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I adjusted my gray sweater and smoothed my ponytail down before gently knocking on the door to the room.

207.

I thought this was Matty’s room, but no one was answering, so I was doubting myself.

Nerves racked my body even though I’d been trying to shake them off all morning. I shouldn’t be anxious about seeing Matty again. He was in my room a few hours ago, all up in my business, but the fact he never came back led me to all kinds of conclusions.

Something had to have happened for him to leave me half-naked and waiting for hours.

All my texts had gone unanswered, and the guys hadn’t seen him, so the most logical explanation was that he’d fallen asleep before he could come up to my room. It had been late, after all.

The door unlocked and I stepped back, my heart beating faster than it should. I felt like I was in fight or flight, but I stayed because Matty had to be on the other side.

When the door opened, my stomach dropped. I knew I should’ve listened to my instincts.

“Olana?” I choked out. I wanted to shrivel into my sweater and melt away, but I was so stunned I couldn’t move. This had to be a nightmare, right? When did she even get here? She wasn’t at the wedding. She wasn’t invited, and he had told me they’d broken up.

So many questions were running through my head, and Olana was smirking at me like she’d won some competition.

“What are you doing here? And why is your hair… blonde?” I wasn’t trying to be rude, but my brain couldn’t focus on all the questions I had.

“I could ask you the same thing.” She grinned, opening the door wider, then my heart stopped.

Or broke.

I couldn’t decipher the intricacies of the numbness in my chest because my brain was trying to understand the scene before me.

She was standing in front of me, wearing nothing but Matty’s shirt from last night. The one with my lipstick stains all over the collar. Or, at least, I thought they were mine. There were sheets strewn all over the room, and the shower was running. It didn’t take a genius to know that Matty was in there cleaning himself off.

I took another step back, and Olana lifted her hand so her fingers were resting across the door.

My breath caught. Olana had a fat diamond on her finger. Her left ring finger, to be precise.

Bewildered, I took another step back, thinking over everything Matty had said last night. Everything we did.

I squeezed my eyes shut, swallowing the lump in my throat.

It was all a lie.

None of it was real.

He had a fiancée.

What was I, then?

A side piece. Something he wanted to try before he made the ultimate commitment to her .

Every single moment from last night ran through my head like it was on fast forward, and I couldn’t figure out how we’d gotten here.

To Matty marrying someone else.

His lie felt like a heavy stone in my stomach.

Nothing was real last night.

This was my reality.

He never wanted me but knew I wanted him. How could he not? I’d made it so obvious these last few years. Was this his way of getting me out of his system before marrying Olana? Say and do the right things to get me to do whatever he wanted?

I grasped my left hand, trying to stop it from shaking, but it was no use. I was a fool. I was so lovestruck by him that I would’ve believed anything he’d said.

“What are you doing here?” Olana asked.

I swallowed down the sadness, refusing to let her see me upset over Matty. Closing my eyes, I pointed my thumb over my shoulder to gain some composure.

“I was just heading home and wanted to tell Matty to have a great summer, but you can do that for me, can’t you?” The longer I stood in her presence, the more of the hotel room I could see. A pink bag was open with clothes spilling out of it.

Was she here the whole time?

While he was out with me?

I shook my head, annoyed that I ever thought Matty would choose me over Olana. They’d known each other for years, and it didn’t matter how many times they’d broken up, they always got back together. She was his rock, and I was a tiny pebble in comparison.

“You sure you don’t want to wait for him to come out of the shower?” She crinkled her nose and took in a sharp breath. “He might be a while.” She rolled her eyes to look at the ceiling, and her lips tipped up in amusement. “We may have gotten a little dirty last night after I told him the news.”

I gulped.

News?

She dropped her other hand to her stomach, rubbing it lightly.

As if the dagger wasn’t stabbing me deep enough. She could see the damage she was causing and decided to twist it. I deserved it. I fell for a guy who was taken. A guy who was apparently building a family with someone else.

The bathroom door unlocked, forcing me into action. I didn’t want to be there when it opened. “Nope. I’m good. Tell him to have a great summer and I’ll see him soon,” I squeaked out before skittering away as fast as I could. There was no way I would let Matty see me upset.

When I got to the end of the hall, I stabbed the elevator button frantically.

Why wasn’t it coming quicker?

“Come on. Come on,” I whispered, too afraid to look behind me and see the happy couple mocking me for ever thinking I deserved something like that.

“Yes!” The elevator dinged open, but my happiness was short-lived when Hayden and Adam were standing inside.

“There you are! I knocked on your door earlier, but you didn’t answer.” Hayden was all smiles as I teetered on the edge of the elevator. I didn’t know what was worse: standing in the hallway where my failed one-night stand might see me or getting on this elevator and explaining to my friends what happened. That I’d ruined the friend group, and I would have to excuse myself from any event we’d ever get invited to again because of it.

I chose the latter. At least I could lie to my friends about my feelings. I wasn’t sure I could be that strong in front of Matty.

“What were you doing on this floor?” Hayden asked, and when I stepped into the elevator, she pulled me into a hug.

Adam let out a sardonic laugh. “Isn’t it obvious? Matty’s room is down the hall.”

Sucking in a breath, I thought I could handle talking about it with these two, but I couldn’t. No, just hearing Matty’s name and seeing their smiles of encouragement were too much for me. What would I be like when the rest of the guests saw me at breakfast?

Everyone knew Matty and I had kissed and would rightfully assume a hell of a lot more happened since we snuck out of the after party early. However, no one knew just how far we took it, or how difficult it would be to take any of it back.

“Britt, are you okay?” I looked up as she broke away from our hug. Keeping one hand on my shoulder, she squeezed it.

I swallowed and blinked the tears from my eyes, letting them trickle down my face.

Her brows furrowed and lips tight, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even speak to my best friend about what happened. It was too soon, and I hadn’t figured it all out myself yet.

“You know what? I forgot to tell you that I’ve got an early flight, so I need to skip breakfast.”

“But I thought you were on the same one as us?”

Crap. She was right.

“Ah, no. My dad called me late last night, and he said they got tickets to the Los Angeles Hammerheads and Catfish game today. Wouldn’t want to miss Max playing.”

Thankfully, neither one of them knew a thing about baseball. Otherwise, they’d know that the game didn’t start until the evening, meaning my excuse for changing the flight made no sense.

“So, you moved your flight last night?” Hayden narrowed her gaze at Adam, unconvinced.

I nodded.

“Oh wow. I didn’t realize airlines were so accommodating these days.”

“Neither did I,” I grumbled, staring down at my feet, feeling sick. Not only was I lying to my friend, but if I couldn’t get my flight changed to an earlier one, then I’d have to hide away in the airport bathroom until I got a later one.

“Catfish baseball. That’ll be awesome,” Adam said.

“Yeah,” I drawled out. Lackluster and unenthused.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” I quipped as the elevator opened to the first floor. “You guys go have breakfast. I’ve just got to pack because my cab is waiting outside.” It was all lies, and I was almost certain Hayden could see through it, but like the dutiful friend she was, she didn’t question me. Not in front of her boyfriend at least. Instead, she drew me into another hug and squeezed tighter than before.

“Don’t pay for a cab. Let us help. Adam and I can drive you to the airport.”

“Oh, that’s unnecessary.”

“I don’t mind,” Adam piped up with a shrug. “I like getting to the airport early, anyway.”

My gaze dropped. I couldn’t say no.

“But you’ll miss out on the all-you-can-eat breakfast.”

“I’m good,” he said, scratching his stomach. “I’ve been trying a new intermittent fasting diet, anyway. Gotta be lean if I want to keep my spot on the Fort Lauderdale Gators.”

I looked between the two of them, not wanting to tell them the truth, but it felt like they were going to give me no other option.

“What about Reign and Devin?” It was all I could think of.

Adam chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry about them. They’ve seen enough of us, and I doubt they’ll be making it down to breakfast any time soon. Did you see Devin at the end of the night? He was practically undressing Reign while he carried her through the hotel lobby.”

I winced, thinking about their marriage bliss, annoyed that I mentioned wanting that with Matty. In hindsight, it felt like he used that against me. I gave him the perfect in without even realizing it. Desperate, single girl at a wedding was the biggest cliché of them all, and I fell right into it.

“O-okay.” I gave up. I didn’t know what else to say, and it felt like no matter what excuse I came up with, they’d be right there coming up with a solution to help me.

“Great, we’ll go get our stuff and grab something to eat at the airport.” Hayden squeezed my shoulder before leaning in. “Then you can tell me what happened after you left the club.”

“Uh-huh.” I gulped, refusing to look at Adam. He had a way of reading people, and although I wasn’t happy about everyone thinking Matty and I were in some hookup bliss, I’d rather they think that than know the truth.

Luckily, the elevator pinged open and guests from the lobby joined us. As we weren’t going to breakfast, Hayden pressed our floor number.

I stepped back, subtly shuffling behind Adam so I could hide behind his bulky frame. My heart raced, my body on high alert because I was petrified of seeing Matty and Olana again, even if it was highly unlikely.

They were too busy getting their clothes on after Matty’s shower. Then again, they might have been busy doing other stuff.

I closed my eyes and let out a low sigh.

Ugh. Did I have to think about that right now? I was already fragile, and that put me on the verge of breaking down in front of everyone in the elevator.

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” Hayden asked, knocking her elbow to my side.

I nodded. “I’m good. Just exhausted after last night.”

Adam pushed out a snort. “I bet you are.” He balked when Hayden slapped him in the stomach, then motioned to the other people in the elevator.

Hunching down, he whispered, “What was that for? We all know that Matty’s been obsessed with Britt for years. Let’s not pretend he’s not going to act like a starving animal once he’s got her.”

He’d gotten it all wrong. They all had. Matty might have had a crush on me at some point, but I’d never be enough to replace Olana, and that was what hurt the most.

Taking a deep breath, I plastered on a fake smile and said nothing. All I needed to do was get through the next few hours. Then I’d be home with my family and could wallow in my misery and not think about Matty for at least two months.

I could handle that, couldn’t I?