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Isla gazed at him for a moment then turned to Nina. “No offence, but his offer is better.”

Nina raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure?” She assessed Isla’s demeanour and, although clearly tipsy, she didn’t appear overtly intoxicated, so any decisions she made must be of sound mind.

“Yep,” said Isla, nodding toward the other side of the area. “You can hang out with your new best friend.”

Nina glanced over at where Ash was chattering away to a group of people. A heavy feeling grew in her stomach and it wasn’t due to the alcohol. She turned back to Isla. “Don’t be like that.”

Isla shrugged. “I’m not being like anything.” She pulled Zac along as she turned to go. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Zac shot her a smug grin over his shoulder. Arsehole. Nina took a deep breath in an attempt to stem the heavy sadness in her chest. She and Isla hadn’t argued in years, especially over something so childish. They were well past jealousy regarding other friendships. In any case, Ash was hardly her friend. She’d only just met her and they didn’t have much in common anyway. There must be something more to it. She hadn’t seen Isla in ages prior to the trip, and they hadn’t gotten chance to have a meaningful conversation since her arrival. Nina sighed. She’d speak to Isla tomorrow and clear the air.

Nina decided to walk back to the hotel. It was only a mile away and she could do with the time to herself.

She was making for the exit when Ash appeared out of a group of people and grabbed her arm. “Are you coming to the club?”

“No thanks. I’m going to leave you to it.”

“Aw, come on.”

“No, really. I’m done in.”

The group Ash was with started to move away. “Okay, I’ll see you later,” she called as she hurried off after them.

Nina went into the foyer. The crowd had really thinned now that most people had emptied to head onto the clubs. She made for the door, but someone tapped her shoulder. She turned and a guy wearing a baseball cap with his hood over it was standing there. It took her a second to realise it was Cameron. He studied her. “All right?”

“Yeah,” she said, taken aback. For a moment she struggled with what else to say. “You?”

“Fine,” he said.

Nina let out a breath. The guy was hard work. And it didn’t help that he had a habit of making her pulse race for some reason. It must be because he irked her. Yes, that’s definitely why.

He adjusted his cap slightly as people walked past. “You seen Ash?”

She nodded. “She left with some others. They were going on to a club.”

He raised his eyebrow and Nina hoped she hadn’t gotten Ash into trouble by saying she’d left without him. She cleared her throat. “I mean, she’s literally only just left. She’s probably waiting for you outside.”

He smiled. “I doubt it. Her style is to act first, think later.” He glanced behind her. “Are you moving on as well?”

“No, I’m calling it a night.”

“Me too.”

“Really? I thought you’d be partying all night every night.”

“Not anymore. I’m a bit past all that now. I leave it up to Ash.”

Nina nodded, feeling awkward again, especially when she found it hard to keep her gaze off his hazel eyes. “Okay, well. I’d better head out.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Still recovering from last night?”

For goodness’ sake. He won’t let it lie. She sighed. “Yeah, something like that. I’ll see you later.”

“Hold on. I’ll get you into a taxi.”

“That’s okay. I’m going to walk.”

He frowned. “On your own?”