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Nina’s stomach lurched at the thought, and it wasn’t just because she was hungover. She was more a beer kind of person. She rubbed her eyes, wondering if she could pretend to fall asleep, but she needed to make a good impression for Isla’s sake. She decided that getting Ash to talk about herself was clearly the way forward. “How did you and Logan meet?”

It was clearly the right move. “Oh my God, it was so romantic. I kept seeing him at parties around LA. Then one night I just grabbed him and told him I was going home with him.”

Nina raised her eyebrows. “Oh yeah, so romantic.”

Ash grinned. “Right?”

Nina smiled, the tiny stab of guilt at her sarcasm smoothed over by Ash’s oblivious nature.

“I mean,” Ash continued, “I felt bad about cheating on Zac. But you know, I did text him the next morning to break up.”

Nina let out a slow breath, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. “So, are you a musician too?”

“Oh totally,” Ash said. “I mean, I haven’t made any music yet—but I’m so musical, you know?”

Nina glanced over to the house, willing Isla to come out and rescue her.

“I’m mainly an influencer, though,” Ash continued.

For a moment Nina was tempted to grab her stuff and make a run for the nearby hill road.

“Yeah, I’ve got tons of advertising deals through my Insta,” Ash said. “There’s this great make-up range I’ve started working with. They do different shades of everything to match your skin colour. You should try it.”

Nina squeezed her eyes tight. “Sounds great.”

“They have the perfect one for your skin tone. Are you mixed race?”

Nina was taken aback. People tended not to guess she was mixed race due to the pale hue of her fawny complexion. “Yeah I’m half-white, half-Middle Eastern.”

“Cool,” said Ash.

Nina waited for the usual questions and micro-aggressions to ensue, but nothing was forthcoming. It was refreshing because she’d often get the third degree in some sort of accusatory manner, as if she were making it up because she didn’t ‘look’ it. She smiled and decided that another change in subject was called for. “How come you call Cameron by his stage name?”

Ash shrugged. “I can’t think of him as Cameron. I knew him first as Logan, so when I met him, I carried on calling him that.”

Nina glanced at her watch then toward the house. It was nearly three p.m. Isla and Cam had been gone for four hours. What on earth are they doing?

“Are you hungry?” said Ash, misinterpreting Nina’s actions.

Nina was about to say no but then realised she was pretty hungry. “A little.”

“You can totally help yourself to anything in the kitchen,” Ash said.

When Ash didn’t offer to come into the house with her, Nina jumped to her feet, eager to get a bit of headspace. “Thank you. Can I bring you anything?”

“No thanks. I’ve got my bottle of water,” Ash replied.

Nina hurried up the stairs into the villa, feeling guilty that she was so keen to get away from Ash. She just wasn’t in the mood for more superficial chat when she was hungover.

She entered the kitchen, goosebumps erupting due to the air conditioning. Should’ve put my clothes back on. That’s what she got for being eager to leave the vicinity.

Nina opened the massive American-style fridge. An array of wholesome foods lined the shelves. She pulled out a few items to fix herself a chicken salad and added a couple of hunks of bread. She briefly contemplated eating it in the kitchen away from Ash but decided it was too cold, plus rather anti-social. She carried the food back out to the pool area.

Once she got there, it appeared Ash was sleeping, so she tucked into her feast in peace. Afterwards, she lay back to close her eyes for a minute.

Nina awoke to someone gently prodding her shoulder. “Nina.”

She opened her eyes. Isla was next to her on the sunbed.