Nolan

I watched as Olivia made her way down the yacht hall to our room. I felt like such a dick making her hide her birthday from everyone, she deserved to have a birthday too. Maybe I should just tell everyone that we didn't want to take the attention away from mom. Maybe that would be a better approach.

"Alright, we're going to dock at the next port and go sightseeing." My father said, entering the yacht with Jared. "I'm going to get dressed." 

Once he left the room, I sat down on the couch next to Jared who immediately turned on the tv. "I'm not with all this shit!" He complained. "I just wanna sit here and get waited on hand and foot, and watch prison break!"

"You keep it up," I started. "Your ass is going to be fat." I closed my eyes, leaning back on the couch. Not going to lie, sleeping in that tub has me exhausted; but I guess this is the price I pay. I mean, I didn't really expect her to just let me jump into bed with her.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, grabbing a bowl full of chips.

"Today is Olivia's birthday." I admitted. "I don't know if I should do something. Should I?" I asked him, honestly curious. He didn't say anything at first, he only looked at me. "What?" I asked after a while.

"Holy shit!" He grinned slowly.

"What?" I asked once more, getting annoyed at his antics.

"You like her!" He shouted in excitement, standing to his feet.

"What?" I asked, appalled at his accusations.

"You like Olivia!" He said again, grinning from ear to ear. "You actually want to do something for someone other than you. Nova is going to love this." He ranted on and on, then disappeared down the hall. I instantly regretted saying anything to him.

He is really trippin. Attracted to Olivia? Yes. Do I like Olivia? No. I almost scoffed at the accusation. Nolan Dylan Ferguson does not fall in "like" with any woman! Liking leads to loving, and that's not what I'm about.

Have I grown to tolerate her presence? Maybe. Do I want to sleep with her just once? Could be nice. Did I still feel bad about her finding out what I said about my brother and chewing me out for it? Definitely. What she demanded from me that day was respect; no woman has ever did that. So of course I'm going to give her all the respect she deserves.

With that thought in mind, I decided that I was going to do something nice for her today. I made my way to our room, making it my business to find out something this girl liked and wanted so that I could give it to her for her birthday.

I entered the room without knocking, which probably was a mistake. As soon as I opened the door Olivia was standing before the bed wrapped in nothing but a towel. "Oh my god!" She gasped and ran into the bathroom.

"I didn't see anything!" I yelled, sitting on the bed. "I'm sorry." I added, laying back. She didn't say anything, and it felt like she disappeared for hours.

When she finally came out, I sat up quickly, and she was wearing a long old T-shirt that stopped just above her thighs. "It's okay," she sighed. "I didn't expect you to come in that's all."

"So we're going out sightseeing, and later we're going out to dinner." I told her, watching as she dropped in the arm chair across from me.

"Wow, are all rich people so scheduled and coordinated?" She asked, grabbing her phone off the table.

"Yes." I shrugged. "At least the ones I know."

"You'd think money would make people more spontaneous," she shrugged. "How should I dress anyways? How does your average rich, married woman go sightseeing?" She asked dramatically, and I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, that's really enough." I laughed. "Where whatever you want. I'm not in the business of telling women how to dress, that's why I took the time to hire you a stylist."

"A stylist that I've only used one time," she pointed out, staring at me over phone.

"Okay, well, that's why you went shopping." I sighed. "So just wear whatever." I honestly didn't care what happened at this point, I just wanted to come back and take a nap before dinner.

"Fine," she shrugged, standing to her feet. "I'll go get ready in the closet." I watched as she went into the closet, and I finally took this time to go shower.

All I could think about was her; that wasn't particularly normal for me. Maybe my simple minded little brother is right. Maybe I really do like her. With that thought in mind, I drifted off into a memory of the last time I actually genuinely liked another girl.

I was a sophomore in high school, and I didn't really understand what it meant at the time. I remember her face until this day; Samantha. That was her name. She was so pretty and so sweet, she blushed when I called her beautiful.

In hindsight, I guess it was pretty stupid I mean, I had no experience with girls. Somehow though, when she broke up with me for my friend, I decided from that day on that women were just lying cheaters, and I didn't want anything to do with them romantically.

Maybe that was a long time ago. Also, it could be linked to the fact that I lost my mother that very same year. Maybe the timing was just wrong. How could I possibly wine and dine someone that I have to pay to be here? How do I know she's genuine and vice versa? I guess that's the thing with love, it's about taking risks.

I try to pretend that I shut down because of my mother, and even though my brother gets on my last nerves, a part of me knows he's right. My mother wouldn't want me paying people to lie to my father; and she certainly wouldn't want me using a woman. She would want me to be honest and happy. I was neither of those things.