Page 61 of About That Pact

“People need to know.”

It was a weak rebuttal, but it was all he had.

He heard Lance typing, rather harshly. It soothed Rafe. It was like the typing understood how pissed off he was at Charlotte and her last crap phone call.

“I know you’re a miserable fuck because you and your pseudo girlfriend broke up. But I cannot print a piece where you just vent your personal problems. This is the first time, and I’m hoping the last, I need to tell you to keep your shit to yourself. Don’t let work get emotionally personal. And for fuck’s sake, you knew I wouldn’t be able to print this—you even mention her name.”

“I forgot about that,” he sighed, knowing his boss was right. He shouldn’t have put her name.

“You need to take your vacation and let yourself relax and reset. When you come back, be ready to write about Vegas. The piece can focus on how Vegas is fun in your thirties. Have a good time and get back to writing pieces that capture the audience, not make them want to unsubscribe. You get it?”

No, not really.

People would empathize with someone who’d had their heart ripped from their chest. But apparently, Lance didn’t want to go in the direction of an unhappy and angry single man writing about a break-up.

“I got it.”

They talked for a few more minutes about deadlines and expectations for his next article. By the time he was off the phone, it wasn’t like his heart had mended. However, he did have an idea. In order to move on, he had to stop being miserable.

What better place for an adult to get over heartbreak than Vegas?

Chapter 22

THE SAN FRANCISCO airport was buzzing with anticipation of people traveling. Charlotte and her family sat together, waiting for the other families traveling with them.

The first ones to join them in the terminal was the Haddic family. They drove from Yosemite, where they lived, since the flight was cheaper. Natalie was Charlotte’s mom’s roommate in college. Natalie’s husband, Mark, was amazing. This was her second husband, and he fit into their group well. Charlotte’s mom had always said Mark gave Natalie something her first husband, Cal, couldn’t. Natalie’s son was meeting them in Vegas. He decided to take an earlier flight from New York to get some work done before the rest of their group arrived.

She tried to listen in on her mom’s conversation, anything to distract her from the fact that Rafe’s family was flying out of the same airport and they were on the same flight too. She was not prepared to see Rafe. If his goal was to ignore her, he had little chance to do that in a freaking terminal with their family watching.

As if her thoughts of Rafe summoned him, the Bianchi family arrived.

Immediately, Gabriella and Elena ran over to her for hugs. The two sisters spent ten minutes talking animatedly to her while Charlotte did her best to focus on them and not their brother. He was gorgeous, even with the angry look on his face. It hurt to see him and not be with him. She kept her attention on his sisters because she didn’t know what else to do. She laughed at the right times, asked the right questions, but they must have figured she was on autopilot because they left her to sit with Jason.

Charlotte flopped back into her seat, waiting to board the plane. She pulled out a magazine and acted like she was reading it. In reality, she was sneaking peeks at Rafe. He was slouched down in his seat diagonal from her. It was like he sat close enough to their group so no one complained, but refused to take the empty seat across from her.

What an ass.

“If you are going to pretend to read a magazine, at least have it facing the right side up while you’re looking at me,” Rafe told her, his eyes still shut. “It’s less obvious that way.”

She looked at her magazine, and it was the right side up. Damn him for lying.

“Made you look,” he snickered.

The families were now standing together and going over plans for vacation while they waited. They weren’t giving Charlotte or Rafe any attention, but she didn’t want to risk them mistakenly hearing any of their comments. She moved to get closer, sitting poker straight next to him.

She whispered, “You better not be an asshole this whole vacation.”

“If you’re looking for company, go find someone else.” Not only did he speak at a normal level, he still didn’t open his eyes.

“You can’t ignore me!”

Ashley shook her head at Charlotte’s outburst. “It’s just like when they were younger. Always teasing each other.”

“Get a picture of them. Our first vacation pic,” her mom urged.

Rafe and Charlotte both protested, but their moms didn’t care. Ashley whipped out her phone. “On the count of three, say Vegas. One, two, three.”

She snapped the photo while they both mumbled Vegas with little enthusiasm.