Olivia and I turned slowly. Her eyes were dry but wounded, her mouth set in a tight line. I reached for her hand instinctively, but she pulled away.
"I need some air," she said, and walked out, leaving me sitting alone, surrounded by couples holding hands and sharing tender kisses.
I found her outside on one of the walking paths that wound through the resort grounds. She was staring out at the mountains, her arms wrapped around her middle.
"Liv," I called.
She didn't turn. "Don't."
I stopped a few feet away and shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching for her. "We need to talk about this."
"About what?" Her voice was flat. "About how we had sex and now you can barely look at me? About how you've been acting like it was some kind of mistake?"
"It wasn't a mistake," I said.
That made her turn around, her eyes flashing. "Then what was it, Garner? Because from where I'm standing, you got what you wanted and then shut me out completely."
The accusation stung, not because it was cruel, but because from her perspective, it made perfect sense. I'd acted exactly like some asshole who'd gotten what he wanted and moved on.
"That's not—" I began but was interrupted by the ring of Olivia's phone.
She pulled it from her pocket, glancing at the screen. "It's Ruby." She answered, turning slightly away from me. "Hey, what's up?"
I watched her face change as she listened, shock and then concern washing over her features.
"When?" she asked. "No, we're checking out in a few hours. We'll be back tonight... Yeah, of course. Keep me posted."
She hung up, her mouth turned down in a frown.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Someone from town took a picture of us here," she said, tucking her phone away. "It was probably Donna. Ruby said it's already making the rounds. News about our marriage will be all over Mustang Mountain before we even get back."
I took in a deep breath and huffed it out. "That complicates things."
"We need a plan," she finished. "We can't show up at Miles and Kinley's housewarming party tonight as friends. Not when everyone thinks we’re married."
Just like that, we were partners on a mission again, the personal mess shelved for later. I nodded. "So we go with the story we told here, that we eloped. But we can say things have been rough and that’s why we went on the retreat.”
The look in her eyes shifted from anger to regret. “I never meant for you to get caught up in this in real life. What if we stage an argument at the housewarming party? Not big enough to blow up the whole event, but enough so no one will be surprised when we file for a fake divorce from our fake marriage? We can end it for good with a fight at Friday night music in the park."
I didn’t like it, but our options were limited. “Whatever you want to do, baby girl.”
Her eyes flashed with hurt, and I felt like the world’s biggest asshole. “I think it’s for the best.”
Nodding, I resigned myself to our impending break up. It was my own damn fault for not being a better man.
Within an hour, we'd packed, checked out, and were on the road back to Mustang Mountain. The drive was quiet but less tense than before, both of us focused on the task ahead rather than the emotional minefield we'd been navigating all weekend.
I kept my eyes on the road, but I was acutely aware of Olivia next to me—the way she absently twisted her hair tie around her finger, the slight furrow between her brows as she thought.
"So what exactly is the plan?" I asked as we passed the Welcome to Mustang Mountain sign. "How public should this argument be?"
Her mouth turned up in a sad smile. "Public enough that word will spread, but not so dramatic that we become the main event at Miles and Kinley's party. Then it won’t be a big surprise when we stage our final breakup on Friday night. We should change first though."
I glanced down at my jeans. "I’ll probably go in this, but I can wait while you change so we can show up together."
She shook her head. "I'd rather drive myself. That way we can leave separately.”
