Page 27 of Commit

“I didn’t know my charms were life-threatening.”

I roll my eyes, glaring at Jana. She shrugs, mouthing sorry back at me.

Maid of honor? Ha! They should call me maid of horror because I’m going to kill the bride.

Each pair drags their boat off the sand and into the shallow water. The hotel guide lifts a yellow flag, and we all hold our breath until he yells, “Go!”

The next few minutes are a rush of pushing the boats into the water and pulling ropes so that the sails line up with the wind.

I glance to the side at the other catamarans. “Uh, Matt? I think we’re going in the wrong direction.”

Matt pulls on a rope, trying to get us lined up diagonally with the breeze. “We’re fine.” He looks up at the sail, giving me the perfect opportunity to study him. His brown hair is blowing back. He’s added sunglasses and a fitted black lifejacket. So now it’s his toned arms that I’m examining.

“I like being in last place,” he says, keeping his gaze on the mast. “It makes it more exciting when we come back and win.”

“Right.” I tuck my legs under me as I sit on the side of the boat and watch him struggle.

I could be more helpful, but Matt being out of his element has always been my favorite thing. He’s just so perfect all the time that I can’t help but enjoy the times when everything goes wrong for him.

His head drops to mine, and his lips tilt with confidence.

“I wasn’t watching you,” I defend. “I was critiquing your sailing.”

“If you say so.”

I don’t know what game Matt and I are playing. There’s flirty banter and some kind of enemies-to-lovers flair, except in reverse.

Lovers to enemies.

Is that a thing?

I’m not sure I even want it to be a thing.

For the last two months, I was worried I’d broken Matt’s heart, and now I’m afraid that I haven’t. He seems fine.

More than fine.

I’m glad he’s doing okay—at least, I’m trying to be glad about it. I hated thinking that I’d hurt him. I love Matt. The last thing I want is for him to suffer, but now I kind of wish he was suffering just a little bit. Would it be too much to ask for him to feel sadness over our breakup? Like a tear or glossy eyes full of moisture? Just any kind of moment where he thinks, Dang, Remi was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I miss her.

I’ve had plenty of those moments thinking about him.

“Co-bie Cat! Co-bie Cat!” Lissy cheers twenty feet away as their catamaran goes sailing past ours. She’s holding onto the ropes, leaning out past the side of the boat—life jacket nowhere in sight—showing off the best bikini bod I’ve ever seen.

But Matt doesn’t even notice. He’s competitive, and the fact that Cobie just passed us is probably driving him crazy.

“Watch your head,” he says as he ducks under the boom, flipping the sail to the other side of the catamaran. “We’re going to pull ahead of Cobie Cat.”

The boom swings around, and the sails flip to the opposite direction. “I don’t think that’s smart,” I say as I duck. “This direction doesn’t have us lined up with the wind.”

“It’s going to help us gain some speed.”

“Matt, you don’t know how to sail.” I stand, holding onto the mast. “And the guide said never?—”

The wind catches the sails wrong, and suddenly, the opposite side of the craft starts tipping into the water.

“Matt!”

He works fast, pulling the ropes, but it’s too late. The catamaran flips sideways, and Matt gets flung into the ocean while I lurch forward, landing on top of the rainbow-colored sail that is now bobbing in the water.

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