If you ever forget me, rewind.
As if I could.
A hand touched my shoulder. “Are you okay?” Melanie asked.
I nodded. My tears said otherwise.
“I’m so sorry. I know it hurts,” she said with a sympathetic frown. “But you did the right thing. You chose family. Stability. No one will fault you for that.”
Except me.And him.
“If anyone understands, it’s me,” she continued. “I broke it off with my guy too.”
Sure, Mel. The one who didn’t require a messy goodbye. Totally comparable situations. Basically twins.
Melanie exhaled dramatically, like she was tapping into some deep well of mutual heartbreak. “Neither of our boys was ever going to be good enough for them. And it was better to let them go now before we got in too deep. Before there was no turning back.”
Oh, I’d already crossed the point of no return. I’d run past it, heart first. Melanie spoke like we were shoulder-to-shoulder in noble sacrifice. We weren’t. She’d ended something casual. I’d ended something that had already remade me.
We were not the same.
The stewardess returned with the champagne, catching my eye as she handed both flutes to Melanie with a look that very clearly said, ‘Not for you, but I’m pretending I didn’t see a thing.’ Melanie passed one to me before the woman even walked away.
“Cheers.” She tapped her glass against mine.
“To what?”
“To being young, rich, and free.”
“Free?” I said, more sharply than I meant to. “I just got told who I can and can’t love, Melanie. Remind me which part of that is freedom.”
She sighed, like my heartbreak was becoming such a drag. “Look, I know you think you’re doing something revolutionary,running off with the pool boy, but your little romance is a love story as old as time. And I promise you, real life doesn’t end like it does in the movies. Scott can’t give you what you need, Michelle. It’s better for both of you to make a clean break now. That way you can move on.”
“How do you know what I need?”
“You need what I need. What any girl who grew up in fabulous wealth needs: a life that looks perfect from the outside, even if it’s rotting underneath.”
“Wow. Sounds dreamy. Maybe we can decompose side by side in matching pearls.”
“There you go,” she said brightly. “A little perspective.” She tossed back her entire glass. “I mean come on. Majestic Waves Resort doesn’t pay Scott enough to even afford your face cream.”
My glass froze halfway to my lips. “What did you say?”
Melanie blinked, confused. “What? I’m just saying, he’s not exactly rolling in—”
“No.” I cut her off, my pulse hammering. “You said Majestic Waves. How do you know where he works?”
The color drained from her face like someone had pulled the plug. “I—uh—maybe you mentioned it?”
“I didn’t.” My voice was low, dangerous. “Melanie. How do you know that?”
“I knew you were taking surf lessons there. And then you said he was a surf instructor. I pieced it together.”
She averted her eyes, and I knew there was more. So much more.
“What did you do?”
She looked down, twisting the stem of her champagne glass until her knuckles turned white. “Michelle, don’t—”
