I really am happy for them. That’s amazing.
And a reminder of how alone I am. I’m off having a fling with a major league baseball player while my closest friends are married and getting ready to have a baby.
I want that someday, too, but it feels like a dream that’s pretty damn far out of my grasp.
I take a speed shower to get the sweat and sand off of me, brush my teeth, and throw on my swimwear and a cover-up before I head to the elevator to travel the seventeen floors separating me and Archer.
And as I hit the button for twenty-six and it doesn’t light up, my fatal mistake plows into me headfirst.
I don’t have a key that will allow me to access a floor at that level.
Shit.
I didn’t leave my number, either.
I head back to my room, locate the instructions for calling a room, and dial twenty-six twenty-six.
He doesn’t pick up.
I opt not to leave a message.
The resort is huge, but we’re in the same tower. Fate was at play last night tossing us together, so I imagine it’ll be at play again since the magnetism between uswas so strong.
I head down to the pool with hope filling me that I’ll somehow magically run into him there.
CHAPTER 10: Archer Bradley
No Reason to Dwell
I squint against the bright morning light as it streams into my room. I’m groggy this morning after a little more whiskey than usual, followed by the type of night I haven’t had since…
Well, maybe ever.
Tatum and I had some marathons, sure. But this was something else entirely.
I turn over, expecting to find Millie beside me, but her side of the bed is empty.
I reach over to see if it’s still warm, and to my surprise…it’s not.
The sheets are cool. It’s like she was never here. Like I imagined the whole night in a whiskey-infused hallucination.
I swing my feet over the side of the bed as I run a hand along my jawline. I head to the bathroom, and I spot the condom wrapper in the garbage can.
Aha! I didn’t imagine it.
But why would she just…leave?
A ripple of disappointment lances through me.
I didn’t feel like anyone would be able to break through the darkness that has pulled me under for the last few months. I didn’t think there was a chance I’d feel at ease with another person again. But last night with her, it felt like maybe I could again. It felt like there was potential there.
But now she’s gone, and I’m more upset by that than I should be.
There has to be some reason. Connections like we shared don’t happen every day.
Or maybe they do, and I was with Tatum so long that I was never able to experience it.
I should let it go. I should move on. There’s no reason to dwell. We both knew it was a one-night thing. No hard feelings, right?
