Olivia fought to hold back the tears. She was angry, but she was hurt too. The Ryan she knew would have never spoken to her like that. But this was not the Ryan she knew. Seven years had passed. She had changed, and of course Ryan had changed too. How could he not? She couldn't expect him to stay the same. It still hurt though.

"Hey, are you okay?" Dean asked her on the drive home.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired. It's been a long day." Olivia replied.

"I'm really sorry for the way Ryan acted towards you at the end of the race. I'm certain he didn't mean it. He was just frustrated."

"Dean, the last thing you should feel the need to do is apologize for Ryan's actions. He was an ass, but that's on him, not you."

"I know it's on him, but I just don't want you to hold a bad opinion of Ryan. He really is a great guy, he's just under a tremendous amount of pressure right now and he's also dealing with some personal stuff."

"Yeah well, it still doesn't give him an excuse to act like an ass." She argued.

She quickly thought back to the sense of jealousy she felt from Dean when she was talking with Ryan. Now she couldn't help but wonder if maybe Dean had feelings for Ryan and the jealous tone she felt was directed at her, not Ryan. She almost asked Dean about it, but decided to let it go. It was just for that one moment and she was probably imagining things anyway.

She really just wanted to let this whole thing go. She was on the verge of tears anyway, and she really didn't want Dean to see her cry over it. She just needed to develop thicker skin.

"Despite what happened with Ryan, I hope you had a good time." Dean said.

"I did." She assured him.

"Good. I'll be making some calls and talking to some people and I'll get back with you. I'd love to have you at Team Penske, and I know you'd love it there."

She squeezed his hand. "Thanks Dean. I appreciate you so much."

The rest of the drive was made in silence, for which Olivia was grateful. She didn't feel like talking and she especially didn't feel like talking about Ryan.

When they arrived back at Olivia's house, she reached over and gave Dean a hug. She meant what she had said, she really did appreciate him.

Dean once again promised to keep her in the loop and wished her good night.

Olivia went to bed, determined to put Ryan out of her mind.

********

Olivia woke up the following morning, and out of habit, immediately grabbed her phone. She groaned. Not only was the screen shattered, but the phone would not come on at all. She dreaded thinking about the number of missed calls and texts. Her mom was probably freaking out. It was times like this that she really wished she had a landline.

She quickly got showered and dressed, skipped breakfast and coffee and drove straight to the nearest Verizon store.

An hour later, new phone in hand, she held her breath as she scanned through the dozens of missed calls. As expected, there were several from her mother, as well as several from an unknown number. The unknown number bugged her, and she knew that unless they had left a voicemail explaining who they were and why they were calling her, she would not even consider calling them back.

She immediately called her mother and explained she had dropped her phone and broke it while at the race and had just now gotten a new one.

After hanging up with her mother, she checked her voicemails, and the first one that came up was from the unknown number. Hearing the voice on the other end almost caused her to drop her brand new phone.

Livvy, it's Ryan. I just wanted to apologize for last night. I'm such an ass.

Next message.

Livvy, it's Ryan again. I'm really sorry about last night. Please call me back.

Another.

Livvy, it's Ryan again. I just remembered I destroyed your phone yesterday and I'm hoping that's the reason you are not calling me back. If not, just know I'm really, really sorry. I hope I hear from you.

She ignored the rest of them and went to check her text messages. Some were from her mom, the rest were from Ryan, pretty much saying the same thing as the voicemails.

She continued staring at the messages, debating whether to call him or not. She was still staring down at her phone as she left the store, and collided with someone coming through the door.

"Oh hey Livvy. I guess we had the same idea." She heard the familiar laugh.

Just her luck she would run into Ryan of all people. Literally. She wasn't even sure she wanted to talk to him, much less see him.

"I...uh. I forgot my charger from earlier." He stammered, obviously seeing her glare at him.

"Yeah. You might need that." She muttered, as she turned to walk away.

"Livvy wait."

Unable to ignore the plea in his voice, she looked at him, and he flashed her his signature smile.

Damn him. Why did he have to be so cute?

"Can we go grab coffee or something? Please Livvy."

Great, now he was giving her puppy dog eyes. Ryan Blaney was entirely too charming.

"Don't call me Livvy." She snapped, determined to keep some of her resolve.

"But I always called you Livvy." He protested.

"I outgrew that nickname a long time ago."

"Alright. Olivia. Would you please have coffee with me?" Another heart stopping smile.

"Fine. We'll get coffee." She reluctantly agreed.

She waited for Ryan to pick up his charger, and they walked down to the coffee shop a few stores away.

"What would you like?" Ryan asked as they stood in line, and he pulled his card out of his wallet.

"Ryan, I can pay for my own coffee." She protested.

"Let me please. It's the least I can do."

"Alright. Large iced white mocha, extra shot." She replied.

He flashed her a smile once again. "You used to drink that back in high school."

She could not believe he remembered that.

He sat down across from her and handed her her coffee. As if reading her mind he said "I remember all those study sessions in the coffee shop, you always ordered the white mocha with the extra shot. Hot when it was cold. Iced when it was warm. I was thinking about what you told me yesterday that you had a degree in biology, I'm not surprised. I never would have passed that class if it weren't for you. Hell, I probably wouldn't have passed a lot of my classes if it weren't for you Livvy."

She didn't bother correcting him on her name this time.

"In a crazy way, I kind of owe my racing career to you." He continued.

She couldn't contain her surprise at his words. "Me? How?"

"My dad wouldn't let me race if I didn't keep my grades up." He explained matter of factly.

She could feel her cheeks heating up. Ryan never failed to have that effect on her.

"Livvy...Olivia. I really want to apologize for the way I acted last night. I was frustrated, but I had no right to take it out on you. You were just trying to be a friend. I'm really sorry."

The sincerity in his eyes were her undoing. She could never stay mad at Ryan.

"Ry, I accept your apology. I knew you were in a bad mood, and I probably should have given you your space, or at least a few moments to calm down."

His next smile nearly blinded her. "So we're friends again?"

"Of course we're still friends." She laughed.

Ryan loved her laugh. It was one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard.

He couldn't help but feel that fate had brought her back into his life again. He knew he had to do something to keep her in it. Maybe something a little impulsive. Mentally crossing his fingers, he spoke.

"I'm so glad to hear that because I have a proposition for you." Ryan said.

Olivia raised her eyebrows, but waited for him to go on.

"Remember I told you I'm about to lose my PR guy? I would like you to take the job."

Olivia's jaw dropped. She was not expecting this.

"Ry, I told you, I don't have any PR experience."

"But you also said you're a quick learner. That, I don't doubt for a second. My PR guy Scott will be with me for another two weeks. You can shadow him for that time, and he can teach you everything you need to know. I know you can do this Liv..Olivia. You are the smartest, most level headed person I know."

"I don't know Ry." She hesitated.

"Please. Just give it a try. I mean it. You can do this. I believe in you."

His eyes and his words were so sincere, she couldn't help but cave.

"Did I mention you get to boss me around? Tell me what to do and where to go."

The grin did it.

"Okay Ryan. I'll give it a shot, but don't make me regret it." She agreed.

"Thanks Livvy. I promise you won't regret it."

Now he just had to convince the boss to hire her.