4: 4
Nicholas lied to me.
Penny was fired. Everyone knew that. And still he told me she'd quit on her own.
He'd tell any lie to protect her.
And this time it had to be so the two of them could sneak off and go at it!
I was so furious I cursed out loud. "Go to hell, Nicholas Rowe!!"
*Meet up my ass! Get lost!*
Nicholas came out of the bathroom, staring at me, baffled.
"What is it? What did I do this time, that you want me dead?"
I let out a cold snort. "Yes. I want you dead!"
He clearly had no idea what I meant.
He didn't fight me on it, just walked out of the room.
There it was.
A man with something to hide won't ask a single extra question.
Through the window, he ran into Penny, and a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.
Ha. What an actor.
They talked for a bit, then went their separate ways.
Right.
They must have agreed to meet up in that room.
Too angry to sit still, I changed into a bikini and stretched out on a lounge chair, skin like snow, figure to die for.
One after another, guys came over asking for my number.
I turned them down politely. "Sorry, I don't know how to use a phone."
Until—
"Sherry? I can't believe I ran into you again!"
That evening, after dinner, Nicholas barely gave me the time of day.
He didn't even reply to me as my online-boyfriend self.
Before he went out, he asked, "You and Earl Morton planned to come to Miami together?"
I thought about how happily he and Penny had chatted that afternoon.
The "no" already on my lips came out as, "That's right!"
Nicholas's whole body went rigid, the corner of his mouth twitching before he wanted it to, and he slowly forced out one word. "Fine."
My chest felt tight and heavy. I sent a message to Nicholas, the online version of him:
*Baby, why won't you comfort me? Just because I won't do that with you?*
No reply.
I found a quiet corner in the hotel and drank alone for a while.
By the time I was drifting back to the room, half-drunk, Penny was hauling Nicholas back too, propping him up.
"Miss Winslow, Mr. Rowe is drunk…"
Looking at her helpless expression, something bitter rose in my chest.
So he'd been with her the whole time…
I pulled Nicholas onto my shoulder.
"I get it. You can go."
She turned to leave, then suddenly stopped, lowered her eyes, and said, "Miss Winslow, the truth is, Mr. Rowe… loves you very much."
My body went stiff for a beat.
I didn't look at her.
I shut the door.
Penny was the campus beauty of our high school, and Nicholas's first love, the one who got away.
That letter I once swallowed was meant for her.
"Are you insane?! Sherry!!"
Nicholas pounded on my back, trying to make me spit the paper out.
I laughed like a brat, stuck out my tongue. "Swallowed it. Can't spit it back up now! Nyah-nyah-nyah~"
He was so furious he didn't speak to me for days.
Back then, I liked Nicholas.
Good-looking, top grades, and on the basketball court he could send a whole crowd of girls swooning.
And he was my childhood friend.
I was completely possessive of him.
Because of that letter, I thought we were through, so I went and confessed to the campus heartthrob on purpose.
Only, on the way there, Nicholas dragged me into an alley and kissed me hard!
"You ugly little troll! From now on, every time you confess to someone, I'll wreck it!"
We tore into each other, day and night, for years.
But once Penny showed up, Nicholas stopped fighting me, stopped stirring things up.
The smoke between us slowly settled.
I thought I'd never get tangled up with Nicholas again. I never imagined that after college, the two of us would actually get married.
Even if it was a fake marriage, with a fake marriage certificate we ordered off some knockoff site…
Looking at Nicholas's flushed cheeks, I couldn't help patting them.
I bent down and pecked lightly at his lips.
But the next second his eyes snapped open, his hand cupped the back of my head, and those soft lips pressed up against mine!
I didn't pull away.
If we were both drunk anyway, then why not go along with it!
I kissed him back, and he kissed me like a conquest, until I couldn't breathe.
My mind went blank.
There was only how good it felt, everything falling into place.
He and I threw ourselves into it like never before, both of us wanting to crush the other deep into our own bodies!
A night of fierce heat, and it was very late before we slept.
The next day at noon, my eyes flew open, my head splitting.
The phone was ringing. It was Earl Morton, of all people.
I was about to hang up when a sinister voice came from behind me. "Sherry, you sleep with me and then you go sleep with someone else?!"
