AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“All packed up?” Olivia asked as Paige finished zipping up her luggage case, casting one last glance around the room, awash in the golden light of the morning.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she said, her tone despondent.
Olivia walked over and rested her arms on either side of Paige’s waist, her grip loose and comfortable. Paige bit her lip, unable to meet Olivia’s gaze.
“Don’t look like that,” Olivia said softly. “It’s not like we won’t be coming back here again. Next summer, I promise we’ll book out the same cottage and everything.”
Next summer. Paige wasn’t used to making plans like that, so far in advance, and apprehension fluttered behind her ribs. What if things changed by then? What if Olivia decided that she didn’t want to be Paige’s girlfriend anymore and they had a horrible falling out and—
Paige blinked, realizing Olivia’s lips were on hers, completely stealing her breath away.
A few seconds later, Olivia drew back, a teasing smile on her lips at Paige’s bewildered gaze. “I can practically see all the anxiety on your face, Paige.”
Paige looked away again. “Sorry. I can’t help it.”
Olivia shook her head. “I know you can’t. But I thought the kiss might distract you.”
“Oh, it did,” Paige said, nodding vigorously. The hint of a smile teased the corner of her lips.
“Good,” Olivia said, and kissed her again, pulling Paige flush against her chest.
Paige’s heart trembled, her mind going dizzy as she drank in the taste of Olivia’s lips. She reached up and touching her fingers against Olivia’s cheek, drawing a soft breath from the other girl.
“I’m still not used to that,” she muttered when they finally pulled away, her cheeks hot.
Olivia grinned unabashedly. “Well, you’d better get used to it, because I’m not stopping anytime soon.”
Paige bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from grinning. “Alright, alright. We’d better get out of here before the housekeeper catches us,” she muttered.
They wheeled their suitcases out to the front porch and double-checked they hadn’t left anything behind before locking the door and putting the key back into the safe.
“Well, that’s that,” Olivia said. “Are you still happy to head into town?”
Paige nodded. “We have to give all that seaglass to Isla, and I know you’re desperate for more pastries from the bakery, plus I kind of want to visit Books by the Beach again,” she said, ticking off everything she wanted to do on her fingers. When she noticed Olivia watching her, a secretive smile on her lips, she frowned. “What?”
“Nothing, nothing. Just thinking how adorable you are,” Olivia said dismissively, and Paige drew in her cheeks to hide her embarrassment.
“I am not adorable,” she muttered.
“Oh, but you are.”
Once their luggage was loaded into the boot, Paige slid into the passenger seat with a sigh. “Until next time, I guess,” she said as Olivia put the Citroen into gear and pulled away from Breezehome.
Paige rolled down the window and gazed at the glistening blue ocean until it disappeared behind the headland, then turned back to face the road, her thoughts drifting on the salt breeze. Part of her still couldn’t believe that, all this time, she had been in love with her best friend. Or that Olivia had reciprocated her feelings. And now they were girlfriends.
It almost felt like a dream.
Olivia drove into town and parked in the same off-peak carpark as before.
“I thought you weren’t happy about the three-pound-an-hour parking charge,” Paige said, arching her brows as Olivia cut the engine.
Olivia shrugged. “I’m not, but I’m too lazy to find somewhere else to park.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “Honestly,” she muttered. “I’d offer you some change, but I spent it all in the amusements.”
“That’s okay. I’ve got it.”
Olivia went to pay the extortionate prices for the parking ticket, then they both headed into town, which had almost become familiar to them in the last four days they’d spent here.
