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A hint of uncertainty paints the brunette’s eyes. “It’s a good thing I love him.”
“And you’ve got until October to change your mind.” I think Aaron meant it as a joke, but the realness of his statement weighs on Diana’s shoulders as she forces a smile.
Despite the moments of tension between our dinner-mates, the cruise through the Dells is a good time. From the pre-dinner mock-tails and live water-themed music to the torchlit walk through the Witches Gulch and scenery created by glacier flood waters twenty thousand years ago, Nova and I perform our roles as high school sweethearts on their last hurrah with gusto. On the hour-long return trip down the river, we eat steak and shrimp while the sun sets over the water in a hazy orange glow.
Nova slips behind the wheel to drive us to our hotel and cranks the ignition. “Do you think we just broke that couple up?”
“Nah. If one night with us was enough to split them apart, they were already rocky.”
“I hope you’re right.” She nods. “I wasn’t trying to be cynical. The words just kept coming. Love is such a joke.”
“That’s something you won’t have to argue with me.”
“What’s made you so jaded by love?”
I shrug and pull out my phone to check my texts and post a few shots of the gulch for Mom and Will as promised. “Life.”
Nova doesn’t push, and I don’t offer further explanation. We’re not going to hold hands and cry about our baggage. This is just a chill road trip. Once we get to California, it’s not like we will see each other again.
The reality of our non-relationship is why the comment I make on her post of us standing on the wooden boardwalk in the gulch with a tiki torch beside us and towering sandstone rocks rising in the background is all the more inappropriate.
It’s not what I say that’s wrong, it’s that I type the words at all, but how can I not when I seehiscomment.
Logan.23I miss you, call me.
Hawt.Dev @Logan.23Sorry, she’s busy, brah.
I don’t know what went down between Nova and her ex, but I saw enough comments from her classmates on her multiple social media accounts—both supportive and petty—to deduce their split was a big deal in her social circle. I haven’t noticed a post from him on her account until now. Until she posts pictures two days in a row, looking gorgeous and happy with another guy. Dickwad.
Granted, if Nova were my ex and I saw the picture Diana took of us on social media, I’d be jealous too. Nova’s beautiful with the river breeze kicking up her blond locks around her face and her wide, dimple-baring smile. Her skin reflects the flame of the torches as she turns into my chest and sort of peeks at the camera like she has a secret to tell. Those eyes cut me deep. I don’t even know why. There’s something in them every time we share a glance that stirs my senses.When in the hell did I grow so soft?
Judging by her caption,“Perfect night with the perfect guy,”I wonder if she wasn’t conjuring up the idea of making this little revenge post when Diana offered to take our picture.
I could be upset she’s using me to get back at him, but I like it. I’ll be her dirty little pretend rebound if she wants one. The keyword ispretend.
six | nova
“A fort?Please tell me you didn’t really make this list, Nova.” Devin calls from the bedroom while I finish securing my hair in the bathroom mirror the following morning.
Not every place was my idea, but I didn’t object. Originally Julia and I had a crazy plan to find the highest Yelp-rated restaurants in each state and eat our way across America. When things blew up with her, Mom took the time to research suggested routes and found historical places she thought I’d like. She gave me a choice to change the stops, but I was tired, thanks to the drama with Julia and Logan, and went with it. I spent most of this summer in a funk, barely thinking about this trip. Until Devin and I had our video chat two weeks ago.
Seeing his face and voice, the attraction was immediate and my excitement was reignited by the end of our call. There’s no silly notion floating in my mind that we’ll become a thing, but it was fun to pretend last night. And it’s fun to flirt and remember what’s out there on the other side of heartbreak from a guy who didn’t deserve me.
“Your lack of an answer makes me worry you are the one who planned it. Are you secretly a history buff?”
I pull the last bobby pin between my lips and peek into the room, finding him ready to go. “First, straight A student, remember? So you might say I’m at least a partial history buff.” I slip the pin in my updo and lean my hip against the doorframe. “Second, I did not pick our next stop or the one after that. My mom took over the planning, and I didn’t put up a fight.”
Studying him, my eyes narrow to suspicious slits. “Judging by the look on your face, you have an idea brewing in that head of yours.”
Devin slips off the chair and walks to the doorway, standing close. “Well, since we didn’t have time to play in the pool yesterday, how about we play today?”
Man, the way he saysplay. The same tension that sprouted between us last night thrives in our closeness.
“The Mall of America is three and a half hours away. That’s an extra twenty minutes and a hell of a lot more fun than an old military fort.”
That is the cheesiest place he could think of to go, and totally a place Dad would visit. “Let’s do it.”
Devin’s lips loosen on the drive as he opens up about his friends and life in Michigan. A jock, a player, a guy with a large social circle. And a guy who, in addition to Big Red gum, loves pizza-flavored pretzel Combos and M&Ms, as I discovered on our pit stop for gas. None of this surprises me. I can visualize where he would’ve fit in at my high school. We probably would have been friends, though his high school years seem wilder than mine. I spent the majority of my free time at the dance academy. When I did go out and let off steam, I was the girl who kept everyone in line. The designated driver, the big sister, the girl Mom and Dad could be proud of. Not a saint, but far from a sinner.
