“Dammit!” I slam my hand against the desk, then catch myself. “I’m sorry, but I really need to find her.”
“Austin?”
I turn. It’s the friendly receptionist, Patrice. “Thank God.” I go to her, desperate. “The woman I was with, Sophie, do you know her room number?”
“I…yes…” Patrice gives the clerk on duty a quick look, then turns us away from him. “But you’re too late, she just checked out.”
My heart falls. “That’s impossible!”
“I’m sorry.” Patrice looks anxious. “But she was just here. She came tearing through, she seemed upset. She went out front to catch a cab.”
I look to the exit. “How long ago?” I demand.
“A couple minutes, maybe? But—”
Patrice’s answer is lost as I sprint for the front doors. I burst outside, looking wildly around. The sidewalk is busier now, cabs and traffic clogging the street.
“Sophie!” I yell, scanning the crowd. “Sophie, wait!”
But there’s no sign of her. I search in vain, but it’s too late. I’m too late.
She’s gone.
New Year’s Eve
13.
Sophie
“You’re no longer necessary…”
The words echo in my mind, as fresh and painful as if they were yesterday even though it’s been almost a week since I fled New York City in tears for the comfort and safety of Beachwood Bay.
What were you expecting? A voice taunts me. You knew what he was doing when you met him. Did you really think you were different from all those other girls he tried to call?
I gaze out at the ocean, feeling the tight burn of rejection slice in my chest as I remember walking in on Austin’s perfect girlfriend.
She was lounging in a silk robe and lingerie like she owned the place when I let myself into the suite. I stopped dead, wondering if I’d let myself into the wrong room by accident, but she didn’t even seem surprised to see me, she just quirked one eyebrow at me and gave a little sigh.
“Oh, of course,” she said. “Boys will be boys. I can’t leave that man alone for a second without him finding some distraction.”
Her green eyes drifted over me, and I became painfully aware of my red nose and bulky winter coat. She was gorgeous: the kind of face you only see in glossy magazines, dewy skin and honey-colored limbs stretching down from the scraps of silk that barely covered anything. She didn’t seem self-conscious, she didn’t even close her robe as she got to her feet and slowly sashayed across the room to greet me. “I’m Anika,” she said, extending one perfectly-manicured hand. “Austin’s girlfriend.”
My heart froze.
“I…” I stuttered, feeling humiliation burn hot in my cheeks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know… He didn’t say anything—”
“They never do, darling.” She smiled, and I realized to my horror that it was sympathy in her expression. “C’est la vie. I was out of town for a few days, but I see he’s been keeping busy.”
Humiliation crashed through me. I couldn’t believe I didn’t see this coming. I wanted so badly to believe that what we shared was real, that I was special somehow…
But it turns out, I was dumber than the rest. I fell for his charm and gorgeous face, and forgot everything my instincts told me the night we first met.
“It’s alright, darling,” Anika added, patting my shoulder. “It happens all the time.”
That was even worse. I felt tears stinging my in my eyes, so I quickly turned away. “I’m sorry,” I said again, and then fled the room before I could make even more of a fool out of myself.
It didn’t take me long to grab my bags from my room and check out, but as I sat in the backseat of a cab on my way to the airport, I realized I didn’t have anywhere to go. My room back in LA was sublet through the holidays. I’d been planning to go with Matt to his parent’s place through New Years.
Dumped by two men in two days, that had to be a record.
But then I remembered my friend Tegan, who volunteered with me at the crisis helpline. She invited me and Matt to her family’s big New Year’s party, said a whole bunch of people would be staying with them through the holidays. The more, the merrier.
So here I am in the small beach town: sleeping in one of the guest rooms of her brother’s gorgeous beach-front mansion, surrounded by amazing, interesting people all preparing for an incredible party tonight.
And I feel like my heart is breaking in two.
“There you are!” Tegan’s voice makes me turn. She steps out onto the back deck carrying two cups of coffee. She’s bundled in a sweater, with her dark hair pulled back in a braid. “How are you doing this morning?”
Ouch. “Do I really look that bad?” I reply, taking a mug from her. She gives me a sympathetic smile.
“It’s only because I know you,” she says, moving to stand beside me. “Believe me, I’ve done my share of wistful gazing out at this view.”
“About Ryland?” I pause. “I thought things were great with you guys.”
“They are,” Tegan beams. Even the mention of her boyfriend makes her whole face glow with happiness. “But we had plenty of bumps in the road. So, I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Matt. I know how much you cared about him.”
I take a sip of coffee, feeling guilty. I told Tegan how things had ended with Matt, but I didn’t say anything about what happened with Austin. It seems wrong, somehow, that I’m more devastated over a guy I barely knew twenty-four hours than the man I was with for months.