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Ruth and Sylvester Norris pushed past the other guests to get to me and Ollie. Ruth patted Ollie's cheek. "This dear sweet boy needs all the help he can get."
"Hey, I'm not helpless," Ollie said. "Damian needs fresh air. That's the only reason I conned him into doing this. Excuse me, I talked him into it, not conned."
My best friend was smirking. Oh yeah, he had totally conned me into this.
"You didn't need me at all, did you?" I asked, pretending to be offended. I raised my hands, fingers spread, and tipped my head back like I was communing with the sky. "I call upon the ancient gods of the Ludar to lay a horrendous curse on Oliver Jackson. May he lose his sense of smell forever."
"Awesome," Ollie said, grinning. "I'll never again get nauseous when I smell liverwurst."
One of the older guests, who I didn't recognize, raised his hand. "Can you curse my ex-wife? She got the Boca Raton house in the divorce, but she only wanted it because I loved that place. She hates Florida."
I stifled a laugh. "Sorry, man, I only curse people who annoyme."
Ollie gave the introductory speech about the rules of the hike and the things we might see along the way. We both strapped on hefty backpacks stuffed full of snacks and water bottles, plus a few outdoor essentials like bug spray and calamine lotion. For the next half hour, we explained nature to a dozen senior citizens. Well, Ollie did the explaining. I wasn't anywhere near as well-versed in the wildlife and plant life as he was.
We had lunch at the lake, on the beach. While the guests broke off into three groups and entertained each other, Ollie and I set up our picnic blanket a short distance away from everybody else.
A hummingbird buzzed past us, and Ollie smiled like he was reminiscing about something.
I elbowed him in the side. "Are you ever going to tell me why you get sentimental about hummingbirds?"
"Sorry, I've been sworn to secrecy. It's a private thing between me and Mara."
"Whatever." I ate a bite of my sandwich before I asked the question I'd wanted to ask him since he tricked me into going on this hike. "Why did Mara bail on you at the last minute? That's not like her at all."
"She bailed on me last night. I couldn't say no. She's super stressed about all that wedding junk."
"You do realize you can never speak the phrase wedding junk when you're within earshot of Mara. Practice saying 'yes, dear, I'd love to pick out place settings with you.' Then ooh and ah over that crap when you're shopping with her."
Ollie threw a potato chip at me, which bounced off my nose. "What do you know about weddings? You're a confirmed bachelor."
I wasn't feeling confirmed anymore. The more time I spent with Heidi, the more I wanted to do lots of things that didn't involve sex. Cuddling sounded awesome. Maybe some adoring gazes too. Hand-holding would be perfect. I could recite a poem or something like that too. Maybe I'd love to just hold her in my arms for a long, long time.
"Whoa-ho," Ollie said, looking genuinely surprised. "Were you just daydreaming lovey-dovey thoughts about Heidi? Never seen that look on your face before. Is Damian Petrescu, the Ludar playboy, finally ready to settle down?"
"What if I am? It's not a crime."
"No, it's awesome. We could have a double wedding."
"Double what? Whoa, slow down there, Ollie. I've been with Heidi for a few days, and you're getting married in less than three weeks."
He shrugged. "Okay. We can plan your wedding later."
"Aren't the girls supposed to do the planning?"
Ollie snorted. "You really don't understand women, do you? They expect us guys to act like we enjoy talking about stuff like who sits at which table at the reception and whether to have a buffet or a formal dinner."
"Which did you decide on?"
"Haven't decided anything. That's why Mara is panicking." He swigged some water, wiping his mouth with his hand. "Thank goodness Heidi offered to help her with all that. Mara's a lot more relaxed now that she has an unofficial wedding planner."
"I'm sure Heidi will love taking care of the details."
We went back to eating and enjoying the sunshine, and Ollie didn't harass me anymore about Heidi and whether I wanted to settle down. The rest of the nature hike seemed to drag by, though, probably because I kept thinking about Heidi and wondering what she was doing, if she was having fun, whether she would be happy to see me when I got back from the hike. Would she wonder where I'd been? Would she miss me?
Those thoughts made me feel anxious and a little giddy.
I stifled a groan, realizing exactly what that meant. Oh yeah, Ollie would love this.
