Chapter 5
Back home in Sydney, Shane’s mates always said he had an excellent poker face, and he was deploying it now while he and Krista waited their turn to check out of the Banff Spa Resort. Mouth relaxed, breathing steady, gaze loose, he took in the minutiae of his surroundings—the sparkling hotel reception desk, the log trim, unlit fireplaces. The stack of leaflets advertising day hikes and tours. Krista’s red eyes, pursed lips and puckered brow.
Yeah, I get it.
Seeing Zoey with Ryan had given Shane the same stab of disappointment, but unlike Krista, who looked like she’d had her heart slammed against a brick wall, annoyance and betrayal fueled Shane’s irritation.
Zoey had led him on with those lingering glances and the bright smiles she’d flashed his way at every opportunity. At first he’d kept things polite and professional between them, brushing off Zoey’s attention as simple friendliness. After all, he’d come to Canada to get away from women—or, rather, one woman—and didn’t need or want the distraction of a relationship. But when she’d asked him out to lunch last week, it had seemed rude to refuse.
And then came herfriendlinesslast night. Hell, she’d come on strong enough when they’d talked at the bar, hadn’t she? Stroking his arm again and leaning into him. Even Mikey had noticed.
“She’s into you, buddy,” Mikey had said again during dinner. It was that observation from his friend that had pushed Shane over the edge in his decision to ask Zoey to come hiking. And considering she had been showing signs of being interested in him, Shane had been dead cert that Zoey would say yes.
Looks like you’ve been fooled again, idiot.
Which served him right for ignoring his new life plan. He should’ve stayed clear of women...because now he was all het up and rejected and hurt, feeling all the things he’d never again wanted to feel.
Bad memories of how he’d been last year, almost to the fucking day, gripped his gut and threatened to undo the mental balance he’d worked so hard to regain after his life had been derailed by Shitstorm Fiona.
But why had Zoey led him on like that?
Had she used him as bait to get Ryan’s attention? Just like Shane was now suggesting Krista should do?
Krista was right. This whole stupid plan to set off hiking together and pretend they’d hooked up first really did smack of high school antics, and a good dollop of hypocrisy, too. But after Fiona, Shane had vowed that he’d never again let a woman get the better of him, which meant he was only too happy to brush Zoey off like a piece of lint on his jacket and show her that she meant as much to him as he did to her—a big, fat nothing.
And he believed Krista should do the same with Ryan.
That’s why Shane had dragged her away from starting a catfight. He hadn’t wanted her to do anything she’d regret later. God knew, Shane regretted enough himself. He’d absolutely fucking lost it over Fiona! Turning up at her door pissed out of his skull, sobbing his bloody guts out, skipping training session after training session. His whole world had crashed. Publicly. Humiliatingly.Everyone knew. Everyone saw.And not even his poker face could mask the pain.
For weeks he’d crawled through the rubble of his life until he could no longer bear all the sympathetic head tilts his friends and family were constantly giving him.
Poor Shane. He looks like shit.
Poor Shane. He was so happy.
Poor Shane. He always misses out.
