Should I have a plan? How am I going to convince her to come back? How am I going to apologize for what I said without sounding like I’m just trying to get her back to the ship?
Questions swim in my mind, and I have no answers. I hadn’t even considered any of this until right this second, as I stand, frozen, only a few feet from her. I’ve been too distracted with Nolan, and my own potential firing, that I haven’t put myself in Molly’s shoes to really think about how she might be feeling, why she took off, why she’s been angry…and what it is that Molly Spencer even wants.
Because try as I might, if Molly doesn’t want to do something—like return to the ship—she isn’t going to do it.
But I don’t have the opportunity to think things through any further, because a few seconds after I come to a stop, Molly seems to sense that she’s being watched and turns slowly to face me.
She doesn’t look surprised. Or angry. She looks…sad. Defeated.
A hundred questions filter through my mind, but the only one that I’m able to pluck from the chaos is, “Why did you come here, Molly? Why did you sign up for the show?”
I don’t know why I askthisquestion first. Maybe it was my conversation with Nolan in the car—his instinct that Molly came to seeme, even if she had warned me off.She’s quiet for a moment, gazing out at the crashing blue waves once more.
“I dunno…love, money…sounded like a good time,” she says sarcastically, and I roll my eyes.
“That’s not why though, is it?”
As she turns to face me again, I expect to feel cut down by her icy gray gaze—its sharpness like a honed weapon. But today her eyes are dull—there’s no spark, no fight.
I’m concerned for a moment until she speaks, and I’m relieved to hear that her words still have an edge. “Why do you evencare, Chloe?”
Despite her thorny tone, I can see her exhaustion in how she looks away from me and pulls her knees up for her chin to rest on.
I open my mouth to speak, then shut it again.
WhydidI care?
It wasn’t just to save my own ass. Kyla had already pointed out that I didn’t even have to finish this gig if I didn’t want to. And she’s right. If I leftLoveand ended up getting a poor reputation in an area of the industry I’m not even interested in, it would make no difference.
I had come to smooth things over with Molly because I genuinely felt bad for what I’d said. Because I hadn’t meant it. And because I still cared for her. A lot.
“Because I was an asshole. And I wanted to say sorry,” I admit. She doesn’t respond right away—I’m not even sure if she heard me over the crashing of the surf. But just as I open my mouth to repeat myself, she speaks.
“I came to see you,” she says softly. And my heart stutters.
“Why?”
She angles her head toward me, resting her cheek where her chin had been, but doesn’t meet my eyes.
“I saw that post on your LinkedIn. And Ididmessage you, I swear I did. But I was giving you a chance—if you were here, it was because you wanted to see me, too. And if you didn’t come, then…well, you weren’t interested.”
To anyone else, Molly making a bet like this would seem reckless—like her game of strip poker. But it wasn’t. She knew me. In her mind, it was calculated.
“Why come on the show at all? Why not just call me?”
She shakes her head, shifting her gaze to the waves again.
“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “It felt like kismet, seeing that post. I applied on a whim, and then when they called me, I knew…it was just supposed to happen this way. Plus, I wasn’t lying about needing the money. Things are tight.”
So, Molly traveled halfway around the world to see me, to see if we could make things right…and then the minute our eyes locked, it was likeIwas the villain, likeIwas the one who had to atone.
“I still don’t understand,” I say, stepping closer. “If it was your goal to be in the same place together, to make up, or whatever…why did you treat me the way you did?”
Her eyes meet mine now, and I hold her stare.
“Because I saw the way you looked at me that first day. There was no…kindness…in your eyes. You were surprised at first, but then there was something else. Like disgust. At first, I thought maybe you came to confront me, and you were going to make my life hell here, but then when you told me you didn’t even know I was going to be here…I realized what a stupid mistake this was. Especially after what you said.”
“Molly, I was—well, Iaman idiot. What I said to you was wrong. It isn’t even really how I feel. I was hurt, and angry, and I wanted to hurt you back. And I knew itwould.”
