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“But of course we’ll try,” I blurt, distracted now by the slow, seductive caress Charlie is still tracing. Heat blooms through my body, and I can’t help swaying closer to him.
“So, are you still with the Bassingers?” Nadia asks suddenly, narrowing her eyes. Clearly, she’s annoyed her impending nuptials aren’t the most important thing on my calendar. “That dog you were taking care of is so cute.”
I blink, my pulse rising through my body at Charlie’s touch. “I’m not. Actually… I’m launching my own business.”
The words are out before I can stop them. I wait for the skeptical looks, but Charlie gets in first.
“She’ll be so great, don’t you think? So smart and capable. Anyway, it was nice to meet you,” Charlie says, dismissive. “But I need to get this one alone, I promised her a romantic evening, and I always deliver. Don’t I babe?”
“Always,” I murmur, trying not to pant as Charlie pulls me away.
He leads me back outside. Out here, the breeze feels heavenly—or maybe it’s just that I can breathe more easily now that Charlie isn’t driving me wild. I catch my breath, trying to calm down and focus on the social awkwardness we just averted—and not how turned on I am right now.
It wasn’t so bad. I smiled, I survived—and they couldn’t even throw me a pity party.
Thanks to Charlie.
“Want to tell me what that was about?” Charlie asks. It takes me a moment to realize he’s talking about Nadia and Miles, and not, you know, the fact I melted to the deck just from him touching me.
“My ex,” I say. “And my ex-best friend he dumped me to marry.”
Charlie blows out a long breath. “Damn.”
“Yep.” I take another breath of cool night air. “The thing is, looking back, I don’t think I was even all that happy with him. I was just convinced that Iwouldbe once Miles got away from the stress of law school. Once he had a salary, once I moved on from PA life… I was waiting for things to get better and then when he dumped me… It was like I’d wasted all that time.”
“I get it,” Charlie nods. “And by that point, you’ve invested so much.”
“Bingo.” I sigh, taking a sip of my drink. “It’s hard to see them still, but mostly because they’ve always acted like it wasn’t a big deal. Like casually ruining my life didn’t make them lose a single night’s sleep.”
“Clearly,” Charlie says, with a disgusted look. “You don’t really want to go to their wedding, do you?”
“No,” I say, though that’s an understatement. “But it’s a Catch-22, isn’t it? If I don’t go, I look like I’m not over it. If I do go, I affirm their little delusion about how I never minded.”
He grumbles a little, low in his throat. “Tricky, aren’t they?”
“Yep.” I agree. “And I didn’t mean to rope you into going, by the way. I’ll get out of it.”
“If you’re going, I’m going,” Charlie says, firmly. “That’s the deal when it comes to weddings, right?”
I smile, relieved at the thought of having him by my side.
And also maybe just a little turned on by his show of loyalty. “Great. And I can pay you—”
“—Grace.” He tries to interrupt.
“—In an extra slice of cake.” I finish. “You can have mine. And youknowhow much that means to me.”
He laughs, and dammit, there’s just something about getting Charlie Fox to laugh that makes me glow inside.
Glow… Melt… Slowly combust over the sheer force of his casual hotness…
One of the above, anyway.
Thankfully, the yacht is slowly moving back towards the dock, signaling the end of the party—and my ability to get the hell out of here. I take another deep breath and pray we can avoid the Toxic Twosome before we’re back on solid land.
Talk about an unfortunate blast from the past.
I don’t want my life from a year ago back. But I miss the people I thought they were. When you get dumped for your best friend, there are two playlists of songs to avoid. That Carly Rae Jepsen song that was everywhere two summers ago? I think of Miles in the car we rented to drive to IKEA.Wannabecomes on a bodega radio station? I see Nadia tipsy at karaoke, singing Spice Girls to cheer me up about the latest job application disappointment. The shitty reality of what they did turns every song—every memory—to static.
