LAURAIt had been exactly a week since Balery got married. Exactly a week into their honeymoon. A week since I had sex with Alex. That last bit wasn’t important. I don’t know why I added it. I mean, it sort of was because it was the best sex I’d ever had in my entire life. Plus, it was the truth—it had been exactly a week and even though it killed me to admit it, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since.Sometimes, I still thought about the things he did to my body and got wet. It didn’t matter if I was in public or alone on my bed. The reaction was always the same.It was insane. Like now, I was at work, sitting in my office chair, holding a pen and staring blankly at the sketchbook in front of me. Thirty minutes ago, a really great idea for a two piece had popped into my head and in a hurry to put it down, I dove for my sketchbook. I’d sketched it halfway but now, I couldn’t focus well enough to complete the drawing. And it was all because of him. My phone rang, lou
LAURA I dragged my bag behind me as I walked towards the jet waiting on the terrace. Could it even be called a bag? With how huge and heavy it was, one would think I had stuffed a dead body in there. When Balery told me that the vacation was going to last a month, I’d been left with no choice but to roll out my biggest box and shove in as much clothes as I could. Suffice to say, I was regretting that decision now that my hand was starting to feel like it was two seconds away from pulling out of my body. As I drew closer to the jet, two men dressed in uniform spotted me and hastily dove for the two bags I carried. One of them carried the heavy bag—even though he tried to hide it well, I could see that he was definitely surprised by the weight—and the other reached for the bag containing my cosmetics that was slung over my shoulder but I stepped back before he could swipe it. “I’m good with this one. Thanks.” I beamed at them. I wasn’t going to allow the extra time I had spent arra
LAURA“Sit.” He said when I just continued to stand there. “Don’t tell me what to do.” I snapped. I was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that this man—Alex—was Jack’s close friend which didn’t bode well for me at all. For one, I was Balery’s best friend. We were bound to have dinners or hang-outs where mutual friends would be invited and it was a given that Alex would be invited along too. I would have to be seeing him from time to time and would have to endure the heat from the memories that would bombard me every damn time he opened that sinful mouth. Then there was the vacation. I had planned on having the best time of my life on this trip. There was no way I could do that with him here now. Or was there? We would have to see each other everyday, but I could pretend that I didn’t think about what happened between us anymore. I could pretend that I wasn’t attracted to him. In fact, I would make it hard for me. Suddenly, I was glad for the way that I had packed
LAURABalery’s eyes were wide as saucers by the time I was done. “Oh my God.”“Yeah,” I sighed, leaning back on the sink.“I’m so sorry.” She whispered, her eyes sad and filled with remorse. I frowned, confused. “Why would you be?”—because seriously, why would she be?—“It’s not like I told you. You had absolutely no way of knowing what happened and even if you did, stopping Jack’s friend from coming just because of me wouldn’t be fair.”Her shoulders dropped and she puffed out a breath, causing a tendril of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail to float around. “So what are you going to do now?”“I don’t even know.”Honestly, the situation was kind of funny. How could I not have guessed that he’d attended the party? I mean, there had been so many clues. For one, he’d been dressed in a tux, which hinted that he’d just attended a formal event. Then, he’d gotten a room at the exact same hotel. Really, how could I not have known? Maybe because all I’d been thinking about at the time
LAURA My eyes bounced between his face and his hand on mine. Honestly, I wasn’t even mad that he was putting his hands on me. I was just surprised that he’d taken such a bold move especially considering the fact that we didn’t know each other. Well, we did know each other—just not in the ways that mattered. And maybe I was a little bit alarmed that he was holding my arm right there in the hallway where everyone could see and speculate about all the ways we knew each other. I mean, I didn’t particularly give a fuck if they found out that I’d slept with him—even though it still didn’t mean that I was going to put it out there—I just didn’t want them to think we were something more. And with the way he sat beside me on the jet, stared at me and was now holding my hand, anyone that came up here was going to start thinking that we did know each other far more than on that level. Which wasn’t true. And I didn’t want them getting the wrong idea. He must have seen the alarmed expressio
LAURA If there were two things that could make me wake up early, it was work and food. I was on vacation, so it defiantly wasn’t work, which left us with only one option—food. And that was exactly why I found myself in the kitchen at 6am. The kitchen was stocked full and it was quite easy to find my way around it. I fixed myself a cup of coffee and some toast, before parking my ass on one of the stools by the island. Placing my breakfast in front of me, I dove into it. I was so caught up in eating that I didn’t notice when another person walked into the kitchen. It wasn’t until they were pulling a chair out on the other side of the island that I took note of the presence. My head flew up, the piece of toast pausing mid-way to my mouth. When my eyes locked on striking blue ones, I blinked. “Hello.”“Hello,” he parroted, his eyes lighting up even more than they already were—if that was even possible. His blue eyes were so humour filled, one would think I was putting on a show. A c
LAURAI was hanging a gown in the closet when my phone rang from the bed. My mom’s name flashed across the screen when I picked it up and that was when I remembered that I was actually supposed to call her yesterday to let her know that I’d arrived safely. Answering the call, I placed the phone against my ear. “Hey, Mom.”“Hey, munchkin,” Her raspy voice drifted across the speakers, “How are you, love?”I sighed as I dropped down on the foot of my bed, the sound of her voice causing a sense of calm to wash over me. “I’m good. I was so tired yesterday, I forgot to call you like I said I would.” I told her, “I was just unpacking when you called.”She hummed and I heard a steady tap on a table top. I immediately knew that she was drumming with her fingers on the table. Mom had a lot of… habits.“I’m glad to hear that you arrived safe.” She coughed. “How’s Balery?”Pretending that I hadn’t heard her cough, I said, “She’s doing really good. I swear, she and Jack look ten times better th
LAURA“Why wasn’t I invited to this party?”I turned my head and found Jack strolling towards us, a bright smile on his face. He was wearing khaki shorts and a button down shirt, the whole beach look. Balery quickly created space for him and he dropped down on the bench next to her leg. “It’s a girls only party,” I told him. “You’re only getting away with it because you’re the best friend’s husband.”“That, I am.” He grinned, then leaned down and kissed his wife. Letting out a sigh of content, I closed my eyes and laid my head back on the bed. Those two were going to be kissing for a long time. Might as well give them sone privacy by showing them that I wasn’t watching. Balery wasn’t a big fan of PDA, but Jack was. He could barely keep his hands off of her and she, in turn, loved every bit of his affection. She’d probably decided to suck it up when she finally realised that she couldn’t eat her cake and have it. “You lovebirds are going to make us singles start feeling like shit.”