“Loads.” The tiniest trace of a smile formed on his lips. “You?”
“The time of my life.”
“Get a room, you two. I swear, you’d talk for hours if I let you,” Oliver said, laughing and turning the phone away from Nathan. “Be honest, H. Did you plan all this just to get some alone time with Lila?”
Lila jerked around in her seat just as I scowled and said, “Of course not.”
She snorted. “Right. Spending time with me is the absolute last thing Harrison would ever volunteer to do.”
I winced. But before I could say that I didn’t mean it like that, Lila had already turned her attention back to her call with Charlie.
Oliver chuckled and I wished I could reach through the screen and smack his shoulder. “Why do you always have to say the wrong thing around her?” he asked, this time more quietly.
“That’s it. I’m hanging up,” I hissed. He stuck out his tongue right before I pressed theEnd Callbutton.
“I just feel so awful about all this,” Charlie continued to apologize. “You could just enjoy Greece. You should still have your hotel and whole itinerary booked since the travel agent didn’t change you over to this trip. I’m so sorry.” She sniffed. “Or I could just get you booked back to Denver if you’d rather do that.”
“That would be great,” I said at the same time Lila said, “Absolutely not.”
She glared at me and held her chin high. “One sec, Char,” she said before muting the call and holding the phone camera away from us.
“I haven’t had a vacation inyears.I am not about to get on a plane back to Denver when I’m in freaking Europe right now.”
“But—” I started.
“No. I’ve never been to Europe. Have you? How could we just turn around when we’re already here? I worked my ass off these past few weeks to take this trip. I’m not letting that all go to waste.”
Even as she made one solid point after another, I still couldn’t picture us continuing on.
“Look,” I said, “I only came on this trip in the first place because Oliver begged me to, and I didn’t want things to be weird with Nathan. Now that we’re on our own, what’s the point?”
Her lips parted slightly before a maniacal laugh bubbled to the surface. “What’s the point?What’s the point?You can’t be serious.”
She regarded me with such contempt that I couldn’t bring myself to admit that I was, in fact, serious.
“Can’t you ever just enjoy anything, Harrison?” she prodded.
She couldn’t have known it, but that hit me right in the chest. Enjoyment felt too much like vulnerability to me. Much like excitement, or humor, or anything really.
Which is maybe why I’d glommed onto Oliver for all these years. Of course, my loyalty to him ran deep, but it was more than that. Having a best friend who loved life so much was almost enough to make my own less miserable. I had the luxury of standing in the background, pretending I was above it all, because Oliver was always a step ahead and dragging me along. I still got to experience everything, albeit at half-mast.
But without that crutch I couldn’t even stand straight.
Rubbing my forehead with my left hand, I let out a deep sigh.
“I’m tired, Lila. I just want to go home.”
“Fine,” she said easily. Too easily. “Then ask Charlie to book you on the next flight back.”
“Can’t you ask her to book usbothon a flight home?”
All the water in the Mediterranean Sea couldn’t extinguish the fire in Lila’s eyes.
“I’m getting on that flight to Santorini.”
My eyebrows shot up as I looked from her to the gate. One worker sifted through papers while the other prepared the microphone to announce the start of the boarding process.
Frustration surged through me as I looked back at my accidental travel companion.
