Page 17 of Revival

Spencer digs his phone from his pocket, reminding me mine’s still on Airplane Mode. I need to turn that on and check in with Ollie. My son is as responsible as they come, but he’s still a seventeen-year-old kid. I’m not sure if the five uncles tasked with keeping him safe make me feel comforted or more nervous.

I trust them with my life, but at the end of the day, they’re still a bunch of boys.

“Here.” Spencer shoves his beneath my nose.

“What am I looking at exactly?”

“The email confirming my auction purchase. Look at the bottom.”

Included in your ticket price is one week of company from a beautiful single woman. Nonrefundable.

That last word has me seeing red. Sebastian thinks after cheating on me he can set me up like this as if I’m some… someescort? “I’m going to murder him.”

Spencer tucks his phone away.

“If you think you can purchase me like I’m some possession—”

“All I’m asking is for you to spare me an evening. Catch up with me before we go our separate ways.”

I glance at my newly polished toes peeking out from my strappy sandals. The peach color shimmers in the afternoon sun.

“Please,” he says, drawing my attention back to his face. “I’m not accustomed to using that word, but I don’t know how else to say it. We didn’t get much time in the hospital.”

My spine stiffens as he brings up the last time I actually saw him. I didn’t know if he would. I didn’t think he’d have the guts to mention it. What started as me checking on an old friend ended with me crying in the parking garage for an hour until a security guard came by to ask if I needed help.

“There wasn’t much to say then, and there isn’t much to say now.”

“Maybe not, but I’d still like to hear about your life.”

“I’m not sure you have the right to.”

“Probably not.”

Saliva sticks in my throat. Spencer looks uncharacteristically vulnerable, and the image isn’t doing good things to my insides.

“Fine,” I relent. “We can go to our room and get the lay of the land. But after dinner, that’s it. I want my space.”

“Understood.” Spencer’s mouth quirks into a half grin, but there’s not much behind it. “Shall we?” He sweeps his palm out, and we resume our walk to our villa.

Off the normal path, our temporary home is tucked away in a private cove surrounded by tall trees and bushes. Paradise.

With a flick of my wrist, the door to our room unlocks, and I finally step into the space I’ve been dreaming about for months now. The pictures certainly don’t do it justice.

“Damn.” Spencer moves in behind me. I can’t help glancing over my shoulder to find his gaze fixated on the wall in front of us. Or rather, the vacant space where there should be one.

The resort prepared for our arrival by taking down the collapsible wall separating the main space from the outdoors. Our living room walks directly out onto a private patio with a large soaking tub. The patio steps down into an infinity pool, and beyond it is the most picturesque view of the warm sandy beach and the ocean's turquoise waters with green rolling island hills in the backdrop.

As I watch the waves crash silently against the shore, my pent-up emotions crash over me in a similar fashion. Unshed tears burn my eyes.

“You went all out,” Spencer remarks.

“I did. Paid for it myself too.”

He walks out onto the beige tiles. “I’m impressed.”

“It’s why I refused to compensate Sebastian for half. He didn’t pay a cent for this. I think he was just trying to rub dirt in the wound.”

“That fucker deserves nothing from you.”

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