Page 2 of Matched with Her Runaway Groom

Kenzie nods, holding up the gun. “That’s the best part about this activity. I can pretend my opponents are anyone I want.”

I laugh at that. “That’s a good idea.” And then I remember what it is we’re doing and the excitement fades. “Tiffany said there’s going to be another giveaway at the Love, Austen company. You should enter. Maybe the magic of our house will help you win it.” My cousin, Tiffany, works as the social media manager for the matchmaking company and had a bunch of us sign up for the company’s app around the time of my sister’s almost wedding six months ago. I got a call from Meg, the owner of the company, three months ago that I’d won a cruise, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Kenzie nods. “I signed up before leaving Hillary’s runaway wedding, so I doubt I’ll win anything now. I still can’t believe she took off. Poor Roy. I wonder if he’d be up for me dating him.” She chuckles and I slug her in the arm.

“I thought you were avoiding the combination of men and dating,” I say, double-knotting my shoes. After a few seconds of thinking about my sister, I ask, “You haven’t heard from Hillary since?”

“No, I didn’t even get to see her the day of the wedding. Isn’t that crazy? I was her maid of honor and because I showed up a little late, she stopped talking to me.” Kenzie stands. “All right. That’s enough stalling. Let’s get out there.”

I close my eyes, a sinking feeling taking over. I almost had her distracted enough to leave.

But I have to channel my inner gladiator, or so another poster on the wall says. I’m not sure there’s a gladiator in me, more like a sloth who would be okay eating and sleeping through this.

Back when we made the Breakup Bucket List, I’d been excited to do all the things to forget my ex-fiancé, Landon. Now I’m questioning why I’m still going through with this. I haven’t seen or heard from the guy in nearly a year. After six years of talking multiple times a day, it’s still hard to get used to the silence.

I pick up the mask the teenage boy gave me when we checked in.

“You look like you’re ready to kill me,” Kenzie says, taking a step back. Her eyebrows raise and she’s got her hands out in front of her, as if I’m going to jump out and start punching her. Again, I’m not trying to channel Mulan here.

“I need to hype myself up for this, like that guy,” I say, casually pointing to the growling guy in the corner who’s now doing some kind of hop in the air. “Then again, I’d be fine to skip this and head out to get a shake. Preferably strawberry.”

Kenzie shakes her head. “No way am I going to let you out of this. It’s an activity to get aggression flowing.”

“Aggression? You make me sound like a feral cat.”

She laughs and I smile at the sound. It’s funny to think how close I’ve gotten to my sister’s best friend in the past few months. But each of my roommates have been lifelines as I’ve begun healing from the betrayal of being dumped a month before my wedding.

“It will be fun. And you only have a few more things to cross off before your cruise.”

I breathe out, smiling at that thought. My parents have been on countless cruises and vacations in my lifetime, usually leaving me and Hillary with a nanny or family while they went.

Landon and I had talked about going on a cruise together once we were married. So naturally, going on one without him is the ultimate ending to the list, and will hopefully cause me to be a transformed butterfly, as my other housemate, Evie, likes to say.

“I can’t wait for that. It’s the final note to my favorite song.”

“And which Kelly Clarkson song would that be?” Kenzie asks, staring at me with a small grin.

“I’m a fan of other artists, but Kelly’s songs have a way of diving into my soul.”

“Okay, Shakespeare, enough stalling. Let’s go.”

I slip the mask on top of my head, not pulling it over my face just yet. My mind is lost in the opportunities that await me in just a few days on the cruise. I’ve folded and marked up the brochure I got several weeks ago, to the point I can barely read some of the words.

I’ll be getting a massage, heading out on a ziplining trip—one of my bucket list items—and whatever else strikes that I feel like trying. Maybe Tiffany, who is coming with me, will allow us to relax some too. Because I need this vacation to destress from my job.

Since getting married to Drew two months ago, I feel like she’s been in the black hole of marriage. I hardly see her since she moved out of the house and into a cute little place on the outskirts of the city. A girl’s week away is just what I need to finalize my breakup list and move on with my life. Officially.

I’ve basically gone through the stages of grief at this point. I’m on the level of acceptance that a relationship might not be in the cards for me. Glancing at another man makes me feel like I’m supposed to take a test on a subject from back in high school when I haven’t studied in a year. I’ll probably come back from the trip still single.

Nothing wrong with that.

Kenzie walks out to the open area, a fenced section with several obstacles throughout. Instead of following, I pause at the door, hoping a longer delay will work in my favor to not actually shoot paintballs. If I cross the threshold, I’ve committed to this and I’m not there.

“What if we go do something more active outside of this field?” I ask, slightly hoping she’ll go for it. “I’ll even try rock-climbing.”

“Really?” Kenzie turns to me. “You’d rather scale up fifty feet than play hide-and-seek with paintballs?”

I can only see her expressive eyes through the mask but that, plus her words, force a laugh out of me. “Okay, maybe not fifty feet. What about a nice lunch where we talk about our feelings?”

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