Page 41 of Olivia's Only Pretending
“It’s not a contest,” Victor said with the cocky grin of a winner.
Thirteen
Sometimes, like when we were talking with my work friends, Victor’s arms slipped around my waist. He’d rest his wrist on my hip, like my body was his own personal comfort spot. I’d lean into him when he told a joke, in a way I usually stopped myself from doing.
This charade felt less like pretending and more like surrendering. Some mental and physical muscles I’d been controlling around Victor suddenly released, a part of me I hadn’t realized was waiting to let go.
The closeness felt like a hit of caffeine straight into my bloodstream. I was giggly, and I wanted more.
“Hey, Katie told me she had a Coffees and Commas cart set up on campus,” Victor said as we strolled by a couple of students clinking cans of apple cider. “Want to go find her?”
“Of course,” I said. My tongue was salty and sweet from the caramel popcorn we’d just shared.
The sun was getting lower in the cloudy sky. The Texas heat was cooling. We weaved through the center of campus where the festival took place to find a metal and wood coffee stand with a bigCoffees and Commassign.
Katie poked her head out of the window. Her brown messy bun was lopsided on her head. “Victor, Olivia! Hi!”
I set both my hands on the bar opening of the window. “I love this traveling coffee shop. You’ve got the coffee. Now you just need the books. Victor should build you a bookshelf to set up with it to really complete the picture.”
“I’d have to be a redhead with the name Olivia to get Victor to start building me things off the cuff.” Katie leaned on her elbows, with her chin resting on her hands.
“Hey now, who built most of the new shelves in Coffee and Commas?” Victor defended himself with a hand on his chest.
“Well, I know I’m not the highest priority sibling at the moment—what with Gabe and Emma basically booking you up for their wedding,” Katie said. “Did he tell you, Liv?”
I shook my head.
“They just asked,” Victor said. “I’m building them a wedding arbor. We’re going to cover it in vines and flowers, maybe even throw a canopy over it. I’ve been working on the design,” Victor said, his voice rising in excitement. He was beaming. “I can’t believe they askedme.”
“Of course they asked you.” I placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “It’s going to be beautiful.”
“There’s no one else they would’ve asked, but you,” Katie said before looking over at me. “You’re coming to the wedding, right, Liv?”
I had the invitation hanging on my fridge. “Yeah, for sure.”
“Are you coming to the other wedding things with Victor, too? The rehearsal dinner? I think you get a date,” Katie said, tapping the coffee bar.
She might’ve meant it innocently and intended I’d be tagging along as Victor’s pal, but my cheeks still went pink.
She smirked while Victor scratched his head. “I haven’t thought much about who I’d be taking.”
I felt the pink spread to my shoulders. “Maybe I’ll go? We haven’t discussed it?” I said, my voice high.
“Honestly, I think we’ve all assumed you’d be at everything,” Katie said with her back turned as she started up the espresso machine behind her. “You two are a package deal lately.”
“Well, I’d be honored to be at any of the wedding celebrations,” I said, my eyes on Victor.
His eyes softened on me.
“I love Emma and Gabe.”
“Really? You’d be my date?” Victor said. His voice was a lull under the sound of whirring latte foam.
“Get her the details,” Katie said, setting two lattes in front of us. She pushed a cup toward me. “A chai with pumpkin seasoning on top.” Then she handed one to Victor. “Maple latte.”
A couple of professors stepped in line behind us, so we quickly thanked Katie while we grabbed our drinks and left.
The festival was dwindling. Students had mostly left and gone on with their evening classes or off to the cafeteria for dinner. But I didn’t want this bubble where Victor and I held hands or linked arms, where we wandered around in the gray, where I knew I’d go home with his scent on my clothes, to burst.
