Page 14 of The Summer of Us

CHAPTER FIVE

When Paige woke the next morning, her leg was trailing over the edge of the bed, and she was squished right to the edge of the mattress, Olivia’s elbow digging into her ribs.

Blinking away the grogginess in her vision, she turned her head, only to find herself inches away from Olivia’s, her warm breath falling against Paige’s cheek.

For a moment, Paige was frozen in place, hardly daring to move.

There was something soft and intimate about Olivia’s face while she was asleep, and it captured Paige’s attention completely. She was close enough to smell the mango and coconut shampoo Olivia had used last night, and see the tiny mole that sat above her lips, barely visible against her sun-kissed skin. A strand of honeydew hair drifted over her face, and Paige went to brush it away before she caught herself mid-motion.

Lowering her hand again, she sighed softly, her breath stirring the air between them.

When Olivia started to rouse, Paige drew away, back into the cold patch of bed behind her. Olivia didn’t open her eyes and just as quickly fell back into the rhythm of sleep.

Deciding there was no point lying there, awake, Paige slipped out of bed as quietly as she could and tiptoed bare-foot into the bathroom.

The white tiles were cold, and she absently curled her toes as she splashed her face with water, scrubbing away any lingering sleepiness. As expected, the night had been warm, but at some point, the air had cooled enough to have her reaching for the cover again.

Blinking rivulets of water from her lashes, Paige dabbed her face dry and ran her fingers through her tangled curls. They’d both taken it in turns to shower last night, washing off the salt, sweat and suncream that had accumulated throughout the day. She’d let her hair dry naturally overnight, but now she regretted not taking the time to ease some of the knots and tangles out of her hair before going to bed. Now it stuck out in unruly waves, tickling the edges of her chin. Not in the mood to deal with it, she scraped it back to her neck and fastened it with a bobble.

By the time she stepped out of the ensuite, Olivia was already awake, squinting at her from the bed as she rubbed her eyes. “You’re already up? What time is it?” she asked, her voice a sleepy drawl. “I didn’t oversleep, did I?”

“No, it’s only eight o’clock. I haven’t been up long,” Paige said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “How did you sleep?”

“Pretty well, actually. I must have been tired,” she said, her words interrupted by a yawn that she didn’t bother to cover. “How about you?”

“I think I slept okay.”

“So I didn’t snore?”

“Not that I remember.”

With a satisfied nod, Olivia threw the covers off her legs and stretched out her toes. “Good. We’ll need our energy today. We have lots to do.”

Paige brushed a strand of hair out of her eye. “I can’t wait.”

The closest bus stop was a twenty-minute walk from the seafront cottage, up a sandy hill, and Paige was out of breath, her face covered in a thin sheen of sweat, by the time they’d reached the top. She wiped the back of her wrist across her forehead. “You didn’t tell me it would be such a trek,” she said breathlessly.

Olivia propped her hands on her hips, unfazed by the workout. “You’re so unfit, Paige, that was nothing.”

Paige pouted, fanning her face with her hands to cool down. A soft breeze blew sand across the road, rustling the reeds by the side of the path. On their left, the expanse of white cliffs stretched around the coastline, the sea bleeding into the sky in shades of indigo.

“Looks like this is our ride,” Olivia said, lifting her chin. A double-decker blue bus crested the hill, and Olivia stuck her hand out, her blonde hair fluttering behind her. “I’ll grab the tickets; you find us some seats.”

Paige nodded, and they boarded the bus as the doors slid open with a hiss.

Once they were both seated on the lower deck, Olivia tucked her ticket into her purse. “That’ll be going in the scrapbook,” she said absently.

Paige bit back a smile. “You still keep a scrapbook? I thought you’d given that up ages ago.”

Olivia chuckled. “I did stop for a while, but I recently got back into it. I like looking back on memories.”

Paige leaned back, her knees bumping the seat in front. “I remember making a sleepover scrapbook, for every time we slept over at each other’s houses,” she said, “but that’s it.”

“I remember that too. We used to make our own stationery and write each other notes to stick in it,” Olivia said, tilting her head with a wistful smile. “And friendship bracelets. We made so many friendship bracelets.”

“I probably still have them, somewhere. I never throw anything out.”

Olivia’s smile dimmed. “Don’t you ever wish things were how they used to be? Just… so much simpler.”

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