Page 31 of Matched with Her Runaway Groom

Why the frustration? Because my body still reacts to him like no time has passed, like an unwilling soldier disobeying a commanding officer. So I’m giving myself a pep talk.

“He’s moved on. He’s dating the young Barbie look-alike, which means I need to stay the course and finish what I started.”The BBL.

I want to hate Savannah, but she seems like she’s just trying to go after what she wants in life, and I can’t blame her for that. But what about Landon? Did he duck into his room because he feels bad about parading his relationship around in front of me?

Back to mumbling to myself. “Focus on the future. What do you want to be when you grow up?” A lady passes me just as I say that, confused as to whom I’m having a conversation with. So I lift my hand to my ear as though I’m listening to someone through a Bluetooth mic. It does the trick.

My phone dings and an unfamiliar app symbol sits at the top of my screen. Whatever happened to no service on the cruise unless I upgraded? I drag my thumb down from the top and see it’s the Love, Austen app.

“You have new matches.” My thumb hovers over the box and then I tap it. Might as well give myself some hope that I’m not totally undateable.

The spinning wheel of death greets me and the matches won’t load because, as I guessed, there is no service again. Not unless I have the money to pay and I’ve got to save everything until I get another job. Well, except for the few souvenirs I might find.

I tuck the phone into my pocket and walk for a few more minutes. The sky is beautiful, causing me to stop and lean against the railing to take it all in. There are several shades of dark blue, the stars splattered across the canvas as if someone dipped a brush into white paint and flicked it.

“Okay, Rachelle,” I say to myself, keeping my voice lower so I don’t get any more weird looks, “I know you said the cruise would be the final achievement to finish the Breakup Bucket List, but because of unforeseen circumstances, we’re going to have to amend that.”

I pause, contemplating this decision. There’s no one else to witness it, but this needs to be the last piece to getting over Landon.

“You’ll go on a date with the highest match when you get home. A real date, where you actually try and don’t just go through the motions.”

Tiffany set me up on two dates and Evie volunteered a friend from work. They were all nice guys, but pushing me to date at the time didn’t help. Now I need to do it on my own, to heal my heart and tell myself I’ll be fine even if Landon has moved on.

My brain hangs onto the way Landon snuck off when he saw Savannah. It pulls up all the memories of our breakup. Disappearance, silence, simple explanations when a complex one was needed.

Maybe breaking up had really been for the best.

After checking out the few parties and grabbing a soda for Tiffany, I head back to the room. I’m exhausted after the emotional waves from the day and figure an early night will help me be refreshed for the morning.

Tiffany snores as though she’s a lumberjack sawing logs and I’m doing everything I can to keep from thinking Landon is a wall away in the room next door. It could’ve been us on this cruise together.

But I can’t go back down that train of thought. I’ve been able to get over him for the most part, I’ve just got to continue on the track that leads away from him. And I’ve got a new goal.

By the time morning hits, I feel like I slept a total of three hours, chopped up into segments. Maybe spa day would be better than racing today.

Tiffany is up before me, which is a surprise.

“Let’s go grab some breakfast,” I say knocking on the door to the bathroom. I’m hoping I don’t have to go by myself this time. And that Tiffany is feeling better, or else I’m flying solo for longer than an hour.

“Coming,” she says and I can hear her toothbrush whirring. I sit on the bed trying to be patient as my stomach rumbles with hunger. That’s what I get for not having an appetite when seeing my ex the night before.

Tiffany comes out in a sundress. “OK, I’m ready. Do you mind if we swim? I think my stomach can handle the water.” I can see the ties of her swimsuit peeking through her sundress straps.

I roll my eyes and say, “You’re making sure I’m not getting out of it, aren’t you?”

She grins as she slips her feet into her flip flops in the corner. “Ding, ding, ding. We’ve got a winner.”

I grab the pillow from the bed and chuck it at her. With her head down, she doesn’t have time to react and it nearly knocks her over.

“Wow! I can’t believe you just did that. Are you swimming or not?” Tiffany says, her hand on her hip.

“Sure, let me just change really fast.” I open my luggage and pull out the swimsuit option I purchased the night I ran into Landon at the store. I might as well give this one a try. After a few tugs to make sure everything is in place, I walk out, waiting for Tiffany to look up.

She turns and her jaw drops open. She lets out a little squeal. “Girl! That swimsuit is gorgeous. You are rocking it.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, the self-doubt creeping in.

“Are you kidding?” she says, walking closer. “The top is amazing, especially since you now have the boobs to fill it out.” She beams at me. “I love the floral print too. You should’ve told me you were buying it so we could’ve gotten matching ones.”

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