I could never even tell my best friend I was in love with her twin brother. No. Not love. We were in high school, for crying out loud. It was a crush, I guess. What do you call it when you’re desperate to kiss someone’s face off but also really respect who they are as a person and know they’re too good for you?
Yeah, pining works.
“Olivia?” Brynn cuts through my thoughts.
“It’s Delaney,” I correct.
“Oh. Gage called you Olivia.”
“Yeah, he does that,” I mutter.
When I started high school, I decided to start going by my last name—Delaney. It was an easy enough transition for the most part. The only kids I knew well in our freshman class were Annie and Gage. I asked Annie to start calling me Delaney and she did, no questions asked. She slipped a time or two—breaking habits is hard—but she would quickly correct herself.
When I asked Gage to start calling me Delaney, he gave me a look of disgust and asked why. As I tried to come up with a lie that would satisfy him, he wouldn’t break eye contact. I swear it was like he was staring into my soul and seeing all my secrets, all my insecurities. When I finally stuttered out some sort of half reason, he nodded his head.
“See you around, Olivia,” he said. He’s stubbornly refused to call me Delaney ever since.
Again, Brynn’s voice reminds me that I’m not alone. “Well, Gage is super hot. Are you going to try to get with him this summer?”
“Get with him?” I echo.
“Yeah. Do you have dibs? Or would it be cool if I gave it a shot?”
No!I want to shout.I have all the dibs on Gage Carter.But that wouldn’t be fair.
I turn my head to the right, away from Brynn, and stare at the trees in the distance. “Go for it,” I say flatly into the wind.
Chapter five
Gage
Five Years Ago
Thelastmonthofsenior year of high school was really one party after another. We had some last-minute schoolwork thrown in there, but mostly we were celebrating.
Senior prom was three weeks before graduation and felt a lot like a last hurrah with my friends before we all went our separate ways for work or college. Annie and I would be separated, too, for the first time in our lives, because we were going to different colleges. Not until the fall, but still. These were the last few weeks of being in school with my sister.
I got a baseball scholarship locally here at UT Austin, and Annie would be moving three hours east for school. At least Annie got to stay with Olivia, who accepted a spot playing Division I soccer at the same school.
But that meant I wouldn’t be seeing Olivia every day anymore either. As much as I hated the idea of being separated from my twin, my heart literally ached when I thought about being away from Olivia. Not seeing her smile or her electric green eyes. Not hanging out with her after school or cheering her on at her soccer games.
I really hated being apart from the people I loved, and as stupid as it sounded, I knew I was in love with Olivia. My feelings developed slowly, almost without me noticing. Through middle school and starting high school, she was my sister’s best friend, one of my best friends. I always knew she was cool and funny, and pretty, once I started paying attention to that sort of thing.
In tenth grade, I was dating a girl named Chelsea. She was nice. Cute. We got along well. A month into the relationship, I realized that I spent way more time thinking about Olivia than I did about Chelsea. I broke things off, knowing it wasn’t fair to her.
But I didn’t make a move on Olivia. I mean, it wasOlivia. What if she didn’t feel the same way? What if I admitted my feelings and it made hanging out awkward? What if Olivia and I dated, and it turned Annie into a third wheel and made her feel left out?
So, I kept my feelings to myself. I didn’t even tell Annie. I watched for any sign that Olivia might consider me as more than a friend, too.
And now we were going to senior prom together. Well, sort of.
Annie, Olivia, and I were all going together. The Three Musketeers. The Three Amigos. TheThree’s Companyroommates. Luke, Leia, and Han fromStar Wars. Hey, that one was actually a pretty good fit. Boy-girl twins and a love interest, except that would makemeLeia, Annie Luke, and Olivia Han.
Anyway. The truth was that I’d rather go to prom with Olivia as “friends” than go with anybody else as a real date.
I had no idea how she ended up dateless, though. Every guy in school would have killed to take her to prom. Their loss was my gain.
The girls didn’t want a fuss, so the plan was for Olivia to meet us at our house to get ready with Annie, and then we’d drive over together in my Jeep.
