Page 133 of Hawaii Can Suck It

Classic move: sleep with the boss, steal his audience.

Can’t believe Reece fell for her act. So obvious.

Always knew she was using him for clout. #TeamAstrid.

Camera girl should stick to staying BEHIND the camera.

DareSquad, it’s time to #CancelCamila once and for all.

When Reece’s gaze meets mine, I’m staring into the soul of a man who’s being gutted alive. Pure agony.

Gordon sighs. “Cam and I had discussed you promoting her new channel as part of the fake girlfriend contract. That’s why she was so eager.”

“No!” I surge forward, desperation clawing up my throat. “Yousaid that. I hadn’t decided if that’s what I wanted or not!”

“Whatdoyou want, Cam? Because I sure as hell don’t know.“ Reece says gruffly. “I was hoping it was me. But apparently I’m a schmuck, because I’m just the ‘willing hottie at the resort for you to climb like a coconut tree.’”

My heart stops. Those words. My words. From my FaceTime call with Petra and Katie back in the church on his wedding day. The plan he overheard—coming to Hawaii to have sex with hot cabana boys.

“Reece, you have to believe me. Don’t shut me out. Not again. Let’s talk about this alone. I can explain.”

I watch it happen in real time—the shuttering of his expression, the hardening of his features, the emotional retreat I’ve witnessed many times before when emotion run too high.

Gordon checks his diamond encrusted watch. “The PR firm is waiting on a video call to discuss damage control. I’ve got the conference room set up.”

Blind panic courses through me. I grab his hand. “Reece, please. Don’t go.”

He stares at our joined hands for three excruciating heartbeats. Then he extracts himself from my grip, the neon pink scrunchie still on his wrist grazing my skin.

“I thought you were different.” He moves to the door, pausing at the threshold. “I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend. For real.”

The admission hangs in the air between us, a beautiful dream extinguished before it could live.

He completes his dark transformation, and it destroys me. The playful, passionate man who stole my heart is gone—lost behind walls built from years of betrayal and mistrust.

He walks out without another word.

“You’re fired, effective immediately. If you come near Reece again, I’ll bury you in legal paperwork so deep your descendants will be filing motions.” Gordon slams the door, the bang echoing through our once-intimate space.

My heart doesn’t just break—it disintegrates, pulverized beyond recognition. My legs give out, and I collapse onto the pile of colorful scrunchies that Reece ordered for me, each one a testament to possibilities now lost forever.

The memory of his eyes—gutted, betrayed, devastated—sears itself into my brain. My stomach revolts violently, bile scorching my throat. I don’t know whether to sob or vomit, so my body chooses both. Hot tears stream down my face as I stumble for the trash can, retching painfully while clutching a purple scrunchie to my heart like it’s the last piece of him I’ll ever hold.

***

IstabatPetra’scontact with a trembling finger, my vision so blurred from crying I can barely see the phone display. Each long ring is an eternity.Pick up, Petra. I can’t be alone in this nightmare.

When her face appears, she’s squinting, her black hair a wild nest around her head, dark smudges of yesterday’s eyeliner giving her raccoon eyes.

“Cam, it’s fucking six a.m.,” she says with a raspy groan. “Someone better be dead or—”

A sob rips from my chest so violently it actually hurts.

Instantly, her eyes snap open. Gone is violent sleep-gremlin Petra, replaced by alert, protect-at-all-costs Petra.

“Whoa, whoa—what happened? What’s wrong?”

“I—I—I—” My words disintegrate into hiccuping sobs. I try again. “Reece… video… Astrid… Gordon… fired…” Each word punctuated by a gasping breath followed by a pathetic blend of sobs and a wheezy, mucus-laden whimper that makes me hate myself.

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