Page 93 of Vacation Friends

Maddie crossed her arms. “Don’t play stupid. Everyone knows about the two of you, and you aren’t even keeping your feelings a secret. I thought you were smarter than that. Or did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

“What did you expect me to do?” He hurled the words at her. “You became so cold and distant. Don’t you realize how important sex is to a man?”

Anger coursed through her veins. “Don’t you realize how important it is to a woman that you respect her boundaries? That you remain faithful?”

They stared at each other several minutes, reams of unspoken conversations pulling taut between them.

Finally, Maddie shook her head and took a step back. “You know what? I’m done. I’ve been done. I’m tired of pretending we’re going to be something we’re not. The two of us started off strong, and I thought we had a lot of potential. But as we’ve tried to navigate life together it’s become clear we’re too different. We want different things in life. I’m so thankful I realized this before we tied the knot and made it official.”

Josh closed his eyes, and his head dipped forward as if he’d suddenly sobered. “Madison . . . you don’t mean that. We can make this right.”

“It’s too late to make things right.” Her voice didn’t leave any room for argument. “Goodbye, Josh.”

Before he could stop her, Maddie stormed toward the door and slammed it shut as she left.

Maddie thought when she got back to her room that she might feel bad. Burdened. Sad.

Instead, she felt lighter than she had in months.

She should have stuck to her guns and called things off with Josh when she initially realized they weren’t meant to be a couple. Staying together simply because he’d asked had been a major mistake.

Maddie had known it. She couldn’t deny she had.

But at least she’d done the right thing now.

She dropped onto the edge of her bed and looked at the beautiful two carat diamond ring on her hand. She’d been so excited the day Josh had proposed in Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage. She hadn’t had a single doubt in her mind when she said yes.

Thankfully, the two of them hadn’t rushed to the altar. That would have been a huge mistake. Because so much had changed since then. Or perhaps more accurately, so much had been revealed since then.

Maddie took the ring off and set it on her nightstand.

If she’d been thinking things through clearly, she would have given the ring back while she was in Josh’s room. However, she had no desire to go back there now and face him. She’d give him the ring later, after they’d both calmed down.

As she sat there, a door closed next door.

Josh’s door. Was he leaving?

She held her breath, praying he didn’t come to her room to try to talk again.

Preemptively, she rushed to her door and pressed her face into the peep hole.

Instead of coming to her room, Josh stomped down the hall, probably heading out to get a drink.

She squinted in surprise.

Maybe he wasn’t as broken up over their split as she thought.

That was good. The realization didn’t bother her. It was simply unexpected. But he should move on.

At least he wasn’t trying to have another conversation with her.

As she took a step back, her gaze skimmed the floor and she gasped.

A folded piece of paper waited there.

She blinked. How had she missed that when she’d walked in earlier? She supposed she’d been too distracted by her breakup. And the paper was close to the wall, so when she’d stepped inside, the note most likely was obscured by the door.

Maddie’s hands shook as she reached down to pick it up.

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