Page 17 of Olivia's Only Pretending
“Get out of that head of yours,” he said, reading me instantly.
I shook my head at him, smiling despite myself. He could always tell when I was anxious.
“Deep breaths, Liv. In and out,” he said, modeling it dramatically for me as we hugged.
I could feel his chest rising and falling against me. I playfully shoved him away. “If only I could be as chill as you.”
I didn’t want to burst our safe little backyard bubble just yet, so I swallowed the worries and told him goodnight.
After he left, I tiptoed barefoot across the cool grass to the old tree where the birdhouse now hung. I knelt down, grabbed a handful of twigs and grass, and carried them over to the birdhouse, just a little something to help any future house guests get started nesting.
Then, I took a few steps back, smiling to myself as I took in the view of it swaying gently in the branches.
It felt like something was shifting in the air—a change blowing in with the breeze. I felt it in my bones, like something was also shifting in me.
Seven
Gracie
hey big sis, it’s been a while! what’s new? can we catch up soon??
anything interesting happen lately ??
Me
I’m at work right now – let’s have a phone call some evening this week! We can catch up on everything.
“Ican’t read second chance romance. It always makes me want to throw my Kindle across the room,” one of the students in my romance book club explained passionately, rubbing their temples. “The female main character says she remembers how his lips used to feel, and all I can think is how remembering kisses with my ex makes me feel theexact opposite.”
I nodded along as we sat in a semicircle under the shade of my favorite tree. I agreed with this student. There was nothing Iwanted less than a second chance with the ex I’d been dodging on campus this morning.
“Are you kidding? Second chance romance gives you the best pining!” another student nearly squealed.
A trope debate was on the horizon again. I could appreciate pretty much every trope, even if my own ex felt like an annoying gnat I wished I could swat away.
The conversation was a murmur around me. I let my eyes roam the campus.
Was it really only yesterday I was carefree and leading Victor along these sidewalks? Kissing him in my office?
Was there some way I could exchange Ryan for Victor’s presence on campus?
Later, after the club dispersed, I headed straight to my favorite coffee cart. It was a cool, overcast morning, with the trees blazing in rusts and golds against the gray sky. I kept my cardigan wrapped tight a little longer.
I stepped up to order my coffee, and the blonde-haired barista from yesterday was grinning back at me.
“Annie, hi,” I said, remembering her name even though Victor hadn’t exactly introduced us yesterday. She seemed to be burned into my brain for reasons I didn’t want to examine.
“Hi,” she said, her eyes squinting, head tilting, like she was trying to place me.
“Victor Hernandez’s friend from yesterday,” I offered. “I’m Olivia.”
I guess I wasn’t burned into her brain in quite the same way.
She nodded. “Yeah, yeah, that’s right.” She opened her mouth like she was about to say something else but then quickly pressed her lips back together, before asking for my order instead.
A few moments later, she handed me my hot chai latte. As I wrapped my hands around the warm paper cup, she blurted out, “Olivia, are you and Victor together?”
I took a step back, taken aback by her directness. “It’s …”New? A ruse?I swallowed. “Complicated?”
