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“Nah,” she teases as we pull away. “You’ve already been replaced.” She closes the door and locks it.
“Liar,” I say, walking with most of my weight on my heels so the pink fingernail polish doesn’t smear. But then I stop, look at Oakley over my shoulder, and narrow my eyes. “Who’s replaced me?”
The only people she’s talked about during our phone conversations, other than Chase, are her parents and the two kids she babysits.
“Your spot has been taken by Miss Olivia O’Brien.”
I fall back into my place on the couch and stick my tongue out at Oakley. She takes the seat next to me. Olivia is the four-year-old girl she’s watching back home.
“From what I hear, she has plenty of attitude. She’ll fill my spot just fine,” I joke.
Oakley leans in and rests her head on my shoulder. “No one could ever replace you, Mads. Not even the sassiest of four-year-olds.”
“Ahh … thanks, bestie.” I glance at the now-shut front door. “Where’s Chase?”
“He’s dropping the rest of our things over at his place.”
Chase shares a house with Sam and Mike. They kept the place for the summer even though Mike and Chase are back in the city for the next few weeks. I’m not sure what Sam has been up to over break. But all three guys wanted to live there again next year, so they had to bite the bullet and keep paying rent. I’m surprised they wanted to remain roommates with the falling-out Chase and Sam had last year over the girl currently sitting on my right.
“Well, at least you have a place to crash tonight,” I comment, starting to paint my fingernails the same color at my toes.
“Here, let me.” Oakley highjacks the polish and takes over when more of the paint lands on my skin than on my nail—I’m very right-hand dominant. She bites her bottom lip in concentration. “Are we still going to the festival later?”
We made plans to go to an outdoor concert that’s held just outside of town every summer at the end of June. It has a few headlining acts and draws crowds from all over. Oakley and Chase were already coming here for the weekend to celebrate my birthday, so it worked out for us all to attend it together. My actual birth date falls on Wednesday of next week, but they’ll both be working then. So, we’re celebrating a few days early. And right after he asked me out on that first date, Johnny mentioned that Talking Fists are playing at the festival. When Oakley heard that, she insisted that we go.
“I was planning on it.”
“Do I get to meet the famous Johnny?”
I roll my eyes. I haven’t talked to Johnny since the night we went out. He’s called once or twice, but I was working, and we haven’t connected. Plus, things have changed since then. Ollie changed them.
“I don’t know about famous. And I’m not sure,” I say evasively. “He’ll be busy performing. And I’ve been working so much lately that we haven’t talked since we went out.”
“He’s famous for landing a date with my elusive best friend …”
I snort when she labels me as elusive.
“You never really told me about your date,” Oakley prods.
“It was fun,” I admit.
“But …” she pushes, reading between the lines by my hesitant tone and lack of details. She knows me well.
“But … I’m not sure if there are fireworks there.”
“Not everyone has explosive chemistry right away,” Oakley comments. “I bet for some couples, it takes time to develop.”
“Did it take time for you and Chase?”
“I guess, in a way, it did since we had been friends for so long before we got together. But once we really looked at each other …”
She can’t hide the luminescent smile covering her face. It’s so nice to see her happy. She’s literally glowing.
“Exactly!” I nudge her shoulder with my own. “I don’t want to wait for the chemistry to build. It’s either there or it’s not.”
The truth is that Johnny and I do have chemistry. But it’s a slow simmer compared to the boiling inferno with Ollie. The two are like night and day. At another time, in another place, Johnny and I maybe could’ve been something. But now, Ollie’s in the picture.
I can’t tell Oakley that though. I’m not sure what I want Oakley to know about my situationship with her brother. I’m not sure what Ollie wants her to know. And I’m pretty certain my bestie will flip out when she learns that things have happened between us, the two people she’s closest with in this world. Well … I guess that list includes Chase now too.
