Chapter 7
Alrighty. So, maybe posting a picture of them together on his social media wasn’t the smartest move, but Shane hated that love-shattered look in Krista’s eyes. He’d seen it plenty of times before—every time he’d looked in the mirror during those first few months after Fiona had jilted him—and he couldn’t stand Krista moping around any longer. But if it helped distract her and shift those storms clouds thundering above her head, coughing up a hundred bucks in a stupid bet would be worth it.
“Also, it’s not your place to post photos of me on social media,” Krista was going on behind him like she’d been doing for the past ten minutes. “Now everyone’ll think we’ve hooked up!”
“That’s precisely the point,” he said, also like he’d been doing for the past ten minutes. She was right of course. He really should’ve asked her permission before posting that photo, but they had a deal now. She’d said it herself:Game on. “We’re showing Zoey that she didn’t mean anything to me, and we’re trying to get your Ryan jealous.”
“I told you, I don’t like playing games, and he’s notmyRyan, and besides, he’ll be too busy screwing Zoey to care about me hooking up with the likes of you.”
“Then you’ll not only have a hundred bucks, but you’ll also know, once and for all, how he feels about you.”
Her eyes were lit with fury.Good. Anger was a good sign—at least she wasn’t crying. He hadn’t liked those tears earlier. He’d shed enough himself and knew firsthand how pointless they were.
Had crying ever changed anything for him?
Nope.
He’d still been jilted. Fiona had still trashed his heart and soul. And the worst part? While he’d been crying over his loss, she’d wasted no time shacking up with another guy.
So, no.Tears weren’t worth the effort, and neither was churning up the past.
Hating that Krista’s misery was bringing back memories of his own, Shane picked up his pace. Twigs and stones crunched beneath his feet as he tried to lose himself in the craggy, rocky landscape. But soon, the wildflowers and the sun glittering in the icy mountaintops had him drifting to the Snowy Mountains back home where, three months before their wedding, he’d taken Fiona there for her birthday weekend. The Snowy Mountains were just as vast and pretty as these mountains here. They’d hiked and talked about theirbig dayand had lain side by side, naked in bed, thinking about their future together.
Yep.
That was so-called love for you—one big, fat lie.
But Krista obviously didn’t think the same way, so Shane would play along with their stupid bet and do all he could to make that idiot she was infatuated with jealous. Anything to cheer her up. He didn’t want her misery to drag on his energy and ruin his holiday.
Shane glanced back at Krista now. Head down, eyes fixed to the ground as she walked, still looking pissed off.For god’s sake. If she was going to be like this for the next few days, Shane would rather take her back to Banff and set off by himself, although he couldn’t do that now he’d posted that stupid photo on Instagram. Krista couldn’t face all those questions from her friends alone, especially in front of Ryan and Zoey. She’d be humiliated, and that hadn’t been Shane’s intention at all.
He should delete the photo before anyone had a chance to see it, but as he pulled his phone out to do just that, Krista walked alongside him, her eyes glassy, her jaw tightly clenched, and her shoulders bunched around her ears.
Oh, good Lord. That’s it! No more.
The stupid bet clearly hadn’t been enough of a distraction.
“I have a question for you,” Shane said, planting his hands on his hips. “You had the hots for Ryan, yeah? You thought he was your Mr. Right? So why didn’t you tell him how you feel? What were you waiting for?”
“It’s none of your business.”
