Page 12 of Cozy Girl Fall
In all honesty, Penny hadn’t had much use for socials before.
She had accounts, but they were barely used, and while she wished it was because she was too busy living her life to photograph it, the reality was that she didn’t do anything noteworthy.
Most of her time was spent either thinking about work, preparing for work or actually working.
Maybe because if she’d stopped for two seconds, she might have lost her nerve and come running home to the cloistered safety of Magnolia Springs.
At first she’d felt silly logging on, because who would she care to stalk online? As it turned out, everyone .
Within an hour she knew that Coda Simpley had holidayed in Barbados last summer, that Mrs. Ashley had welcomed her first great-grandchild last fall, and that Ethan Blake looked distractingly, unfairly , hot with his shirt off.
She hadn’t intended to fall so far down the path of stalking her ex online. In her defense, she’d initially been looking at Shelby’s page filled with pouting selfies, French-tipped cocktail boomerangs, and tanned bikini pics, until she’d stumbled across a photo that had a lump rising to her throat.
The ring was sparkly, the stone large and appearing even brighter against the light-orange tan of Shelby’s hand.
Ethan wasn’t even in the picture, but she’d tagged him in the caption.
Always a glutton for punishment, Penny had followed the tag to Ethan’s page and was surprised to find quite a lot on it.
Pictures of him at a desk, head bent low and shadows falling across his face in an arty style that was clearly part of a work portfolio.
Then there were photos of him with family, friends, and Shelby, baking bread with Shelby’s niece, picnicking at the springs on the far side of town, at a concert for a band she didn’t recognize …
Penny scrolled further back, unable to take her eyes away from the bright colors on the screen as Ethan’s life unfolded before her: everything she’d missed.
Would it all still be there if she hadn’t left?
For some reason the pictures made her heart speed up and tears prick at her eyes.
She’d been so caught up all those years ago in what she’d be missing in San Fran if she stayed in Magnolia Springs, but she had never stopped to wonder what she might miss out on if she left.
Now the proof was there, right in front of her.
Would that have been her face squeezed in next to Ethan’s at the top of a Ferris wheel instead of Shelby’s?
Her chest tightened to the point of pain before she pushed out a strong breath.
Then there were the photos she spent an embarrassing amount of time studying: beach volleyball.
Ethan had always been athletic, but this was something else.
The majority of the photos were action shots, some in black and white like they were shooting for GQ and not just Instagram, but there were a couple of photos of Ethan standing still, hand raised up to shield his eyes from the sun.
Sand covered his chest, clinging to the droplets of water from the ocean spray, and his smile was wide, like he’d just finished laughing.
Hindsight was a bitch, and she would just have to learn to live with her regrets.
She rolled onto her side, fluffing the pillow under her head and cursing when her phone slipped out of her hands. She jolted to catch it, fingers clasped awkwardly around the screen.
Once again comfortable, Penny returned her eyes to the screen and Ethan’s abs as something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.
A red heart.
Eyes flaring wide, Penny sat bolt upright as a cold sweat broke out across her skin. “No. No, no, no.” She face-planted the pillow and rubbed her face roughly against the cotton as she shook her head.
The only thing worse than cyber-stalking your ex? Getting caught.
Her finger hesitated above the screen before she tapped, unliking the post and hoping Ethan would assume the notification was a glitch. What other reason would there be for his ex to be sniffing around at his photos from five years ago ?
Penny thumped her head against her pillow repeatedly with a groan, stopping abruptly when her phone buzzed. Dizzy, she fell very still before cracking open one eye and peering at the notification that had popped up on her home screen.
Ethan_Blake: Indulging in a little light stalking on this fine Sunday evening?
She shouldn’t reply. That would only add fuel to the fire, right? Or maybe he would take it as an admission of guilt. Undecided, Penny was still hesitating when another direct message buzzed into her inbox.
Ethan_Blake: And yes, in case you were wondering, my abs really do look like that. Even five years later.
“Ugh,” she muttered, staring at the message and clicking to open it before remembering, too late, it would show as read . “Crap. Stupid, stupid …”
FindAPenny: I have no clue what you’re talking about.
Ethan_Blake: *photo attachment* Strange, that looks like your name in my notifications
FindAPenny: … I hate you
His response took long enough that she’d thought that was the end of the conversation, until another message popped in.
Ethan_Blake: Don’t worry. If you had more than two photos on your account I’d probably be stalking them too
Heat rose in her face and she dropped her phone to the covers before sitting up to retrieve her hot chocolate and taking a long sip.
This wasn’t flirting, was it? This was just two friends, chatting.
Her phone buzzed again and she snorted when she unlocked it, seeing his name pop up in her notifications.
Ethan_Blake liked your photo
Ethan_Blake liked your photo
FindAPenny: Now who’s the stalker huh
Ethan_Blake: See you tomorrow ;)
She stared for longer than was necessary in order to read his message.
Tomorrow? He was working at the orchard again?
Why was he even working there in the first place?
By all accounts he seemed to have a thriving business working as an architect and interior designer—or, at least, that’s what his business’s Instagram page had made it look like.
And how did he know that she had a shift tomorrow too?
Thoughts swirling, Penny turned her phone over so she couldn’t stare at the message for any longer. If only she could quiet her brain in the same way.