Page 36 of One Weekend in Los Angeles

Andrea came in from the kitchen. “Callie is my dog. Nice to see you again, Nina.”

Andi’s kind greeting was next-level high road. But she was the only one driving it as Nina instantly showed her annoyance by her presence. “I need to speak with Deacon alone.”

“Whatever you have to say you can say in front of Andi. Especially since you have ten minutes before we need to get back to our plans.”

She huffed before promptly bursting into tears, but I wasn’t dealing with her manipulative nonsense.

I took a seat on the sofa, with Andi beside me. Words could not describe how badly I wanted to spend time with her instead of dealing with my ex.

Nina immediately stopped the waterworks as soon as it was clear she wouldn’t get her way.

“What do you want?” I was out of patience.

She took a seat on one of the chairs. “Bryce and I fought on the honeymoon. It isn’t going to work between us.”

“Why would you come here?”

“Because I thought—I was hoping...”

I’d tried being nice. I’d tried being honest. Now it was time to be blunt. “Bryce is the best thing to ever happen to you. You should’ve seen the look on his face when you were walking down the aisle. But you didn’t see because you were too busy looking at me. He loves you.”

She dabbed at her eyes. “Did you ever love me?”

“No. And you are damn lucky to have someone love you the way Bryce does. But this—” I motioned between us. “Will never happen. Ever.”

“Are you really taking her to Australia with you?” Her gaze flicked to Andrea beside me.

I gripped Andi’s hand hoping she didn’t mind perpetuating the lie. “Yes, she’s joining me in a few weeks, and you need to go home to your husband, Nina.”

She seemed to realize this was the end of whatever fantasy she’d been perpetuating. “You won’t tell him I was here?”

“I won’t lie. If he asks, I can tell him you came here for advice. But no more bullshit. This is it.”

She nodded, real tears running down her face. “I understand.”

When I stood up to see her out, she went in for the hug. Although it went against every instinct for me to give it to her, I went along with it, hoping it would help provide whatever closure she was searching for. Once she left, I shut the door and leaned against it, relieved she was gone.

“How are you?” Andrea asked, concern etched on her beautiful face.

“Better now that she’s gone.” Gripping the back of my neck, I addressed the possible elephant in the room. “Sorry I lied about you joining me in Australia.”

Her smile was soft. “Not any different than the way I lied to Jeff about us being an item. It’s fine.”

I blew out the breath I’d been holding over her getting the wrong idea; thankful we were still on the same page about this being one weekend only.

I pulled her into my arms. “Now that we’ve completed our gauntlet of exes, and I’m about to turn off both of our phones, how would you like to spend the rest of our time together?”

She grinned. “Oh, I have some ideas.”

Chapter Twenty-One

ANDREA

The sound of Deacon’s alarm going off in the morning was akin to having cold water thrown on us.

Our one weekend together was officially over.

He kissed my forehead before heaving himself out of the bed and heading directly into the shower. Although I could’ve joined him, the state of my emotions had me staying where it was safe.