Page 103 of Beautifully Wild

“Go on,” she says, her eyes rounding.

“I need to know I can trust you because I want you to know the truth about Samuel.” I reach for her hand.

Faith squeezes my fingers and gives me a nod. “I’ll always have your back.”

“Remember when you came home from college and said you can’t help who you fall in love with?”

Faith smiles. “And you told me to follow my heart.”

I nod because Faith fell in love with Jake when he was dating her best friend. She felt guilty about her feelings, and they never got together until he broke up with her friend. “Well, when my heart decided on Samuel, his circumstances are a little more complicated. It’s why I’m going to return to him. Maybe at the end of the year.”

“What?”

I blow out the air between my cheeks. “I miss him, and I don’t want to feel like this any longer.” Her eyes round. “But it will only be a short holiday…”

Sunday night, I meet Amy and Yasmine for a drink at our local hangout at The Bay.

“Have you spoke to Bree since you’ve been home?” Amy asks.

“No, only by text. She’s coming to Adelaide to visit her parents, so I assume we’ll all catch up then.”

“She’ll be asking questions,” Yasmine says and places a glass of sauvignon blanc in front of me.

“I wouldn’t be telling her what you told us,” Amy quips and takes a sip of beer out of a bottle. “Ah, I’ve missed the taste of Aussie beer.”

I chuckle at her content expression. “So, how’s the new job?”

Amy shrugs and flicks her ponytail over her shoulder. “I signed another contract leading me up to the Christmas break. I’ll be teaching grade four for the rest of the year.”

Yasmine grins. “Poor kids.”

“Poor me,” Amy replies quickly.

“What about your work?” I ask Yasmine. “Did you have great sales while you were away?”

“It appears many of my online customers followed me on Instagram and were inspired by our holiday. Boho dress sales are through the roof, and I have a huge backorder. I’m thinking of putting someone on to help with marketing.”

“I can help you set it up,” I say.

“Damn lucky you’re moving in with me then.” She gives me a wink even though we haven’t yet settled on a date. I take another sip of wine and push it away. I’m not in the mood to drink alcohol tonight.

Over the next hour, we reminisce about our holiday. It’s the thing about holidays—as soon as you’re home, everything goes back to normal, and it barely feels like you were away at all.

Except for my heart. A piece of it is still missing, and I’m not sure the ache will ever go away.

“I better get going. Big day tomorrow,” I say and roll my eyes.

“Call me tomorrow night,” Amy states and takes another sip of beer.

“Callmeon your lunch break. I want to know what Mr. Slimeball is up to.”

I chuckle at Yasmine’s description of Ethan. It’s the same description she used for Michael. She has barely spoken to him since arriving home and can now see why we were worried about her.

It’s a short walk back to our apartment complex, and I take the esplanade path even though the icy wind is whipping my face. When I open the door, the penthouse is in darkness with Mum and Dad already asleep.

I can’t shake the loneliness of missing Samuel even when I’m surrounded by friends. Even worse, tomorrow I have to work alongside the guy who once upon a time I trusted with my heart. After stomping all over it, he thinks he can win me back.

Loving Samuel has helped me to forgive him even though the memory of seeing his naked ass pumpingheragainst the wall is still ingrained in my thoughts.

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