him.

"Dad did mention that you were a movie collector." She answered lightly, and Max realigned his glasses with a twinge of a smile.

"That I am. Proud to admit it." He boasted, puffing out his chest slightly. The boys looked on, not knowing where Max was going with his questions.

"Tell me, Ollie, " He started again in between bites of cheeseburger. "What has your dad told you about me?"

"Oh, no need to quiz her-" Mark started, but was cut off by the glare the platinum blonde sent his way.

"Nonsense! It's no test." Max reassured, smiling back at Olive. It seemed innocent enough, and Max seemed like a pretty alright guy. Why was her dad so nervous? She wiped her hands on her pants, shrugging her shoulders. Glancing up to Dwayne, her gaze lingered a moment before blinking, directing her attention back to Max.

"Oh, he's mentioned you a number of times." She answered honestly. "That you guys go way back to days of managing videotape stores." She smiled lightly. Oh god, she couldn't remember the last time she had to rewind a VHS tape. Drinking the last of her water, she looked to her dad, who gave her a reassuring smile.