by Ellie Wade
“Thanks.” I force a smile and take my driver’s license from him.
“You’re welcome. Just thought you might need it.”
I hold it up, pressing my lips in a grin. “Yep. I definitely will.”
He wipes his palms against his jeans. “Alright, well, I should get going. I just wanted to make sure you had that.”
“Well, thanks again,” I say as he turns to leave.
He twists the doorknob, opens the door, and takes a step, then he stops with his back turned to me. I watch him, curious. He seems to be thinking with one foot out the door and the other still in.
Finally, he turns back toward me. “Do you want to go for a ride?”
I’m so happy, I could cry. I nod my head. “Yes. Let me get ready.”
His ocean-blue gaze travels down my body. “You’re perfect the way you are.”
I swallow. “Well, I need a hair tie at a minimum.”
“Okay. Grab your hair tie, and let’s go.” His lips turn into a smile, and the sheer sexiness of it threatens to end me right here. To be on the receiving end of one of Ollie’s smiles, I’d happily sink into oblivion. And that realization terrifies me but not enough to stay away.
Chapter 10
Ollie
Age Thirty-Four
I study Leo closely as he sings along with the rest of the crowd. A dozen people circle around Alma singing happy birthday. Their core group of friends, along with some others from The Lair, are in attendance for Alma’s twenty-third birthday.
Everyone, especially Alma and Leo, seem happy. His entire face smiles when he looks at her, so much love and pride in his eyes.
Yet I can’t shake this feeling in my gut that something’s off. Leo has opened up to me a few times over the past couple of months about him going through a rough time. We always talk it out. He says all the right things, indicating he’s on the right path, and we continue with life.
One day at a time. Because that’s all we can do.
More so than the few conversations that we’ve had is the fact we haven’t had more. Usually, when people go through rough patches, it lasts longer than a single conversation. It feels as if Leo is pulling away from me. When my friends are struggling, they tend to rely on me even more, not less, as in Leo’s case. Perhaps, he is doing great, and I’m being paranoid, and it wouldn’t be the first time. It’s an unfortunate side effect of my job, worry. It’s constant.
I try to start conversations, and he ends them quickly, reassuring me that he’s good. I can only go by his word. He’s the only one who truly knows what’s going on inside his head.
I have no other choice but to believe him, yet…that feeling remains.
Alma blows out the candles and turns to Leo. He presses his mouth to hers. She wraps her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss, and their friends cheer.
He’s happy.
“Let’s eat cake!” Quinn cheers.
Quinn is petite, maybe five feet two inches with a killer body, yet she can knock out desserts more than anyone else I know, and I love it. I love women who can eat.
Alma breaks the kiss, and Leo’s gaze lingers on her face before he kisses her forehead.
“What flavor of cake is it?” Quinn asks.
Amos carries over a pile of plates, forks, and a cake knife. “It’s a white cake with raspberry and custard filling,” he answers her.
Quinn’s current boyfriend whispers something into her ear, and she nods. He grabs a beer from the ice bucket and walks into the living room to where I’m assuming he’s continuing to watch the Detroit Tigers play baseball on the TV.
Amos starts cutting the cake when the lights go out. A collective gasp sounds as the room goes dark.
“We lost power?” Someone from The Lair asks the obvious.
“I’ll get the candles!” Alma feels her way out of the kitchen and returns with a basket of candles.
After the interior of the home is lit with warm light from the flickering candles, Leo scrolls through his phone.
“Apparently, the whole grid is out, so all of Ann Arbor and surrounding areas. Some computer glitch,” Leo says.
“Oh my gosh. That’s crazy. Does it say how long it’ll take to fix it?” Cat asks.
Leo shakes his head. “Doesn’t say.”
“How exciting. This will be a birthday party to remember. We could play a board game or something by candlelight?” Quinn suggests.
“Oh, that would be fun,” Alma says.
“I could start a bonfire in the firepit for those who wanted to hang outside,” Leo chimes in.
Ethan nods. “Yeah, man. I can help you.”
The rest of the evening is fun, maybe even more so because of the lack of power. There’s something about a power outage that’s nostalgic. I’m not sure why, but it makes me feel like a kid. Like we’re on this adventure living by candlelight and our imaginations. Some of the partygoers left after the lights went out. A few stayed indoors and played Scrabble, and the rest joined Ethan, Leo, and myself at the bonfire.
After a few hours around the fire, I step away from the firepit to head inside for a bottle of water. Making my way up the steps to the deck, I spot Quinn leaning against the wooden railing and looking toward the sky. Her long blond hair hangs over her shoulders. Her features are accented in the distant flickering light of the bonfire and the glow from the moon. She looks like a goddess, pure and beautiful.
“Scrabble finished?” I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Yeah, they’ve moved on to Monopoly.”
“Who won?”
“Amos, of course.” She chuckles. “Guy’s a genius.”
“Not a Monopoly fan?” I inquire. Stepping up to her side, I rest my arms beside hers on the deck railing. I drop my head back and follow her gaze toward the sky.
“No, it’s fine. I just wanted to see the stars. You can never see them in the city. There are always too many lights. My family lives up by Mt. Pleasant, out in the country where the night skies are just brilliant. Growing up, I never wanted to live in the country, and I definitely don’t miss it except for the night skies. I miss those.” She sighs contently, her stare never wavering. “My dad loves astrology. He told us all the stories of the constellations growing up. I used to find it so magical. Do you know any of them?”
“No, I can find the big dipper, though. It’s the only constellation I can recognize.” I point toward the big dipper in the dark sky above us. “And I think one of the stars in it is the North Star? But that’s my entire knowledge base right there.”
Quinn smiles and points upward. “Yeah, the top right star in the bucket portion of the big dipper actually points at Polaris, which is the North Star and the top star in the handle of the little dipper.”
“So the North Star is actually in the Little Dipper? Well, I’ve apparently been wrong my whole life.” I huff out a laugh.
“You weren’t completely wrong. You had the gist of it. Do you want to hear more?” she asks.
“Sure.”
“Well, the big dipper is actually part of a larger constellation called Ursa Major, and she’s a bear.” Quinn scoots right up next to me until the sides of our bodies connect. She take hold of my arm and points it upward. “Find the handle of the big dipper.”
“It’s right there.” I point.
“Right, so that’s actually the tail of the bear and then you follow it down.” She positions my hand so I’m pointing toward the stars as she’s explaining them. “Then there’s the body and the legs, and those three make the face of the bear. See how it’s like a triangle?”
I nod but in truth she lost me after the tail of the big dipper. I’m not sure what she’s pointing to but it looks nothing like a bear. It’s irrelevant because honestly, I just love hearing her talk.
“Several legends surround Ursa Major depending on what version you follow but the one that my dad told me was that Ursa Major was once a beautiful woman named Callisto who had an affair with the god Zeus. From that affa
ir she had a son, Arcas. Zeus’s wife, Hera, found out and was so jealous that she turned Callisto into a bear so she would no longer be beautiful. One day when Arcas was older he came upon his mother in her bear form in the woods. She was so happy to see him that she started to approach him but he was frightened so he shot an arrow at her. Zeus stopped the arrow from hitting her and felt bad for Callisto because she longed to be with her son but couldn’t. So Zeus turned Arcas into a bear as well and then he picked both bears up by their tails and tossed them into the sky where they could be together and live in peace forever in the heavens. Ursa Minor is the little bear, Callisto’s son, he’s right there and his tail is the handle of the little dipper. See?”
She moves my arm over, presumably pointing it toward the other constellation. No, I’m not sure exactly which stars I’m looking at but I agree regardless. “Yeah.”
“You don’t see, do you?”
“No.”
She throws her head back and laughs. “It’s okay. It takes a while until you can really start noticing the shapes of the constellations.” She releases a happy sigh, and lets go of my arm. “I love this though. Gosh, I should get home more often, if only to lie outside at night.”
Once again, I lean against the deck railing beside Quinn, our faces toward the sky. The world around us is dark save for the flickering light of the dwindling fire behind us. It’s peaceful. The sides of our bodies are still connected, neither of us have stepped away. It doesn’t mean anything, though. Just two friends watching the night sky.
We stare, content in our silence.
“Oh my gosh!” she grabs my arm. “Look! A shooting star. Make a wish!”
Sure enough a little ball of light is soaring across the sky. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a shooting star, if ever. Standing here with Quinn as one passes across the sky causes goose bumps to form against my skin, an awareness of something greater than this moment present.
She takes my hand in hers and squeezes it. “Make a wish, Ollie.” Her demand is urgent.
“I am,” I say through a smile.
A moment later the star has disappeared into the horizon.
“How lucky are we?” she whispers, her voice in awe. “What’d you wish for?”
“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.”
She purses her lips. “I don’t think it works like that.”
“Just in case we should keep it hush. It’s not every day that one gets a shooting star wish.”
“True. Well, I hope you made a good one.” She peers down at our hands, still connected between us, and releases her grasp.
“Don’t worry. I did.” I clear my throat. “I should get back to the guys.”
“Yeah.” She takes her bottom lip into her mouth. “Well, thanks for stargazing with me.”
“Anytime.”
I leave Quinn on the deck and head back toward the guys, completely forgetting the water, my initial reason for going toward the house in the first place.
I’m lost in thought, thinking about the past few minutes. I made a wish at that moment, one that just came to me. The star was there and the thought immediately popped in my head. It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to question it. It was just there taking up residence in my mind.
A single wish.
Her.
Chapter 11
Ollie
What was I thinking? Oh, that’s right. I wasn’t. What do I expect to come from this outing? Nothing because that’s what I can give to a relationship. Absolutely nothing. My plate is full.
I get that I shouldn’t be dating, and at the same time that’s exactly what I’m doing. I know the way in which I affect Quinn because the feeling is mutual. We can’t be friends that actively hang out because whether we admit it or not, we both want more.
There is no more.
There can’t be.
That’s why this is stupid, and I’m a complete dumbass. But…the way in which her arms wrap around my waist, clinging to me, and how her giggle can be heard over the wind whipping past us is captivating. I can’t be in her presence and not be completely drawn in, enamored.
It’s always been that way with Quinn. We’ve flirted at Alma’s gatherings for years. It was innocent because it never went further. But this…hanging out, beyond the presence of Alma and our mutual friends, just the two of us, is very different. It’s dangerous.
I drive us outside of the city of Ann Arbor and continue down the long country road passing a couple of small rural towns without a destination in mind. That’s the thing I love about being on my bike, the ride is a destination in itself. As we enter Chelsea, a quaint town, I pull over in front of the small market on Main Street.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Quinn as I step off the bike and make my way into the shop.
I grab a couple of prepared sandwiches, bottles of water, and a bag of chips. Next to the checkout counter is a display of beach towels. Pulling a towel from the wooden crate, I place it on the counter.
“Going on a picnic? It’s a lovely day for it,” the little old lady behind the counter asks as she slowly rings up my items and places them in a paper bag.
“It’s a beautiful day,” I agree.
When I’ve paid, I head back outside where Quinn remains, leaning back on the leather seat of the bike, looking like a vision in her ripped jean shorts.
She must’ve just gotten out of the shower when I arrived at her house. Her hair was wet, and she didn’t wear an ounce of makeup and she looked more beautiful than I’ve ever seen. Quinn is drop dead gorgeous, always. But today, she’s even more-so, somehow. It’s why I couldn’t leave her even though I tried.
“What’d you get?” she asks as I approach.
“Lunch,” I tell her, opening the back cargo hold and pushing the bag inside. The towel makes it a tight fit, but I’m able to close and latch it.
“Where are we going?” she smiles and I swing my leg over the seat and start the bike.
“You’ll see,” I say as she wraps her arms around me once more.
We continue out of town which takes us down the tree-lined, winding road leading to the lake. Michigan has tons of lakes, this area especially. We’re surrounded by state park land, and there has to be at least a dozen lakes in this area alone. There’s one in particular that’s smaller, and a ways out from the others. My parents took me there when I was young, and I remember thinking it was so cool because we were the only people there.
I drive slowly down the winding dirt road until the small patch of gravel, intended as a parking lot, shows through the clearing of trees. I pull my bike to a stop and kill the engine.
Giving Quinn my hand, I help her off the bike and retrieve the bag of food.
There’s a path through the trees, wide enough for two people to walk side by side.
“So mysterious,” Quinn whispers as we make our way down the trail.
“My parents brought me here once as a kid, and I remember thinking it was so cool. It’s a lake on state land but not many come here. Either they don’t know about it or prefer one of the larger lakes,” the lake comes into view. The sunshine reflects off its shiny blue surface. Behind the lake is a backdrop of nothing but trees, and along the edges, hundreds of bright green lily pads.
“Oh my, so pretty,” Quinn says in earnest.
“Right? It’s just as I remembered it.” I lay that beach towel along the grassy patch near the waters’ edge, and pull the food from the bag. “You hungry?”
Quinn looks to the sandwich in my extended hand and takes it from me. “Yes. I haven’t eaten yet today.” She sits cross-legged on the big towel.
I sit across from her. “Really? It’s like two in the afternoon.” I chuckle.
She pulls back the sandwich wrapping. “I know, but I slept in. Some friends had a party last night, and I was out quite late.”
“Ahh.” I nod in understanding before taking a bite of my sandwich.
“I don’t party all the ti
me,” she clarifies. “It had just been an awful week.”
“Dude. I’m not judging you. I’m not like that,” I say.
“Dude?” She chuckles.
I shrug. “I’m old-school, remember? That’s what we said back in my day.”
“Well, dude…do you ever wish you could go to party? Drink a lot, and resent your choices?” she asks before taking another bite of her sandwich.
“Definitely not.” I laugh. “I’m high on life, Quinn, and that’s all I need.”
“I believe that.” She nods. “You’re like the chillest person I know.”
I unscrew the cap of my water bottle, and take a swig. “I really don’t judge or care if others drink. It’s just not something I want to do. You know? And most people don’t have a history like mine either. That changes things.”
“Yeah. I guess it would,” she says before squinting. “Why are we here, Ollie?”
The carefree air around us is suctioned away. My chest tightens with her question.
“What do you mean?” I play dumb.
She shakes her head. “You know exactly what I mean. We don’t do this, you and I. It’s different, and I want to know what you’re thinking about it all.”
I tighten the cap of my water bottle, drop it to the towel and stand. I pull off my T-shirt, and unbuckle my jeans.
Quinn jumps from the towel. “What are you doing?” Her voice is shrieky, and it causes me to laugh.
“Swimming.” I kick off my boots and remove my jeans, leaving my boxer briefs on. “You should try it. It’s fun.” I wink before turning and running into the water because avoidance is my friend.
“I don’t have a suit,” she calls out.
“You’re wearing panties and a bra, yeah? Basically, the same thing.” I lie back into the water, floating on my back and staring at the clouds. The water covering my ears mutes the world around me.
I hear when she enters the water and I look up. She’s wearing white cotton panties and a simple white bra, and it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
Fuck. I’m in trouble.
