Ryan doesn’t put up a fight, but he exchanges a look with Oliver as we head our separate ways.
“Do you even know where the fireworks are?” I ask Oliver as we make our way through the rows of vendors.
“I imagine it would be hard to miss,” he says. We reach the end of the street, which also seems to be where the market ends. “But this market is like a maze. We might have to double back.”
I turn around, scanning the street for any sign of fireworks. Oliver takes my hand. I look down at his hand, and then I look up and around, searching the crowd for Tina and Ryan, because that would be the only reasonable explanation for him holding my hand right now.
When I don’t see them, I turn to look at him. “Why are you holding my hand?”
He looks down at our joined hands, then at me. “Just in case,” he says.
I frown. “In case of what?”
“In case our friends come around the corner and see us not acting like a couple,” he says. “If we’re going to be believable, then we need to do things like this even when they’re not watching.”
“I guess you have a point.” I watch him as we head back through the maze of vendors. “You’re putting a lot more thought into this fake relationship than I thought you would.”
“You know, Tina could be right behind you in a crowd like this and you wouldn’t even know it,” he says. “You should probably stop calling it a fake relationship.”
“Fine,” I tell him. “I’ll act like the realest girlfriend you’ve ever had from now on.”
He smirks. “I’m not sure what that means, but okay.”
I tug on his hand, stopping him. He turns to face me. I step closer to him and, letting go of his hand, I bring my hands to his waist. His Adam’s apple bobs up and down as I rise up onto my toes. I don’t know why I’m doing this or what my plan is. A second ago, this seemed like a good idea, but now, as I crane my neck to reach him, I start to have second thoughts. Oliver bends his head down just a little to meet me halfway. Even though we’ve kissed before, it’s different now. This wouldn’t just be a practice kiss, or a kiss for the sake of putting on a show for our friends. Just as our lips begin to come together, my eyes wander behind him and I spot a big red sign on one of the tents with a huge display of fireworks on top.
“There!” I say, pulling back. My heart is racing, but it’s not because of the fireworks. I’ve never been so bold before.
Oliver frowns. “Huh?” He turns to look at where I’m pointing.
“The fireworks,” I remind him. “Found them.”
He reaches his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. I start toward the fireworks stand, but then I stop and grab his other hand, dragging him with me.
“What was that back there?” he asks after a moment.
“What was what?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” he says. “Back there. You were going to kiss me.”
My face flushes. “No, I wasn’t.”
“You raised up on your toes,” he reminds me.
“I was looking for fireworks.”
“In my mouth?” he asks.
“Yeah. I didn’t find any.”
We reach the fireworks tent. “That’s not a very nice thing for a girlfriend to say to a boyfriend.”
I shrug. “Maybe my boyfriend should learn to kiss better.”
“You didn’t give me a chance,” he says.
“We’ve kissed twice now,” I remind him. “I think I know all that I need to know.”
His eyes narrow. “You seemed like you were enjoying yourself last night.”
