She reappears in minutes wearing a white and gray freckled shirt, that looks like a sweater, buttoned-down her front and tying at the top of her jeans.
“Why are you staring at my boobs?” She pulls her hair from her collar as she slides her coat on, accusation missing from both her tone and gaze. Instead, amusement lingers in her blue eyes.
“I’m not.”
She raises her brows with a challenge. “You totally were.”
“You forgot a button.”
She glances down. “I know, but if I button it all the way, I look like Mister Rogers.”
“Is your boyfriend, non-boyfriend going to hate me for this?” I ask.
“We’ll talk in the car. Otherwise, we’re going to be late, and then you’re going to start believing it’s the curse again instead of realizing it’s because you’re a chatterbox.”
I clasp a hand over my heart. “Way to hit me where it hurts.”
She pats my arm. “Let’s go.”
12
Olivia
Arlo’s SUV is still warm as I climb in, the contrast making me shiver.
“We’ll just take I-5, right?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I’ve never been to Portland.”
He pulls his chin back. “You’ve never been to Portland?”
“I get lost going out the front door, and Rose doesn’t have the patience to sit in a car for three hours—she doesn’t have the patience to sit in a car for ten minutes.”
Arlo’s light eyes stare at me for a moment, and then he shakes his head. “I’m going to make a list.”
“A list?”
He nods as he backs out of his spot and slowly approaches one of the several speedbumps in the parking lot. “Of things you need to do and see before you move back to Texas. You can’t just go between Brighton and your apartment for the next year and a half and then wash your hands of this place. You’ll regret it. Maybe not right away, but eventually, you’ll think of something, and it will make you wish you’d seen more of it.”
“What’s going to be on this list?”
“There needs to be a good balance of super touristy shit and places only locals know about.”
“The hidden gems?”
He nods. “Exactly.”
The motor hums and the heater feels like a tiny sun, and the windshield wipers scrape away the rain, lulling me into a relaxed state.
“You really don’t like being here?” Arlo asks. “Is it only because you miss your boyfriend?”
“I miss my friends and the weather, and I miss my old routine and the fact I knew everything and everyone.”
“Is he going to be upset that you’re going to this with me?”
It feels lame to say I have no idea. That we’ve never discussed what is right or wrong or exclusivity or anything aside from flirting banter that assures me we still care about each other. “No,” I tell him, my puckered lips providing a false bravado that Matt wouldn’t care because he trusts me and knows I care about him rather than because we’ve literally never spoken about the opposite sex with each other.
“What’s he like?”
I pull in a breath and instantly picture Matt. “He’s a really nice guy. He plays football for Texas State and has two little sisters who I grew up babysitting.”
“What makes him so nice?”
“What?”
“Like does he volunteer at animal shelters or helps old ladies cross the streets?”
Arlo’s question frazzles me and puts me on the defense. He smiles again, but it’s not as sincere. “He’s nice. Like nice.”
Arlo laughs, and I can’t tell if it’s at me or the fact I can’t find adequate reasons to defend Matt. “Where did you meet mister nice?”
“We went to middle school and high school together.”
“How long have you guys been dating?”
This answer is increasingly more difficult. “We’re not … I mean, we’re … It’s complicated.”
“He’s an idiot if it’s complicated.”
“It’s not. I like him.” My tone is too defensive and loud, interrupting his opportunity to say anything more on the subject. I clear my throat and sit up straighter, trying to feel more confident though I feel like a jerk for my abrasiveness. “What about you? Are you going to tell me about who left you scorned?”
He scoffs. “I was kind of dating a girl.”
“Kind of?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. Things were going well, but after I got hurt, she split.”
I blink away the shock and then the offense I feel on his behalf. “She broke up with you because you got injured?”
He does that casual shrug that makes him appear indifferent. “She said it was because we wanted different things. I wasn’t ready to be