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Mia had left hours ago, leaving me to my spiraling thoughts that only served to drag me deeper into a pit I wasn’t quite ready to face yet.

I’d somehow managed to get my limbs to move once she’d left. I’d gotten back into my own room, surrounded by things that didn’t smell like her. I’d showered, scrubbed off all the sand and sweat, every trace of Mia’s touch along with it, and yet…

“If you’ve got tea, then spill it,” Alex huffed, and I heard her take a sip of something on the other end of the line.

I took a deep breath, whether to prepare myself or to scream, I wasn’t sure.

“I may have fucked up,” I admitted.

It was quiet for a moment.

“And the sky is blue,” she retorted.

“Fuck you, Alex,” I groaned.

“What?” she said, her voice pitched high in feigned innocence. “I thought we were just pointing out obvious things.”

“I fucked up for real this time,” I clarified. “And I fucked up with Mia.”

“What happened?”

All traces of amusement and mocking had been stripped from her voice, replaced by pure concern.

I couldn’t tell her everything, not yet at least.

“Yesterday,” I began, “Mia and I went out to visit the local club scene. And before you say anything, no, we didn’t drink. Okay?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Yet, I wanted to add.

“Whatever,” I continued. “Anyway, we weren’t drunk. But we stayed out really late, and when we got back to the hotel, I realized I’d lost my access card.”

“Of course you did.” Alex chuckled. “Very slick of you.”

Heat rushed to my face and I was so glad she was in an entirely different hemisphere just then.

“Anyway,” I growled. I sat down on the sofa, my leg bouncing incessantly. “The front desk couldn’t help until morning so Mia suggested I just crash in her room, right? And it was, like, two in the morning or something. So I obviously said yes.”

“Of course you did,” she said again, and my chest squeezed in discomfort.

“And, we shared her bed.”

“Is that it?”

I paused, biting down hard on the inside of my cheek.

“Reid?” Alex prompted.

“I kissed her.”

“HA! Ofcourseyou did!”

“Would you please stop saying that?!” I half-shrieked, my shoulders tense enough that I thought they might snap off my body entirely.

“What else do you want me to say, honey?” Alex chuckled, though her words were far softer this time. “We’ve all been saying the same thing forages. You’re into Mia. And that’s okay. The only reason you’re freaking out is because you’re still trying to deny it.”

“I’m not trying to deny anything,” I groaned, burying half my face in the palm of my hand. “I need advice, or therapy, or maybe a good old fashioned ass whooping?”