26. Oliver
TWENTY-SIX
Oliver
“Frankie doesn’t seem like your type,” Lila said in a low voice so that only I could hear.
The two of us were toward the front of the hiking group, behind Elise and her friends. Giles had stayed back at camp with Mattie and Harrison was trailing the back of the group with Frankie.
My heart swelled a little knowing my best friend and my girl—hell, I was still going to call her that even if it wasn’t exactly accurate—were getting along.
“She’s career driven, motivated, intelligent. She also looks about as out of place out here as Harrison does.” We both glanced over our shoulders to see the two of them helping each other over a particularly muddy log, Frankie scrunching her nose in the process.
My lips tugged up at the sight. She was so damn cute.
“Harrison is my best friend,” I pointed out. “We’ve made it work despite his aversion to activities.”
“I guess.” Lila considered this. “I never pictured you with someone like that. Don’t get me wrong, she seems lovely and smart. I’m just surprised is all.”
“Well, I never thought you, Ms. Sunshine herself, would end up with my grumpy ass of a best friend, but here you two are.”
Lila smiled. “Yeah, here we are.”
“Oliver, when did you say you were leaving for the whitewater rafting training course?” Elise asked from in front of us.
“Probably in a few weeks. What about you?” I called. I was trying to get excited about the idea, especially since I’d found out Elise would be there too. I’d always gotten along well with her. She was a blast.
“I might head out there earlier. Do you remember my girlfriend, Jules?”
“Of course,” I said. A group of us had gone boarding together a few times.
“She’s going to be a guide, too, but we wanted to rent a van for a week before it starts. Just for fun to see the area and get an idea for vanlife. We might want to try it out after the rafting season is over.”
“That’s awesome. You two will love that. You used to always talk about living in a van.”
“I know.” Elise beamed. “I’m so excited.”
She turned and resumed her conversation with her friends as Lila and I fell a few steps behind.
“You know Frankie is totally jealous of Elise, right?” Lila asked.
My eyebrows shot into my hairline. I snuck a glance back at Frankie but she was too far behind to see.
“I don’t think so. She doesn’t seem like the jealous type,” I insisted.
Lila let out a breathless laugh. “Her face was bright pink when she introduced herself earlier. She was totally eyeing Elise up like competition.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Although I’d be lying if I said the thought didn’t give me a twinge of satisfaction. Hearing earlier that she hadn’t wanted to claim me or for me to claim her, stung like hell.
“Elise is totally textbook your type,” Lila said.
“Except for the obvious fact that she has a girlfriend.” I chuckled and shook my head.
“Frankie doesn’t know that,” Lila pointed out. “To her, Elise looks like some outdoorsy, adventure babe who you’re about to go work with for a few months. I bet she’s freaking out.”
I thought about reversing the situation. If some guy in a suit showed up in Key Ridge who used to work with Frankie and talked about moving to New York, I’d sure as hell be seeing red. As irrational as that was, it was the truth. But a New York guy in a suit would be perfect for her. Not like me.
“I’ll clear things up with her.”
Lila snorted. “Yeah, you seem to be in a rush to do just that.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I want her to feel a tiny bit of what it could be like to lose me.”
Lila cringed. “That’s not healthy.”
“Hey, don’t judge me. It’s not my fault the best relationship I’ve ever been in also happens to be the most complicated one.”
“Relationship is a strong word?—”
“Whatever,” I cut her off.
“If you really like her so much, you should tell her.”
“I have.”
“No, I mean like really tell her. Tell her you don’t want it to be temporary. ”
“But I do,” I lied.
“You don’t,” she said. “I knew it as soon as you started going on and on about her on the drive up. That’s not the Oliver I know. You’re flustered and you don’t know what to do about it.”
I stepped over a large tree root, before bringing my eyes back to the horizon. “She’s kind of like…the right person at the wrong time,” I said. “Except instead of that, she’s the wrong person at the right time. The two of us are nothing alike and want different things, yet we happened to end up in Key Ridge at the exact same time, causing this little glitch in the universe.”
“If she was so wrong for you, then you wouldn’t be strung out like this.” Lila’s words got choppier as we made it to an uphill portion of the hike.
I wondered how Frankie was doing trailing behind. I’d thought a few times of joining her in the back, but I couldn’t handle a rejection from her right now. I figured she needed some space and I’d give it to her. For now.
“I know you’re right in theory,” I started, “but it’s her dream job. There is nothing keeping her from chasing that, just like there isn’t anything that could get me to move to New York.” I laughed at even the idea. “How fucking crazy would that be? Could you even imagine me there?”
Lila sighed dreamily. “Sounds like an adventure.”
Unease stirred inside me as I took in her words. She was serious. Me? In a big city like that?
“I would be bored out of my mind,” I said.
Lila snorted. “Right, because that’s what everyone always says about New York. How boring it is.”
I glared at her. “You know what I mean.”
“I’m just saying, love is a pretty big adventure. One you probably don’t want to cut short. ”
My first instinct was to scoff. “Love? I never said anything about that.”
She had the nerve to smile. “I know, but you also wouldn’t be obsessing this much if it wasn’t love, or something close to it.”
“You’re way off.” I threw my hand in the air and waved off her comment.
“If you say so,” she singsonged.
I pulled my water bottle out of my backpack and squeezed it lightly in her direction. Water spewed out of the top and landed on her arm.
“Hey!” She looked at me with mock horror before laughing. “You’re so immature.”
Before she could reach for her own bottle, I took off running.
“Get back here!” she yelled.
I slid in between Elise and her friends and sprinted a few feet up the trail, running more from her words than Lila’s retaliation efforts.
Love was big. Love was heavy. It wasn’t a word I had ever used before. Not when it came to a romantic partner. I wasn’t even sure I knew what it meant. Did I love Frankie? The idea seemed insane.
I mean, did I love spending time with her? Obviously. Did I think about her when she wasn’t around? Of course. Was I dreading our time together ending more than I’ve ever dreaded anything in my entire life? Abso-fucking-lutely.
But that wasn’t love.
Right?