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I step in, my voice firm but careful. “Come on, Brooke. Cari’s tired. We all are. We have to go back to work tomorrow.”
Brooke’s shoulders slump, but she doesn’t argue. Cari leans in, hugging her tightly. “I love you so much, sweetie. I’m going to miss you, but I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Promise?”
Cari nods, but doesn’t make the promise. She straightens, her eyes meeting mine. “So long,” I say, the words bitter in my mouth because they’re not what I want to say. I want to tell her to come back with us. To not walk away. But I don’t.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she replies softly.
Her smile is small, sad, and resigned, and it feels like a punch to my gut. The ache spreads as she turns and walks toward her building, her silhouette fading as she disappears inside.
Brooke leans against me in the backseat, quiet now. She doesn’t understand the gravity of what just happened, but I do. Cari is walking out of our lives, and I don’t know how to stop her.
The SUV pulls away, and I look out the window overcome by a sense of loss—for everything we could have been, and everything we weren’t.
CARI
Eliana throws open the door and wraps me in a hug so tight I almost can’t breathe.
Her smile is huge, beaming like I’ve just come back from the trip of a lifetime. I guess I did—until the last few days unraveled everything.
“Why the long face?” she asks, grabbing my suitcase and wheeling it in like it’s her duty to carry my burdens.
“I’m just tired.” It’s not a lie, but it’s far from the truth. There’s a hollow ache in my chest. That last glance at the SUV, with Brooke and Jett inside, stays etched in my mind. They didn’t drive off right away. I couldn’t see them through the tinted windows, but I could feel their presence, like an unspoken pull. Their sadness mirroring my own.
“Well?” Eliana prompts, eyes wide with curiosity as I slip off my pumps. “You look beautifully tanned, and there’s something different about you.” Her gaze flickers over me, scrutinizing.
I force a smile. “I had a really nice time.”
“Why so sad?” She narrows her eyes and grabs my hand, peering at me like I’ve come down with a rare illness. Maybe I have. Lovesickness isn’t in the medical journals, but it should be. “Oh, babe.” She clutches her chest dramatically. “You’ve got it bad.”
“What?” My cheeks heat under her scrutiny. I feel exposed, as if the sadness of leaving Brooke and Jett has scrawled itself all over me. Coming back here—to this apartment, this version of my life—feels jarring, like I’ve stepped into a space I’ve already outgrown. What I had in Bermuda feels too vivid, too alive, to leave behind.
Eliana collapses on the couch and pats a place next to her for me to sit. “I have all the time in the world. Come on, spill it. You’re glowing, but not in ajust got a tanway. This isI had a life-altering timekind of glow.”
Her words make me think of Jett rubbing sunscreen on me the first time I put on that bikini. My skin tingles with the memory, and I want to go back—rewind to every glance, every touch, every conversation that left me breathless.
She snaps her fingers in front of my face. “See? You’re not even here. You’re still in Bermuda, with Jett.”
“What? No, I’m just tired from the flight.” My deflection is weak, and she sees right through me.
“It’s a two-and-a-half-hour flight, Car. Did you even sleep? Or were you too busy—” She waggles her eyebrows suggestively. “Spill. I want details.”
“Oh, El.”
“What is it?” she presses, her voice softening.
And just like that, the dam breaks. I tell her everything. Not the R-rated specifics, but the broad strokes—the dress, the library, the night we ended up in Jett’s bed. Her mouth falls open, her hand clutching her chest like she’s about to faint.
“I’m so proud of you!” she exclaims, clapping her hands in delight. “You’re finally living your best life!”
“Am I?”
“The sex … so much sex! You lucky girl. Was he good?” I blush. Heat surges across my skin. “Well hung?” Eliana pushes.
It shouldn’t, but it does—Jett’s enormous member, thick and glistening, flashes into my head. I get goosebumps.
“Oh hon!” Eliana clasps both her hands to her chest. “He must have been beyond amazing. Nothing like Rory.”