Page 57 of Olivia's Only Pretending
“It takes two to suck that bad,” I argued, sliding my buckle into place.
He leaned over my driver’s side door. His scent was woodsy and warm through the open window.
He pulled away, taking a step back onto the sidewalk. He closed the car door firmly. “Goodbye, Liv,” he said, raising his voice since the door was closed, giving the hood of my car a pat as he walked away.
I stared at my steering wheel. I knew he was respecting my wishes and honoring my no-more-touching rule … but I couldn’t put the keys in the ignition. I was hoping he’d come back and knock on my door.
Suddenly, a tap at my window jolted me from my thoughts.
It was Adam holding up my phone. I’d been so distracted tonight. I was going to drive home without my phone.
“This was sitting on the kitchen counter,” he said after I rolled down my window.
“I can’t believe I forgot my phone. Thank you for running it out to me.”
He handed it to me. “Living up to the absentminded professor stereotype, huh?” Adam chuckled.
“I guess so.” I shrugged. “I think I got distracted by everything going on.” Mom had a date, Gracie was on a dramatic call, and I was trying to keep my distance from Victor even as he dipped me and smelled warm and woodsy.
“It was one of the more dramatic games of charades I’ve ever played,” Adam admitted.
“No chance Lucy rigged it?” I tipped my chin curiously.
A smile cracked across Adam’s face. “I can’t say! Really, I don’t know!” He raised his hands up in surrender. “But I wouldn’t put it past her.”
I shook my head. “I bet she did.”
“Just the game bothering you?” Adam asked, sounding almost brotherly. He’d taken to checking on Gracie and me sometimes. A nice new member to our crew.
“It was mostly the game,” I said, twisting my phone in my lap. “But I have had a lot on my mind.”
“Funny enough, Victor said the same thing to me earlier tonight.”
I could just imagine Adam and Lucy both talking about me and Victor tonight as they cleaned up after dinner. The two of them were conniving together.
“I know Lucy told you about mine and Victor’s charade at work—letting everyone think we were dating.”
“She did.” He nodded, crossing his arms. “You having some regrets?”
I went to answer that of course I did. Things had been so confusing since it started … but I realized, I didn’t. I didn’t regret a second of it. I’d loved all of it. “No. Not one.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The whole charade got us a little confused. I think we’re both having trouble going back to normal.” Or maybe it was mostly me. I was the one who’d pulled his lips against mine last night.
“I’ve seen how important your friendship is to both of you. I know it’s not romantic or anything between the two of you, but it does remind me of when I first met Lucy,” he said, the light from the streetlamps glinting off his glasses. “Our relationship quickly felt like the home I’d always wished for as a kid. Safe, welcoming, warm. All of it.” His face turned toward Lucy’s house, steps away. “I know neither of you would do anything to lose what you have in each other.”
As I drove home that evening, headlights and streetlamps lighting my path in my small town, I thought about what Adam said.
Since I was a little girl, I’d wanted stability, reliability, so deeply that I found a way to give it to myself, so I’d never rely on it from anyone else.
But this relationship with Victor had somehow become a home for my heart. A place I could rely on. A stable ground beneath my feet. A birdhouse hanging in my trees.
I turned onto my street. I wasn’t just looking for clarity. I was trying to find the safest way to keep what we had.
Seventeen
Me
