Page 56 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘You did it!’ She beams. ‘Number one. I knew you would be.’

‘We’ll find out for sure Friday,’ I say, mostly to remind myself that one possible win doesn’t equal fifty grand. But I now feel better about my chances.

* * *

Moments Later…

‘Our flight is in three hours,’ Hols says as we walk from the restaurant towards the beach. ‘Three hours to do anything we want.’

‘Guys!’ A voice stops us in our tracks and we both turn to see Celeste running our way. ‘Hang on!’

Hollyn frowns, lifting a shoulder and looking pretty uninterested in anything to do with Celeste.

‘Going to the beach? Mind if I join you?’

I want to say no. I’d rather just hang out with Hollyn, but that would be rude.

‘Sure?’ I say, flashing Hols an I’m sorry look. She forces a hesitant grin.

‘The more, the merrier,’ Hollyn says in a voice I know is fake.

Is she upset because she doesn’t like Celeste or because she wants to hang out with just me?

The three of us walk across the street towards the beach, Hollyn pulling her flip-flops off as we get to the sand.

‘I gotta say, Dax, I kinda want to know everything about you,’ Celeste says.

Hollyn’s face drops, and she takes Celeste’s words as a cue to walk ahead of us. She wastes no time heading straight to the ocean, glancing back at one point and flashing me an unsure smile before wading shin-deep into the surf, her long hair blowing in the breeze.

‘It’s cute you chose your best friend’s sister as your assistant. Have you two always been close?’ Celeste asks as we stop not far from where Hols is currently stepping into the ocean.

‘We were,’ I say, sitting in the dry sand. ‘But it’s been a long time.’

Celeste sits next to me, her long legs crossed over one another at the ankle. I lean forward, my elbows resting on my knees as I watch Hollyn stand in the surf, her arms out at her sides like she’s on theTitanicwith Leo himself. DiCaprio, not handlebar mustache dude.

She used to love that stupid movie. She’d bawl through the last hour and yell that Rosedidhave room for Jack.Two people could fit on that, even someone your size, she’d say to me, irritated as all get-out that someone as lovely as Jack had to die in the end.

I stare at Hollyn, pretending Celeste isn’t here. I’m really not sure how much longer I can hold in telling her how I feel. But if I do it now, after only being around her a couple weeks, it’ll just scare her off and that’s the last thing I want.

‘She’s cute,’ Celeste says.

I shake my head slowly. ‘She’s beautiful,’ I correct her.

Celeste is quiet for a moment. ‘You know who else is pretty beautiful?’

I glance over.

‘You.’ She runs a finger down my arm in a way that makes my skin crawl.

She tries to get close to me; I’m not sure I’ve ever met a woman this brazen. I think I prefer doing the chasing. How do I respond to this?

‘Congratulations on having that early lead,’ she continues, saving me from having to decide what to say to her earlier comment. ‘Your display was gorgeous. What got you into flowers?’

If she’s not going away any time soon, I might as well make conversation, so it’s not completely awkward.

‘My dad. He was a florist. Used to bring my mom flowers daily. I dunno, it stuck with me.’

‘How sweet is that?’ Celeste says with a swoony sigh. ‘Did he retire?’

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