Page 55 of Olivia's Only Pretending
A few of us looked around. She poked her head around the corner from the doorway of Lucy’s makeshift art room, her cell phone pressed to her ear. She pointed at it and mouthed,On the phone, you go ahead.
My only non-Victor option was gone. I felt my feeble attempt to get some clarity drifting away.
I turned to him. “I guess it’s you and me.”
Victor stood up from the ground as I got up from the couch, the rug fuzzy under my bare feet. I told myself I was being dramatic. Charades didn’t involve any touching, and that was really what I was avoiding with Victor.
“You’re a good guesser. I think you should guess, and I should act,” Victor said, rubbing his hands together.
“Agreed,” I said.
Lucy handed a scrap of paper to Victor from the hat as we strategized.
He read the paper and took in a sharp inhale, thinking for a few beats. He ran his fingers through his messy black hair. I watched his wheels turn. He turned to me and made quotations in the air with his fingers.
“A phrase,” I said.
He nodded in response. He held two fingers at his elbow.
“Two syllables,” I said.
He nodded again, walking over to me, so close that my jaw dropped a little. His feet bumped into mine, and he grabbed my hip with one hand, then pressed the other warm against my upper back through my sweater. My breath caught in my throat as he slid his hand around my upper back over to my shoulder, pulling on it until I dipped low. My stomach was fizzy as his arms cradled me. My hair fell into the air around us.
“Victor,” I gasped, my voice lilting in question.
His gaze was heavy as it met mine, and he slowly brought his mouth closer to mine. His jaw was tight as our lips held a breath apart. My heart was skyrocketing as his mouth hovered over mine. His warm hands held me tight, my arm dangling by my side.
I looked straight into Victor’s caramel eyes. His bore right back into mine.How on earth was I supposed to think clearly enough to make a guess when he was dipping me like this?If he moved his mouth half an inch closer, he could kiss me.My mouth pursed at the idea. His eyes dropped to my lips at the movement. He swallowed.
Lucy was oohing from her spot on the couch. My mom whispered conspiratorially to her that I looked like a bride.
Then, he twirled me right back to standing, taking a step back, putting distance between us.
I sorted my thoughts. Our pose mimicked wedding photos I’d seen. I looked like a bride being dipped. He looked like he was going to kiss me, like a groom at the altar.
“A dip and a kiss? A dip kiss?” I said shakily. My palms were sweaty, and my cheeks were pink.
“That’s right,” Victor said with a smile, raising his hand for a high five.
Our hands made contact.
“Team Volivia!”
I laughed as I fell back onto the couch, like it was a hilarious shenanigan, but my heart fluttered like a leaf in the wind.
Mom and Jeff kept guessing within seconds the rest of the night:Murder She Wrote, the Bible, and Ina Garten. They wound up winning the whole game. Lucy and Adam seemed oddly smug about how the game went, even though they lost.
Like maybe somehow they’d still won.
Lucy kept grabbing the phrases out of the hat for everyone.She wouldn’t have rigged it, would she?
Giving Mom and Jeff phrases that helped them get to know each other better.
Giving Victor and me a near kiss?
“Rematch?” she pleaded with Mom playfully, the two side by side on the couch.
I shook the thought from my head. “It’s getting late. I need to get home,” I announced, although Gracie still hadn’t emerged from the other room. I wondered who this lengthy phone call could be with.
