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Olivia laced her fingers together, bridging them beneath her chin. “Pizza is best,” she said with an air of self-assuredness. “We all know that.”
“Right, right.”
They made their orders, and Paige leaned back in her chair, gazing around the room. Between the dim, smoky lighting and soft music playing in the background, this almost felt like a date.
It wasn’t.
But Paige wished it was.
By the time they had left the restaurant, the sun was starting to set. “Is it too late for ice cream?” Olivia asked as they walked through town. Most of the smaller businesses were starting to close, but there were still a few ice cream and gelato shops open, their soothing pink and yellow lights cutting through the growing shadows.
Paige bit her lip, resting a hand against her stomach as if trying to figure out if she had room for dessert. “I think I can manage it,” she said.
They stopped by a little ice cream stall called Sweet Scoops. Next door to it was a wooden building dubbed The Waffle Shack.
“Ice cream or waffles?” Olivia said, since both windows were open, flooding light out onto the pavement.
“I don’t know if I can manage a waffle. Just ice cream for me.”
Olivia nodded, digging out her purse, but Paige pressed a note into her hand before she could. “My treat this time,” she said, her voice soft.
Olivia blinked at her, and a slow smile spread across her lips. “Thanks.”
They stepped up to the window, where a girl was busy wiping down the surfaces, scooping sprinkles and pieces of waffle cone into a bin. She noticed them and dropped the rag, wiping her hands down her pink-striped apron. She looked a few years older than them, with candyfloss-pink hair and a soft smile and dimpled cheeks that somehow matched the pastel aura of the ice cream shop perfectly.
“Hey there,” she said, her voice bright and bubbly. “What can I get you both?”
Olivia drummed her fingers against her chin as she looked over the menu. “A strawberry and vanilla cone for me, please,” she said, casting an expectant look at Paige.
“Um, I’ll have the bubblegum,” Paige decided, and the girl booted up the ice cream machines, filling the space with a low hum.
“Feeling adventurous?” Olivia said with a wink that made Paige blush.
“Maybe a little.”
Olivia paid while Paige grabbed the cones, the ice cream already starting to drip down onto her fingers.
“Enjoy your evening,” the girl said with another candy-sweet smile, and Paige passed Olivia her strawberry-and-vanilla whippy.
“Sorry, it’s already melting,” Paige said, licking the bubblegum off her fingers with a shy smile.
They ate in silence as they walked through town, heading back towards the bus stop. “This is really good ice cream,” Olivia finally said.
Paige nodded. “Yeah. We’ll have to try the waffles next–” she said, catching herself before she finished, her heart fluttering.
Olivia looked at her. “There will be a next time, Paige, don’t worry,” she said, as if reading the doubts on her face.
Paige hid a smile, finishing off her cone and dusting the crumbs from her fingers.
They caught the bus back to the cottage, but neither of them seemed to want to end the night just yet, so they ambled down onto the sand to watch the sun as it set over the ocean.
“It’s gorgeous,” Olivia said as they walked along the beach. The tide was low but slowly coming in, and the sand felt cool and damp beneath Paige’s feet as she dangled her shoes from her fingers.
The sea was lit in shades of fiery amber as the sun reflected on the water, the waves washing meekly against the shore.
Despite its beauty, Paige could barely take her eyes off Olivia in the moment. Basked in the golden light, she looked beautiful, and Paige felt drawn to Olivia in a way she simply could not deny.
She blinked, and pulled her gaze away before she did anything she might regret. After all, it was impossible that Olivia felt the same way. They were friends, and Olivia had never expressed any interest in her that way before. Why would anything change now?
