Page 59 of Enchanted

Chapter 16

Ethan

Isat in the cosy waiting area room of the lodge and wondered how on earth I’d ended up here.

Most of all, I was wondering why I wasn’t more devastated. Dave and I had been together almost the entirety of my adult life so far. Now, I was alone.

A deep laugh from the counter had me smiling softly. Well, not completely alone, I supposed.

Rami thanked the receptionist then hustled to where I was sitting.

“Here,” Rami said, brimming with excitement as he handed me a brochure. “They have all these fun activities we can book. Take a look.”

I skimmed through it. Axe throwing. Spoon carving. Nature hikes. Paddleboarding. A fire feast. “Rami, we can’t do any of these.”

His grin shifted into a pout. “Why not?”

How did I explain that while he might be loaded, I wasn’t? The shoots this week were the first time I’d worked in months. I had some savings, but they’d been whittled away during my time on chemo. The little I had left needed to be put towards a new place to live.

Oh fuck.

I have to find a new place to live.

Nope, not thinking about that now. I’d blocked Dave in the car. Maybe one day I’d want closure, but I didn’t think that would happen for a while.

One step at a time. Reality would still be there in a few days.

Days that I was going to be spending alone with Rami, a model who flirted as easily as he breathed. Who I’d been denying my attraction to and insisting on being friends with.

Because of Dave.

Not really a problem now, is it…?

No, but there were other problems. For a start, I’d been single less than four hours. Hardly the time to be wondering what the sleeping situation in the cottage would be like.

Which brought me around to my most pressing concern. “I can’t afford it, Rami.”

He stared at me. “Is that the only reason you don’t want to?”

I huffed. “It’s a pretty good reason.”

“Yes, but if you could afford to do a couple of activities, which would you choose?”

“Why?”

He smirked. “Humour me.”

Sighing, I looked again at the brochure. “The axe throwing sounds fun, I guess.”

“I agree,” Rami said. “What else?”

“The nature hike. There’d be some great photo opportunities.” Not that I had my camera with me, but still.

Rami hummed in agreement. “I like the look of the Fire Feast too.”

My lips twitched. “There’s no description. It literally just says ‘Fire Feast.’”

“Fire and feasting are two of my favourite activities.”