Page 33 of The Summer of Us

They sat down on the sand, and Paige tucked the skirt of her dress beneath her legs to stop it riding up in the breeze. The wind played with her hair, and she tried to imagine it was Olivia running her fingers through it instead.

“I can’t believe we’re already going home tomorrow,” Olivia said, a soft sigh settling between them.

Paige looked down. What would happen once they got home? Would anything be different? This vacation was the first time Paige had been able to detach from anything and just enjoy each day as they came. Back home, she had to worry about tiptoeing around her mum during her moods, and trying to figure out what to do after college, and wondering if there was something wrong with her brain or her heart because she was attracted to Olivia in a way she’d never been attracted to anyone before. Here in Whiterock, with Olivia beside her and the waves at her feet, everything made sense. Everything slotted into place, like the way it was supposed to be.

The only thing missing was the truth.

Did she really want to leave things unspoken between them? But if she did tell Olivia, what if it drove a rift between them that could never be repaired?

Paige glanced across at the girl beside her, a tightness in her chest that she didn’t know how to get rid of.

As if sensing her gaze, Olivia turned to meet it. Her expression was almost curious, before it relaxed into something else, something more… intimate.

Paige swallowed, her heart quickening in her chest. Her gaze flitted down to Olivia’s lips, pink and full in the sunset, and her stomach twinged.

She wanted to kiss her. For the first time in her life, she wanted to kiss someone.

As if she could read the desire on Paige’s face, Olivia leaned closer, her warm, vanilla-sweet breath dancing against Paige’s cheek. Her green eyes were wide, searching, looking for an answer that only the depth of Paige’s heart could answer.

Then they were kissing.

Olivia’s lips were soft and warm against Paige’s, tasting like strawberry ice-cream and sea salt. Her fingertips fluttered over Paige’s cheek, as gentle as a moth’s wing.

The kiss was short and sweet, and they pulled away just as quickly, their breaths lingering in the air between them, warm and trembling.

Paige felt heat spread through her cheeks, her head spinning, still trying to recover from the taste of Olivia’s lips.

“I…” she fumbled, but she couldn’t quite figure out what to say. Part of her wished the sand would open up beneath her and swallow her whole, so that she wouldn’t have to deal with the aftermath of what had just happened.

“I don’t…” Olivia started, then stopped, her voice softer than the breeze dancing on Paige’s neck. “I don’t know where that came from.”

Paige felt her stomach plummet. Had she not meant to do that? Unlike Paige, it probably wasn’t something she’d been dreaming of doing over the past few days.

“I’m sorry,” Paige finally muttered, because she didn’t know what else to say.

Olivia shook her head, not quite able to meet Paige’s gaze. “Don’t say that.”

Paige looked down at her hands, her cheeks still burning. “Maybe we should head back,” she said, climbing to her feet and dusting the sand off her dress.

All of a sudden, she felt silly. Silly for thinking she looked cute in this dress. Silly for thinking that Olivia would ever see her as more than a friend. Silly for thinking that the kiss would change anything between them.

Olivia said nothing as she stood up, and the two of them walked in silence back to the beach cottage, the air cold between them.

Was this it? Had this one little kiss ruined their friendship?

“You have the keys,” Paige said as they reached the top of the slope, shaking the sand off their shoes.

“Yeah.” Olivia dug them out of her bag and opened up the door, letting Paige go inside first.

How am I supposed to share a bed with the girl I just kissed?

“I can… sleep on the couch,” Paige offered, but Olivia scoffed.

“No need for that, jeez,” Olivia muttered, as if Paige had said the silliest thing in the world.

Paige would rather sleep on the settee, but now she couldn’t.

“I enjoyed tonight,” Olivia said once she’d changed into her pyjamas, wiping the make-up off her face with a wipe.

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