Page 6 of Heart to Heart
“You’re such a cynic.” Kiki rolled her eyes.
“How many of these couples are even still together?” he asked. “Come on. Think about it. I’ll wait.” He gestured to his form slumped in the lawn chair, the metal hinges of which squealed with every movement of his body.
“Mainly because that chair will be stuck to your ass if you try to get up,” I quipped.
“That’s beside the point.” He playfully pointed at me. “Come on. How many, Keeks?”
“Three,” she muttered under her breath.
“I’m sorry,” Ethan cupped his hand up to his ear, “what was that?”
“Three. There are three couples still together.”
“Three out of how many?”
“Twenty. But you know what, I’m sure most—some—of those couples who didn’t work out wouldn’t trade their experience for the world.”
“More like all the money they made.”
Kiki shrugged. “Be all glass half empty all you want, but I predict a record number of applications this season. Tristan Tate is going to be up to his balls in young, beautiful, sing…Oh my God!” Kiki gasped, turning to me, eyes widening. “Single. You’re single.”
“Thanks for rubbing salt in my wounds. I thought we’d established that while I was sobbing with my head in your lap, wiping my nose on your jeans.”
“Wait, you did what?”
“Nothing.”
“We’ll circle back to that later.” She reached across the couch and took my hand in hers. “You should apply to be on the show.”
Ethan and I glanced at each other, simultaneously breaking into laughter.
“I’m serious,” she persisted. “You’ve only been ogling the man like a piece of meat since he walked out. I mean, what do you have to lose?”
“My dignity.”
“Oh, honey, you lost that in Lake Michigan earlier today. Please! You have to do this. Guy would shit a brick if you were chosen. It would be the ultimate fuck you.”
“Because getting back at my ex is a great reason to shoot my shot on a reality dating show, where I may be even more humiliated in front of a much larger audience.”
“Well, when you put it that way.” Defeated, Kiki slumped back against the couch. “If the roles were reversed, I would totally do it for you.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing they never will be.” I patted Ethan’s arm as I stood up to make my way to my bedroom to continue my sulking in the confines of my own four walls.
“Sleep on it,” Kiki called out to me.
I didn’t bother washing my face. The tears had taken care of that and, really, I had no energy for it, anyway. Exhausted, I fell onto my bed, my phone still clutched in my hand, knowing what I had to do before I could allow myself to sleep and try to erase all memory of this day from my brain. The light from my screen blinded me in the darkness of my room, a small favor considering Guy’s Facebook profile was still on display. Sadnessdissipated into anger, which slowly dissolved into pain as I took in the smile on his face, clearly thrilled to be pictured with Liz Bennet. I was certain that if I were to go through photographs of us, I wouldn’t see the same enthusiasm in the smile I saw in front of me.
He had to have known I would see it, that it would hurt me. Had he cared at all? Did he even pause to think about how it would make me feel before he changed his profile picture to one featuring him and his new girlfriend on the very day he broke my heart? Of course, he hadn’t. Thinking of others was not Guy’s forte.
And caring what he thought of me was no longer mine.
With my finger hovering over the button for far longer than it really should have, I mustered the strength to delete Guy, both symbolically and emotionally, from my life and all the other social media apps that Kiki had missed.
CHAPTER 3
TRISTAN
A quick rapon the door heralded the appearance of a mop of curly red hair attached to a young, perky production assistant, sticking her head inside my room. “We’ll be ready for you in five,” she proclaimed all too cheerfully.
