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Chapter One
Victoria
“Holy shit, girl. You are not going to believe this.”
Sally holds up her phone, where she’s got the Instagram app open. It’s Ainsley’s profile, of course, and he’s posted a photo of himself at a beach resort with a woman.
A beach resort that’s definitely not on Faraday Island.
And a woman who sure the fuck isn’t me.
Guess that explains why he didn’t show up last night.
Biting my lip, I try to keep my emotions from showing.
“What a fucking dick,” she mutters to her phone screen, shaking her head and sinking deeper into the tropical print cushions on her rattan framed chair.
I snort trying to take a drink of my mojito, and kick my bare feet up onto the low, wooden table between our chairs in the shady beach bar, watching my silver painted toenails glitter in the light from the coconut lamp hanging overhead. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“What are you going to do?” Sally loves gossip, and this shit is gold.
“What can I do?” I shrug as my insides slowly turn to stone.
It wasn’t that I expected Ainsley, the rich, young trust-funder to be my forever. I just expected a little…I don’t know. Respect?
I should have known better.
No, damn it. I did know better. The guy didn’t take the time to remember anything about me. He barely remembered my name.
And not my last name.
After two months of…hanging out.
“I could never figure out why you chose that fuckboy anyway. I mean, you could seriously have any guy on this island,” Sally says, not looking up from her phone.
I would generally try to dissuade people from stereotyping someone like that, but it’s hard to argue with her right now.
Two months of practically living together, spending every night together, and the man wouldn’t even consider calling me anything other than a friend.
“I’m just not looking for a relationship right now…”
The words threaten to burn a hole through the lining of my skull as they play over and over in my head.
I will not cry.
Will. Not. Cry.
“It’s a really low blow.” Her tone is sympathetic. Probably more than I deserve.
“I knew better,” I finally manage.
“You keep saying that, but I’m not sure it’s entirely true. I mean, you two were hanging out for a while. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for you to have thought that maybe it would turn into something.” Good ol’ Sally, always on my side.
“Maybe it wouldn’t have been unreasonable for someone else, but this is me we’re talking about. This is how it always goes with guys. Either I like them and they’re unavailable, or they like me, and I’m not interested.”
“And your solution is to just keep hanging around the unavailable ones for a while hoping they become available?” She sounds less sympathetic now.
I shake my head and sigh. “I know it’s stupid. I sometimes think they just need time. Like, I’m going to prove myself worthy of girlfriend status or something.” I wave off her eye roll. “I know it’s pathetic and I’m stupid and I fell for another one. You can save me the lecture. The punishment is built in.”
