I tilted my head. “That wasn’t a no.”
She peeked at me, cheeks warm, eyes dancing. “Do I need to give you a title to stop you from spiraling?”
“I mean, it would speed up the process.” I shrugged like my heartbeat wasn’t lodged in my throat. “So? Are we dating now or am I just the girl you occasionally let kiss you when the moonlight hits just right?”
That did it. She cracked, a soft, helpless giggle escaping before she could stop it.
“We’re dating,” she whispered, looking at me like she was giving me a secret. “If… if that’s what you want.”
The words knocked the air out of me more than any wave could. My grin was instant, unstoppable. “That’s definitely what I want.”
Her expression softened, it became open, unguarded in a way she’d never shown anyone on court. But then she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly thoughtful.
“There’s one thing.” She pulled her knees up again, wrapping her arms around them, her shoulder brushing mine.
“I think… we should keep this private. At least for a bit.”
I frowned, but not in protest, just trying to read her. “Private as in…?”
“Not hiding,” she clarified quickly, eyes flicking to mine. “Just… protecting it. I want it to breathe before we let everyone else get their hands on it.” Her voice dipped, quiet, honest. “I want to figureyouout first. Just you. Just us.”
Something in my chest eased at the way she said it, like she wasn’t hiding me, but protectingus.
“Okay,” I said softly. Then, with a crooked grin: “Just us.”
She smirked, nudging me with her shoulder. “Good. Because I don’t think I could handle your terrible flirting in front of an audience.”
I gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to my chest. “Excuse me, my flirting is top tier.”
“Top tier cringe, maybe.” She giggled, covering her mouth, and the sound was so stupidly perfect I couldn’t stop myself from laughing too.
Leaning closer, I dropped my voice. “Still worked on you, didn’t it?”
Her giggles softened into a smile that made my whole body feel like sunlight. She leaned against me, her head brushing my shoulder. “God help me, it did.”
I smirked. “You know I’m terrible at pretending I’m not wildly in love with you, right?”
She pressed her forehead to my shoulder, laughing under her breath.
“You’ll manage,” she murmured. “You always do.”
We sat there for a while, laughing too loudly at nothing, our hands finding each other in the space between us.
CHAPTER 26
OLIVIA
The time slipped by quickly after Bianca’s engagement party. Four days, and suddenly I was back in Berkshire.
Bianca goes back to Beijing, wrapping up her internship. She sent me little photo updates, her desk piled with papers, the noodle shop she’d discovered around the corner, even a blurry selfie on the subway where she looked tired but so proud of herself.
I was on my phone, on a call with Maddie who was fully exasperated that she hadn’t been around to witness everything firsthand.
“Alright, spill,” she said, her voice sharp but playful. “You’ve been dodging me for days, Liv. What happened?”
I felt my cheeks warm even though she couldn’t see me. “Well… Alex and I—” I hesitated, then just said it. “We’re officially dating.”
The silence lasted all of two seconds before Maddie let out a squeal so loud I had to hold the phone away. “Finally! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this update? Oh my God. Are you two making it public?”
