Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
One Bird, Two Stones
“R yan mentioned there’s going to be a firework display at the market today.”
This is the first thing Oliver says to me when I open the door in the morning. I just got out of bed and haven’t had any coffee, so his statement feels out of the blue. I have no idea why he’s telling me this.
I rub my eyes and yawn. “Why are you here so early?”
“It’s ten in the morning.” He frowns. “Did you just get out of bed?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“We need to be at the farmers’ market in half an hour,” he reminds me.
I groan. “Why did we agree to this?”
“Don’t blame me. You’re the one who told Tina we were going there.”
I open the door wider so he can come in. “Give me a few minutes to get ready.”
I head to my room and spend a few minutes getting dressed and brushing my hair. When I come back out, Oliver is standing in the middle of my living room, hands in his pockets, looking at my couch like he’s afraid to sit down.
“I’m getting new furniture,” I tell him. “I might even move now that I can afford to.”
“It’s not bad,” he says, but I know what he’s thinking.
His house is nicer and he has better furniture and his bedroom looks like a picture in a magazine.
I don’t even have a headboard for my bed.
Even though we’re the same age, I feel like he’s a real adult and I’m just pretending to be one.
I think of the guys I dated who slept in a hammock and on an air mattress, and I wonder if my standards were so low because I’m not that much higher above them.
I wonder what Oliver would think of my bedroom.
My face heats at the thought. I don’t know why my mind is stuck on the idea of Oliver in my bedroom right now. These are dangerous thoughts to have. I can’t let him know that I’m thinking them.
“My bedroom isn’t as nice as yours,” I blurt out. So much for getting these thoughts out of my mind.
“I can’t argue with you there since I haven’t seen it.” He turns to look at me. The room feels a little bit smaller.
I cross my arms. My mind draws a blank and I can’t seem to figure out how to get us back on topic. “My bed is smaller than yours.”
His eyebrow twitches. “A small bed is probably just fine for one person.”
I tighten my lips. My body feels hot. I don’t know why his comment stings so much. I guess I don’t like the reminder that I live here alone.
“Anyway,” I say, changing the subject. “I’m ready. Are you ready?”
We head out the door and get into his truck.
We make it to the farmers’ market before Tina and Ryan.
I hop out of the car and look around. In all the years I’ve lived here, I’ve never come to one of these.
The crowd is a lot bigger than I expect.
There are different types of vendors lining several streets, from food trucks, to produce, to candles and handmade soaps and dog treats that look like something a human could eat.
“Want to check out the firework display?” Oliver asks.
I frown. “What firework display?”
“The one I told you about when you opened your door,” he says. “Ryan wants to get some for the proposal, but he can’t do it with Tina tagging along. I told him I would make up a reason that I need them and bring you along to buy them.”
“Oh. Right,” I say. “Tina needs some, too. We could kill two birds with one stone.”
“This whole proposal is killing two birds with one stone,” he says.
“Two rings. Two proposals. One marriage,” I say. “More like killing one bird with two stones.”
Oliver laughs. The sound is surprising. I look up at him.
He smiles, and it seems like a genuine smile.
The fact that it’s aimed at me is confusing and strange and a little bit nice.
The fact that it feels nice is even weirder.
I want to say something mean to him so that we can go back to our comfortable normal of bickering back and forth, but we have a truce, so I don’t say anything.
“There you guys are!”
I turn to see Tina walking toward us, holding Ryan’s hand.
“So much for sneaking off to look at fireworks,” I say to Oliver quietly before she reaches us.
Oliver takes my hand and leans down like he’s going to kiss my cheek, but instead he whispers, “We’ll find a way to sneak off.”
His breath tickles my ear and sends goosebumps down my neck. I can’t tell if I hate it or if this weird sensation I’m feeling is a good thing. The fact that I might actually like the way he whispers in my ear is even scarier than when he smiled at me a minute ago.
Tina smiles as she reaches us. She must think that Oliver is whispering sweet nothings into my ear. It’s clear by her smile that she thinks we’re adorable together. I’m going to feel bad about breaking the news once this is all over.
She gives me a hug, then grabs my arm, pulling me away from Oliver. “I smelled the most amazing soaps on the way over here,” she says. “You have to check them out with me.”
I look over my shoulder at Oliver while she herds me away from him. “Oh. But what about?—”
“Oliver and Ryan will be fine,” she says. “Ryan said that Oliver wanted to check out some fireworks for a show his high school is putting on for grad night.”
“I told Priscilla she could come look at them with me,” Oliver says.
“But that’s so boring,” Tina says. “She doesn’t want to go with you.”
“Actually, I kind of do,” I admit.
Tina frowns. “But why?”
I lower my voice so that Ryan can’t hear. “I thought that it would be a good chance to get some fireworks for a different reason.”
“Oh. Oh ,” she says, realizing what I mean.
“Maybe you could keep Ryan distracted while I go do that? I don’t want him to catch on to why I’m buying them.”
She nods. “Yes. Of course.”
“I’ll meet you at that soap vendor,” I tell her.
“Change of plans,” Tina says to Ryan. “You’re coming with me. Apparently, these two haven’t had enough alone time.” She says this with a convincing roll of her eyes.
Ryan doesn’t put up a fight, but he exchanges a look with Oliver as we head our separate ways.
“Do you even know where the fireworks are?” I ask Oliver as we make our way through the rows of vendors.
“I imagine it would be hard to miss,” he says. We reach the end of the street, which also seems to be where the market ends. “But this market is like a maze. We might have to double back.”
I turn around, scanning the street for any sign of fireworks. Oliver takes my hand. I look down at his hand, and then I look up and around, searching the crowd for Tina and Ryan, because that would be the only reasonable explanation for him holding my hand right now.
When I don’t see them, I turn to look at him. “Why are you holding my hand?”
He looks down at our joined hands, then at me. “Just in case,” he says.
I frown. “In case of what?”
“In case our friends come around the corner and see us not acting like a couple,” he says. “If we’re going to be believable, then we need to do things like this even when they’re not watching.”
“I guess you have a point.” I watch him as we head back through the maze of vendors. “You’re putting a lot more thought into this fake relationship than I thought you would.”
“You know, Tina could be right behind you in a crowd like this and you wouldn’t even know it,” he says. “You should probably stop calling it a fake relationship.”
“Fine,” I tell him. “I’ll act like the realest girlfriend you’ve ever had from now on.”
He smirks. “I’m not sure what that means, but okay.”
I tug on his hand, stopping him. He turns to face me.
I step closer to him and, letting go of his hand, I bring my hands to his waist. His Adam’s apple bobs up and down as I rise up onto my toes.
I don’t know why I’m doing this or what my plan is.
A second ago, this seemed like a good idea, but now, as I crane my neck to reach him, I start to have second thoughts.
Oliver bends his head down just a little to meet me halfway.
Even though we’ve kissed before, it’s different now.
This wouldn’t just be a practice kiss, or a kiss for the sake of putting on a show for our friends.
Just as our lips begin to come together, my eyes wander behind him and I spot a big red sign on one of the tents with a huge display of fireworks on top.
“There!” I say, pulling back. My heart is racing, but it’s not because of the fireworks. I’ve never been so bold before.
Oliver frowns. “Huh?” He turns to look at where I’m pointing.
“The fireworks,” I remind him. “Found them.”
He reaches his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. I start toward the fireworks stand, but then I stop and grab his other hand, dragging him with me.
“What was that back there?” he asks after a moment.
“What was what?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” he says. “Back there. You were going to kiss me.”
My face flushes. “No, I wasn’t.”
“You raised up on your toes,” he reminds me.
“I was looking for fireworks.”
“In my mouth?” he asks.
“Yeah. I didn’t find any.”
We reach the fireworks tent. “That’s not a very nice thing for a girlfriend to say to a boyfriend.”
I shrug. “Maybe my boyfriend should learn to kiss better.”
“You didn’t give me a chance,” he says.
“We’ve kissed twice now,” I remind him. “I think I know all that I need to know.”
His eyes narrow. “You seemed like you were enjoying yourself last night.”
I’m reminded of how close I was to taking things a step further. The thought that he might have been able to tell, and ended the kiss before I could, gives my heart a panicked rush.
I force a smile. “Just doing my best to put on a show for our friends.”
“Uh-huh.” He smirks. “Sure.”
“Can I help you with anything?”
We both turn our attention to the sweet older woman manning the fireworks tent.
“Oh, uh, yeah. We’re looking for fireworks,” I say dumbly.
“Then you’ve come to the right place,” she says with a beaming smile. “I’ve got bamboo sparklers, snappers, snakes, poppers. Anything you can think of!”