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When she hangs up and returns to me, I’ve already got Regan and her bucket and shovel in my arms.

“Who was that?” I ask gruffly.

“Oh, just someone.”

“The boyfriend?” I growl.

“No, I… well…” She seems to struggle with what to say, then a flicker of courage passes through her eyes. She straightens her shoulders and gives me a defiant look. “I’ve been on a dating app for a while now.”

That first bullet hits my chest. Right in the left pec.

Boom.

“A dating app?” I wheeze.

“It was nothing but inappropriate pictures and non-serious people at first, but I finally connected with a guy and we’ve been talking.”

A guy? Talking.

The second bullet hits my right knee cap.

I feel the world tilting.

“And,” Island releases a dreamy, excited smile, “we’ve decided to meet in person. He’s taking me out on a date.”

The last bullet hits me clear between the chest.

Boom.

My mind shatters with a devastating clarity.

If I keep going like this, I’m going to lose her.

CHAPTER13

THE SHEER SURPRISE

ISLAND

I puckermy lips and apply the lipstick, listening to crooning jazz to get myself into a seductive mood and, honestly, to drown out all the doubts telling me to call Byron and cancel this date.

My chest rises and falls on a deep inhale as I repeat the mantra that’s stopped me from reaching for the phone.

Byron knows I’m in an open relationship.

He said he’s okay with it.

He said he just wants a nice relaxing time.

I am not betraying anyone.

Funnily enough, the person I feel like I’m betraying isn’t Taz.

It’s Clay.

This dating app experience has been threaded so tightly with Clay that I couldn’t escape it.

I kept comparing every guy I matched with to him.