Page 9 of Olivia's Only Pretending
He’s younger, I’d say, like that explained everything.
But there was also the fact that I’d sworn off guys like him. I’d been a notorious sucker for the boys who made you feel like the sun was shining on you when they looked your way … but then left you asking where he’d been when you ran into him at the coffee stand while he tried to remember your name.
I’d been the girl whose name was forgotten.
Not anymore, though. I was too old for that now. I’d learned to spot the signs and head in the other direction.
Victor was playful, flirty, achingly gorgeous …andhad a reputation in Sweet River for breaking hearts. So, I safely kept him in the friend zone.
I enjoyed him, adored him, but all from a safe emotional distance, where he couldn’t wreck my heart.
Victor grabbed his wallet and paid for both our coffees before I could even unlatch my tote. I thanked him, and he shot me a wink.
“I’m this way.” I jogged up the steps toward my office, my nude ankle boots clicking.
Victor reached around me to pull the heavy door open, his scent of sawdust and strong coffee whirling around me. I let it envelop me as I walked through the door with him right on my heels.
I glanced up to see someone in front of me who stopped right in my tracks. I took an immediate step back, crashing into Victor’s chest.
“You good, baby girl?” Victor asked teasingly, oblivious to my internal meltdown.
I looked up at him with what must’ve been a look of despair, because his smile faded into furrowed brows of concern, and he opened his mouth to say something.
“Olivia?” a voice I knew all too well said.
Ryan Callas. Tall, dark, and handsome. Standing just a few feet away was the man I’d once thought I was going to marry.
“Ryan,” I choked out, then awkwardly, as almost a question, “Hi?”
Ryan was supposed to be across the country right now.
Victor stayed pressed against my back, thankfully. I burrowed into him for moral support.
“You look surprised. I should’ve called or emailed. I was a late addition to the Fall Seminar. I’m attending as a guest lecturer for the next six weeks,” he said in a fast tumble of words.
I was trying to keep up.
Six weeks.He’d be here for six weeks.
“Someone fell through?” I wondered aloud, my voice a tone of clear disappointment. I felt Victor’s warm hands rest against my shoulders.
Ryan nodded, then cleared his throat. “Dr. Morris. She had some family matter come up. I was called only a few days ago.”
But he loved his job at his new school. How could he take off for six weeks?
His eyes kept skittering toward Victor behind me, and Victor’s hands on my shoulders. “Oh, um, this is Victor.” I patted Victor’s hand. “Victor, this is Ryan.” He knew who Ryan was. I’d told him the story.
“Nice to meet you.” Ryan scratched at his chin.
Victor nodded toward him. “Yeah, man.” Then he dropped his voice, putting his lips against the side of my head above my ear. “Ready to finish the tour?”
We stumbled into my office. I felt confused and slightly nauseous.
Ryan is back for the fall.
We had only spoken a few times since our breakup, mostly emails about things he needed me to mail him, and each time left a bitter taste in my mouth. Things I’d ignored for the sake of our relationship were now blatant and annoying in hindsight. Plus, there was my favorite pumpkin-shaped mug that he’d “accidentally” taken with him to Minnesota and never mailed back to me, even after I’d asked him to.
Anger swelled in my chest every time I thought of that mug and all the warm cups of coffee I could’ve drunk out of it over the past two years. Coffee I’d had to sip out of far lesser mugs.
