Page 57 of Head Over Heels

Liv is peering at me, concerned.

“Sorry. Thinking of something else.”

Fuck Thea, right? I mean,fuck her.Fuck her moral superiority and her judgment and her smooth is better than rough. The world is full of beautiful rough things—the Grand Canyon, studded snow tires, tree bark, the Cascade range, all jagged and uncivilized.

I realize something. I didn’t ask Liv to go camping with me to help me with Katie or to tease or torture her. I asked her to go because if I can make her fall in love with camping, maybe I can make her fall in love with me.

That’s all I’ve got; that’s the whole of my plan.

“Yes,” I say. “A going-away party.”

I haven’t decided not to ask Liv to stay. I’m just going to give us both a little more time to figure out how it all fits together.

I’m going to take her into the woods and show her all the things I love the most so she can learn to love things she thought she couldn’t.

Chapter 31

Liv

Chase and I can’t agree onanythingabout “our” barbecue.

Obviously, there are certain things we can agree about. Burgers. Dogs. Buns. Relish, ketchup, mustard. Corn.

Where we differ is on, well, everything else.

Like salads.

“Potato salad. And maybe coleslaw.”

I push a recipe across the table to him.

He makes a face. “How do you even say that word?”

“Nee-swaz.”

“What is that, French?”

I show him a couple of others.

“Tortellini with ham, red onion, and pesto? Whatever happened to classic macaroni salad, you know, with carrots, drowning in mayo?”

“If I’m doing the cooking, what do you care?”

“I care if you serve food whose name I can’t pronounce.”

Tablecloths turn out, also, to be an issue.

“It’s a picnic table, Liv.”

“It would look really nice with something bright colored draped over it, and a few tea lights in glass bowls or squares.”

“My friends will laugh their asses off.”

“Sandra will not laugh her ass off. Rodro’s girlfriend will not laughherass off. Eve will not laugh her ass off.”

He rolls his eyes.

We fight about drinks.

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