Finding Olivia

Chapter 6

It had been two weeks since I had seen Trace in person, but we were constantly texting.

Every time a text from him popped up on my phone, I smiled goofily, or at least that's what Avery told me. I wasn't sure if she could be trusted though, because she was miffed that she hadn't heard from Luca.

"Seriously," she whined for the thousandth time today, "why hasn't he called or text me?"

"Avery," I laughed, spinning around in my chair to face her, where she sat on her bed. "I have never seen you so worked up over a guy before."

"He was amazing, Olivia! I've never kissed anyone like that before! Excuse me if I want to see what else he has to offer!"

I snickered quietly. "I'm seeing Trace tomorrow. I can ask him about Luca, if you want me to."

"You are? And you would do that for me?" Her eyes sparkled to life.

I hid my giggle. Normally, Avery would have told me that asking a guy's best friend about him was breaking the dating code, but obviously she was getting desperate.

"Yep," I replied to her first question. I had no idea what we'd be doing though. All Trace had told me was that we'd be crossing something off my list. Unfortunately, that sounded ominous to me, because he could have picked any of the sixteen things left. "And of course I would do that for you. That's what best friends are for."

She nibbled on her fingernail. "I'm not sure. I don't want to seem desperate."

I hated to inform her, but she had passed desperate a long time ago.

"You won't seem desperate," I replied, because that was the nice, best-friend thing to say.

"No, no," she shook her head, a grin spreading across her face. "I have a better idea."

"Oh Lord," I muttered, turning back to my computer, and the homework that wasn't going to do itself. "With that smile, I'm a bit worried for Luca's wellbeing."

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," she giggled behind me. "After all, I need all his parts in tact and in perfect working order for what I want to do. I just need to find a really short skirt and some 'fuck me' heels. No guy can resist that."

I knew there was no point in scolding her or trying to talk her out of whatever her plan was.

"Have fun plotting," I muttered. "I need to finish this," I pointed to my computer.

"Mhmm," she mumbled, already scheming poor Luca's demise. He didn't stand a chance against whatever Avery was coming up with. When she set her sights on a guy, she didn't give up, which is why I found it odd that she had waited this long for him to take action. Maybe she really did like him.

I looked over my shoulder at her as she typed away on her laptop; her long hair fell around her like a curtain and her red lips were pursed.

This was definitely an interesting development.

★★★

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" I begged, peering out the windshield of Trace's car.

"No," he snorted, "if I'm going to help you cross these things off, we do it on my terms, which means you'll never know which one we're doing."

I swallowed thickly, starting to regret that I told him about my list. I didn't like the idea of not knowing what thing I would be doing. He could've picked anything. There were some I could easily eliminate though. Like riding in a hot air balloon...or skinny-dipping...or falling in love. But that still left too many possibilities for my liking.