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“You think she isn’t saying yes to me because of my coat?”
Trent’s back to shooting hoops. “I told you that thing stinks, man.”
Olivia hops off my desk.
“Believe me, Cole, when she sees you and me together, she’s going to take notice. I’m taking this amazing class in online dating, and I’ve learned a ton. Dating is all about competition. Women want a guy who’s in high demand, you know? I’ll make you look good, don’t worry. And we can put together a big, splashy fight toward the end, and that’s when you’ll swoop in and ask her to the wedding again. This is going to be a total win-win.”
I don’t like this.
Not even a little. But Trent’s actually got some life in his eyes again, and Olivia’s striding toward the door like I don't have a say in the matter.
“Skye wants us all to check in tomorrow afternoon. I already googled directions and the drive’s about two hours. Maggie said she’d meet us there, and I think the three of us should carpool. Who’s driving? I call not it.” She touches her nose with her finger.
Trent does the same.
We’ve been using this method for decision-making for way too long.
“Are we ever going to grow up?” I ask the two of them, as I mentally make plans to clear out the back seat in my truck that evening.
“You guys, this is the perfect plan!” Olivia flashes us both a smile before pulling open the door. She steps out and the door settles closed behind her.
Trent throws me the Nerf basketball.
I catch it and lob it up toward the net. It misses.
There are lots of things I could say to my buddy right now. I could complain about what a pain-in-the-rear his sister is; how when she visits us, I can’t get work done; how she just hijacked the next five days of my life.
Or I could congratulate him on the fact he’s going to get to talk to Maggie, finally.
Instead, I catch the ball on the rebound and chuck it back to him.
We both go back to working without another word.
I pick a name on my list of aviation companies at random. When the sales rep picks up, I launch into my speech about what I’m looking for.
I better get through this list today, because starting tomorrow, I’m gonna be busy…
Pretending to be Olivia’s boyfriend.
At least I’ll have my wheels there. If it gets really bad, I can drive away.
Chapter 5
Olivia
I knew this afternoon would be rough.
Right now, Maggie is across the parking lot with her arms folded over her chest, my brother looking like he’s about to cry, and Cole shooting an actual death glare at Sky Solei.
And I’m starting to think that “rough” doesn’t even come close to describing what’s going down.
We pulled into the Sunrise Ranch parking a couple of minutes ago. Now I feel like I’m in the middle of some sort of Western stand-off, only instead of one pair of cowboys dueling, there are a whole bunch of us out here under the blazing sun.
Trent and Maggie haven’t yet said a word to each other, and the icky tension between them buzzes over this whole dirt lot along with a cloud of gnats. Cole’s been in a snit since we left Silver Creek two hours ago.
Why is it that I’m always the one that has to put a happy face on, during situations like this?
I paste a grin on my mug and reach for Cole’s arm. “Now, honey. All she did was ask for your keys.”
