“Well,” she laughs shakily. “That answers that. You do taste like pie.”
I don't even try to reign in the giggle this time. “So do you.”
Sadie clears her throat loudly. “Okay,” she says, clearly delighted. “That was… perfect. I’m going to pretend I’m invisible for the last few minutes of our session. Just keep doing what you're doing.”
Olivia scans my face. “Are you alright?”
I nod, even though my heart is doing cartwheels inside my chest. “Yeah. I'm okay. I think I might actually be great.”
She squeezes me gently. “Good.”
Outside, the rain starts to slow, letting rays of golden light filter in through the window. A fuzzy kind of warmth settles inside me when she smiles, and for the first time since moving to Seattle…
I feel like I actually might like it here.
CHAPTER 03: OLIVIA
The sand is cold beneath my feet, misty spray from the Puget Sound stinging my skin, but Arya’s hand is warm enough in mine to chase off even the most frigid chill.
She swings our arms absentmindedly as we walk along the beach, waves lapping softly against the shore. Though the sky is still a bit overcast, sun rays peek through the clouds, dappling the earth in golden light.
I glance at Arya out of the corner of my eye. Her hair is still damp, dress wrinkled and tinted pink, mascara smudged beneath her eyes.
She’s beautiful.
And I don’t know how this happened.
I woke up this morning intending to struggle through a photography session, make pleasant conversation with a stranger, then go back to my apartment and catch up on all the missed work.
Instead, I kissed the woman who I spilled coffee on in my company lobby and now I’m holding her hand.
And she's anemployee.
Arya giggles softly when the tide splashes over her ballet flats. “Would you look at that? Wet again.”
I laugh despite myself. “Seems to be a theme with us.”
“Could be worse. We could be dry.”
With a snort, I squeeze her hand gently. “I almost didn’t show up.”
“What, why?”
My gaze drifts across the water as I take a deep breath, dreading the inevitable. This is always the part where they leave. “My job is… demanding. I rarely get days off, so I'm not available much for the whole dating thing.”
And it's very lonely.But I keep that part to myself.
Arya hums as she cradles my hand against her chest. “Honestly, I'm not really looking for anything serious. I only just moved here, and I had something with someone back home that didn't end well.”
“What happened?”
“He wasn't a bad guy or anything, but he was a bit overbearing. And his friend group was super volatile, like to the point of physically hurting each other. They weren't very nice to me half the time. And…” She cuts off, dropping her gaze to the sand. “There's no excuse, but I cheated on him with one of those friends. I mean, we’d technically both slept with him, but I went behind his back. I know that makes me a bad person. And I'd understand if you wanted to end this right here.”
Arya’s words hang between us, almost as heavy as the mist curling off the water. Her shoulders are tense, like she’s bracing for impact.
A slow breath leaves my lungs. “Thank you for telling me.”
Her head snaps up, green eyes wide. “That’s… not the response I was expecting.”
