“Hey.” She crossed her arms, standing straighter even though Olivia still towered several inches over her. “If you need a place to stay, you can crash at mine. If you want.”
Olivia’s lips parted, hazel eyes rounding. “That’s kind of you to offer, but I wouldn’t want to impose.”
Annie tugged on Brendon’s arm, leading him across the room. Elle and Darcy followed, giving Margot and Olivia some semblance of privacy. Except for the part where they were conspicuously quiet, eyes averted but clearly listening in.
Margot focused on Olivia and tried to tune out her well-meaning-but-nosy-as-fuck friends. “You wouldn’t be. Imposing, I mean. I’ve got two bedrooms and no roommates, which I’ve been meaning to do something about.”
Margot hadn’t anticipated the universe giving her a big ole kick in the pants, but hey. Unexpected.
Olivia stared at Margot with big, unblinking eyes.
“Roommate?” she asked, sounding unsure.
“I’m not suggesting it has to be permanent. Not that I’m not suggesting . . .” Damn it. Why was this so difficult? With anyone else, Margot had no problem saying exactly what she meant. “It could be on a trial basis. Or if you just need a place to crash for however long it takes you to find somewhere else, that’s chill, too.” Margot’s throat narrowed, more words creeping up without her consent. “It’s not like you’re a stranger. We—we know each other. I mean, I think my parents honestly tried to claim you as a dependent on their taxes one year.”
A smile played at the edges of Olivia’s mouth, and Margot . . . was staring at Olivia’s lips. Margot didn’t know where to look. She crossed her arms, but that felt defensive, so she dropped them to her sides, where they hung, aimless. Margot had no idea what she was doing.
Olivia’s eyes darted to where Margot’s friends stood, and Margot followed her gaze. Brendon whipped around and stared up at the ceiling, honest to God starting to whistle. Olivia huffed out a quiet laugh and dropped her voice, whispering, “Are they always like that? Your friends?”
Margot arched a brow. “Are they always . . . what? Nosy?”
“No.” Olivia’s lips quirked. “Well, yeah. That, too. Are they always so bad at hiding it?”
She smiled fondly. “The trick is to let them think they’re stealthy. That way they never try to improve.”
“Clever,” Olivia praised. Her throat jerked, and her smile waned. “Look, I didn’t mean to imply that I didn’t want to—to take you up on your offer.” A faint blush rose in Olivia’s cheeks. “I’m surprised you’re offering. That’s all.”
Margot frowned. She had zero desire to rehash their past, not ever, but certainly not here, where her friends were listening.
“It’s ancient history, Liv,” she murmured, scratching her nose so Brendon—snoop that he was—wouldn’t try to read her lips. “How about we leave the past in the past?”
So what if they’d had a week-long fling while Olivia and Brad were broken up over spring break senior year? Brad had returned from Mexico, skin tanned and hair bleached from the sun, and when he’d begged Olivia to take him back, she’d said yes.
Sure, Margot had thought their week together had meant something, but clearly it hadn’t, and now it was nothing but a chapter in Margot’s past. No, a footnote. Time healed all wounds, yada yada whatever. Margot wasn’t carrying a grudge, she wasn’t carrying a torch, and she didn’t need to talk about it.
Olivia tugged her beanie down over the tops of her ears and gave a short, sharp nod. “Right. I can do that.”
Of course she could. She wasn’t the one who’d had feelings.
“Cool.” Margot cleared her throat. “So?”
“Are—are you sure about this?”
No, not one bit. But she wasn’t about to back out. Not after offering, not with her friends standing by. Not when Olivia wasn’t just someone Margot used to know, but Brendon and Annie’s wedding planner.
She’d show Brendon sunshine and rainbows.
“I wouldn’t have offered if I weren’t.”
Olivia’s lips curved upward in a tentative smile. “Thanks.”
Margot shoved her hands inside her pockets and jerked her chin at the door. “We should probably head out and grab your stuff before it gets too late.”
“Packing. Joy.” Olivia heaved a sigh. “I swear I feel like I only just got settled.”