ChapterOne
STEPHANIE
The night was young, the party was hopping, and I was miserable.
I liked to consider myself an expert in looking like I was having a good time even when I really wasn’t, but that night, I was simply too tired to pretend. My friends and I had been going out drinking for two, maybe three nights in a row? I couldn’t even keep track anymore, and I was craving the quiet solitude of my cool, comfortable hotel room. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Michelle to notice my drink was empty, at which point she promptly got the attention of the waiter who was walking by the outdoor table where my friends and I were sitting and asked him to bring us each a fresh drink.
“She’ll have another white wine and I will have another rum and Coke.”
“Ah—no,” I started to say, but the luau was in full swing at that point, and the waiter couldn’t hear me. The only reason he could hear Michelle was because she had a knack for throwing her voice, especially when it was a matter of ordering more drinks in a crowded place. He began to walk off and I sighed, pressing my back into my chair.
“What’s wrong?” Michelle asked.
“Nothing,” I said, looking around the table and noticing that the only other person who was sitting there was Rose. Gina and Lily must’ve gotten up and left when I wasn’t paying attention. “I’m just tired, that’s all. We’ve been staying up late every night since we got here.”
We had been in Hawaii for a few days at that point, commiserating with our friend Lily who recently had to call off her wedding after finding out that her fiancé, Bret, was cheating on her. This trip was supposed to be her honeymoon, and Michelle, Rose, Gina, and I, Lily’s best friends from childhood, decided it would be a shame to waste an all-expense paid trip to paradise. We convinced her to bring us along, so that we could help her forget about her heartbreak, and maybe even celebrate the fact that she no longer had to deal with Bret and his shit anymore.
“We’ve been staying up because we are onvacation,” Michelle said. She looked over at Rose, who was on her phone. “Ugh, how did I get stuck alone at the table with the two least fun girls in our group.”
“First of all,” I said. “Rude. Second of all, we’re notnotfun, it’s just that Rose has a child she has to think about, and I have—well—I just like to get a full 8 hours of sleep, okay?” With that, I decided I was done sitting around at a party I wasn’t enjoying, just to be insulted by my friend. “I’m going to go back to the room.”
“Oh hey, c’mon,” Michelle said, taking my hand in hers as I stood up. “I was just joking; I really don’t think you’re boring.”
I smiled down at her. “I know. But that doesn’t change the fact that I am tired, so I’m going to head up. Rose, you wanna come?”
Only then did Rose look up from her phone. She frowned, clearly having missed the entire conversation. “Huh, what?”
“I am going up to our room. I was wondering if you wanted to come up with me?”
She looked once more at her phone, then up again. Before she could say anything, Michelle answered for her. “No, I think what Rose wants is to sit and have another drink, and to tell me what the hell happened that put her in such a weird mood.”
Rose shrugged. “I’ll say yes to the drink part. I could use something to take the edge off. But I won’t be too late.”
“Suit yourself,” I said. “Text me if you need anything.”
“What would we need?” Michelle asked with a sarcastic look in her eye.
“Directions back to the room after you two put back a few more drinks,” I suggested. “Or maybe help getting out of that skin-tight dress you decided to wear.”
Michelle grinned. “I’ll find a man to help me out of this thing, thanks.”
I laughed, then spun on my heel and headed in the direction of the resort before Michelle could say anything else that might keep me there longer than I wanted. I saw the waiter she’d flagged down returning to the table with our drinks, and I snagged the white wine as he walked past. “Put it on her tab,” I said, pointing to Michelle. It was my little way of getting back at her for calling me boring.
I sipped my drink as I walked into the lobby of the resort. There weren’t that many people inside, considering it was such a lovely evening and the luau wasn’t scheduled to wrap up for another couple of hours. I hung a right at the nearest hallway and walked towards the elevators. After pressing the button, I heard the sound of a man laughing and looked over my shoulder.
He was standing in the corner at the opposite side of the hall, phone pressed to his ear, and free hand casually tucked away in the pocket of his dark blue jeans. I couldn’t help but notice how tall and muscular the man’s frame was, and even though I wasn’t normally a nosy person, I found myself listening in to hear what he was going to say next.
“I miss you too, buddy,” he said in a kind voice. “And I’m sorry I am missing our Friday night ritual. I promise you, when I get back next week, I will make up for it. We can watch two movies in a row if you want.” He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll let you stay up, but only if you let me pick one of the movies, deal? … Alright, good. Well, you should really be getting ready for bed. Don’t give Mrs. Mecham any trouble, yeah? I’ll call you in the morning. … Okay, love you too. Bye.”
He hung up the phone just as the elevator doors opened. I looked down at my feet in order to appear as if I hadn’t just been eavesdropping and stepped inside, silently hoping that he would be taking the ride up with me. But instead, he walked past the open doors without even glancing in my direction. I got one quick look at the profile of his face and saw that he was even more handsome than I’d originally thought. I sucked in a surprised breath, feeling like I was about to drop from the highest point of a roller coaster, and then the doors closed and he was gone. I let out a heavy exhale and leaned my hands on the railing behind me.
Was he talking to his kid?
It had to be, right? Who else would he be talking to? That meant he was a father, which instantly made him that much more attractive to me. I went through what little bit I’d heard of the man’s phone conversation in my head and thought that he must’ve absolutely been talking to his child. It wasn’t that surprising, was it? Hot guys could be dads too! And someone who looked like him, and had the money to go to a resort like the one we were both at, was a real catch. He was probably headed back to the luau right that moment to look around for his gorgeous wife, who I imagined would be dressed in an elegant take on a sundress and strappy heels to match. The kind that I never wore myself because they were so impractical and gave me nightmares of broken ankles and numb toes.
The elevator doors opened again on my floor and I walked out, shaking my head and trying to forget about the man entirely. He was most likely taken, and even if he was single, it wasn’t like I was really looking for someone to date in the first place. I had a lot going on back home in Riverside. I worked part-time as a nanny for a family I’d been taking care of for almost five years now, and then the rest of my time was taken up with helping my mom run her at-home daycare. I probably worked an average of 50 to 60 hours a week, so how much time did that really leave for a boyfriend?
None.