Page 100 of Olivia's Only Pretending
“Join us for our toast.” Katie grabbed mine and Lucy’s hands, pulling us toward their table. “To Emma Brown, who’s always been my sister, but now, in a few days, it’ll finally be legal!”
The party raised their salt-rimmed margaritas in the air as Katie spoke, and Lucy and I lifted our glasses, too, clinking them together.
“To Emma!” we shouted.
All the partygoers donned matching white tank tops with their bridal party role embroidered across their chests in hot pink.
Emma’s saidBRIDE. “Did you know Victor’s with the bachelor party right now?”
I nodded. “I did hear about that.”
Lucy and I exchanged a loaded look.
“Of courseyou did.” Emma took a sip of her drink. Her tone dripped in insinuation, and I bit my lip trying to resist saying,yes, we’re together.“I’m pretty sure he’d be jealous if he knew I was the one sharing a drink with you tonight and not him.”
I adjusted my slinky, long-sleeve black top. “I kind of wish he was here, actually.” I sighed. I swirled my glass of white wine in its glass.
A small grin pulled at the side of her mouth. “Yeah?”
I nodded, giving a shrug.
“Some people just have that effect on you sometimes, huh,” she said thoughtfully, tucking a long strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
“Truly,” Lucy emphatically agreed, eyes wide. “You can’t resist the pull even from the very beginning, even if it’s someone you really do not want to draw you in.”
“You’re telling your heart,no, no, we can’t like this person,but your heart is already stuck on them like Velcro,” Emma said, raising her voice over the noise around us.
I leaned in closer to hear while someone belted out Backstreet Boys from the stage.
“Sometimes, we make things way more complicated than they need to be,” Lucy said, with the two of us nodding in agreement.
I sipped my wine. Someone pulled Emma away, and she smiled her goodbye, running off.
“His family isn’t going to be very surprised when you and Victor tell them you’re together. Honestly, they’re probably going to be relieved. I feel like they’re anxiously waiting for you two to finally make a move,” Lucy said, scooting closer to me.
“They weren’t always this obvious. I’d blame Emma’s on the tequila,” I said, though, part of me wondered if they were alwaysthat bad and I’d just gotten really good at ignoring it. Always playing pretend.
“How do you feel? Relieved?” Lucy asked.
“I feel more than relieved. I feel so …” I felt the smile all the way up to my eyes, my ears. Warmth spread across my body. “I feel so happy.”
Victor made me happy. It was as if I’d been keeping myself locked up in my house all the time, and then I’d finally let my doors open and stepped outside to feel the sunshine. My whole body was aglow.Why did I keep myself locked away all this time?
Lucy reached her hands across the table to grab mine.
I felt giddy and warm and had had a few sips of wine, so without thinking, I leaned on my elbows across the table and said, “I almost saidI love youto him.”
“You did?” Lucy flung her arms excitedly, almost knocking over our wine glasses.
I nodded. “It was right there, on the tip of my tongue. I opened my mouth to say it and …” I mimed my mouth zipping. “Zip. Zero. Nothing.”
“You said nothing?”
I nodded. “I said nothing.” The crowd roared their applause for the latest karaoke performance.
“Why do you think that is? Are you scared?”
I took a deep breath. “I don’t feel scared. I think he loves me right back.”
