Page 35 of Olivia's Only Pretending
“Is Katie coming?” Tanya asked the group.
“She and Terrence are on their way. They were closing up Coffees and Commas first,” Linda explained.
“And of course, Emma and Gabriel are out of town, I’m assuming?” Ricky said.
“Yeah, haven’t you seen Em’s latest Instagram post? They’re in Colorado!” Linda said, grabbing for her phone.
Even I’d seen the post.
“Why are they in Colorado?” Luis asked, before taking a sip of his beer.
“She’s writing about some marathon there, and then Gabriel has a book signing that weekend. They’ll be back here afterward,” Linda said, sounding like the family manager.
“It looks like a blast,” I added in. “And much cooler than here.”
“Not hard to be cooler than a sweltering Sweet River July,” Tanya said, fanning herself.
Linda broke into a story, telling me about the hot Fourth of July party they threw last summer.
I thought about Gabriel, Victor’s older brother by a couple years. A successful writer and photographer, happily engaged to the family’s longtime friend, Emma, also an ambitious writer. Victor spoke as if his family wished he were more like Gabe.
But I sat with his family, laughing while we watched him run around barefoot in his backyard, tirelessly playing with his nieces and nephews, and I couldn’t think of any other kind of man I’d want to spend my time with than Victor. No other man I’d call my closest friend.
So, as nervous as I was, I let them grill me over burgers and way too much salsa and chips (Linda’s salsa definitely lived up to the hype).
The sun set. But it was Texas in July, so the air stayed hot and sticky. Victor and I wound up with our feet in the pool after his older siblings had to take their kids home for bedtime.
Linda was back inside, having told me she didn’t need my help cleaning up. “You kids enjoy yourself,” she said.
The sky glittered overhead, blanketed in stars. “I forgot how many stars you can see out here in the country,” I said, looking upward.
“I know. I love it. I grew up with this. To me, it’s how a night sky is supposed to look.”
I swayed my feet back and forth. “It was nice to finally meet your family. You and Ricky are basically twins.”
“I know. Everyone came—that’s rare for a family dinner lately.”
“Yeah, everyone except Gabriel and Emma. I saw they’re off in Colorado.”
Victor watched his feet in the deep blue water. “Yeah, he’s always doing something cool.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Your whole family is cool. You know that? You’ve got the nurse telling crazy stories about the ER, a lawyer you can call up if you ever break the law?—”
“He’s actually a financial attorney,” Victor interrupted me.
“—two writers, a coffee shop owner, and her entrepreneur husband?—”
“Are you two talking about me?” Terrence asked from the patio chairs where he was talking with Victor’s dad.
“I’m telling Victor how cool you guys are,” I said.
“Well, thanks.” Terrence shot me a big, cheesy smile before returning to his conversation with David.
“Then”—I grabbed his shoulder, his warm bicep in my hand—“there’s you. Your family told story after story about you all night?—”
“Because you’re my friend.” Victor chuckled.
“No, not because I’m your friend. Because they love you. And stories about you make everyone laugh. You light their faces up, Victor. They can count on you to show up. To play with their absolutely adorable kids. To build them coffee tables. To be pretty much everyone in Sweet River’s friend. I mean, you’ve got an in everywhere.” I squeezed his arm. “You’re the coolest one at like, every party. How can you not see that?”
