How to Honeymoon Alone

“I get it,” he says quietly.

I take a deep breath. “Anyway, I don’t know what Caleb told Kaelie, or his parents, or any of his siblings, actually. Maybe I should have spoken to them, but I had zero interest in that at the time.”

“Of course, not.”

I rest my other arm against the table. “What about your parents?”

His eyebrows narrow. “Mine?”

“Yes. How did they handle your sudden non-wedding?”

Phillip looks out at the ocean. “Well,” he says, “once the shock settled, they seemed pleased.”

“Pleased?”

His jaw tenses, his expression shifts into that of a man who decided he’s just overshared. “Yes.”

“You know,” I say, “if you were a witness on the stand, you’d be a difficult one to cross-examine.”

He looks back at me. “Yeah. I’ve been training for this very moment.”

“How about you? After the breakup, what did you feel?”

He looks at me for a long time. “We spoke about this before. Anger. Mostly at myself. And then…”

My curiosity is like a burning thing inside my chest. I wonder what happened to make Phillip and his ex call it off.

“And then?”

“Relief,” he says quietly. “That’s what I feel now, most of all.”

My mouth opens in soft surprise. Oh. That stage is hard to get to. “That’s good,” I say, nodding. “Isn’t it?”

“Mm-hmm. I’ve always been more of a clean break kind of person. When it’s over, it’s over.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“No contact?”

“None, when it’s possible,” he says. He looks down at our hands, where he is still holding mine. “That’s really why I went on this trip.”

“To… have a clean break?”

“Yeah. She needed to move her things out of my apartment. Sticking around wasn’t very appealing.”

Everything makes sense, now. The already planned out vacation days, the expensive trip. None of that had really been his main reason.

I look down at our hands, too. The back of his is tanned and broad, all of his fingers ringless. Just like mine. “So that’s what’ll happen to us, then? After our fictional breakup? A clean break.”

“Hmm. I wouldn’t mind a dramatic breakup scene with unraveled knitting, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“I’ll see what sort of drama I can come up with.”

“I have full confidence that you’ll think of something,” he says. “Maybe fall into the pool this time?”

“Very funny.”

He leans in closer. “She’s still watching us.”

It takes me a second to remember what she he’s referring to. “Oh. Darn.”

“Means I’ll have to up my act a bit.” He extends his free hand, the one not holding mine, and tips my head back. “You liked kissing me, you said.”

“I did say that,” I whisper. “Wouldn’t mind doing it again in service of a cause.”

A quick smile flashes across his lips, there and gone. “Such pillow talk.”

Then, he presses his lips to mine again, and all thoughts of called-off weddings, of Kaelie and Caleb, and Phillip’s mysterious ex-fiancée, disappear.

I’m my vacation self. And my vacation self is kissing a handsome man in candlelight, next to the softly rolling waves. Tomorrow can wait…

I’m enjoying the present.

I’m back in the resort’s giant lobby, standing by the plush sofas and waiting for Phillip to arrive. The space is quickly becoming familiar after all the times I’ve lingered here. I’m usually never this early. Never early anywhere, really, always arriving with my breath too fast and my car keys in hand.

But today I’d woken up earlier than usual, and I’d braided my hair and been fully dressed more than fifteen minutes before I needed to head down to meet him.

All of that, of course, is because of it. The kiss that has now turned into two kisses, neither of which we’ve talked about in any detail. Maybe kisses don’t need to be discussed, but I’m not sure of that, either. It’s been seven years since I kissed anyone but my ex.

Phillip had kissed me long and deep in the restaurant last night, in front of everyone. Kaelie, and the servers, and the happy honeymooners. And when he’d pulled back, his eyes had been slightly glassy. Still good? he’d murmured, and the only thing I could do was nod.

Yes. Very, very, very.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to see Becky’s name.

I can’t believe Kaelie is there, or that you kissed the hot stranger again… to make her report back to Caleb that you’re having a rebound?

Reading it back makes it sound absurd. Lurid. It definitely sounds like it’s something that’s happening to another person. Not me.

Yes. I can’t believe it either, but yes.

The three dots appear, and I can imagine Becky furiously typing.

What are the damn ODDS that Kaelie shows up?? She has to be there to spy on you? But why?

I don’t know. I’m having dinner with her tonight. We’ll see…

Exciting. I have to say, I’m loving your rebound guy’s attitude. Making out with you to make sure K had something to gossip about. That’s the kind of energy we need!

I chuckle and glance around, but no one is paying attention to me and my phone conversation.