Page 24 of The Spy Who Ghosted Me

Mia and I did as Jade instructed, although we murmured about it the entire time. Within a few minutes we exited the loudness of the spa, wearing our tiny robes and shivering on the terrace, where classical piano music serenaded us and eleven hulking massage therapists—both male and female—stared us down. Uh ... did Soren fly them in from a bodybuilding competition?

“Someone better crank up the heaters,” Mia complained out loud. I loved that about her.

Jade clucked her tongue. “They were just turned on, and the beds are heated, so you’ll be plenty warm.”

Tell that to my goose bumps. I wanted to crawl under the cover sheet on one of the beds, but I wasn’t exactly sure I wanted the hulking creatures touching me.

“Pick a table, ladies,” Jade shouted.

Mia and I ran to the beds at the end, near two large standing heaters, the kind restaurants use during the cold months so people can still enjoy patio dining. Unfortunately, two brutish-looking men walked over to our massage beds. Seriously, their biceps were as big as their heads.

When my massage therapist, whose name tag read Felix, pulled down the cover for me, I squeaked out, “Be gentle.” I tried to sound like I was teasing, but I meant it.

His stoic face didn’t move a muscle.

With great trepidation, I crawled onto the bed, and Felix pulled the sheet and blanket over me. “Feel free to take your robe off.”

Uh ... “Don’t you think we should have a conversation first?” I teased, trying to ease my nerves.

Once again, Felix failed to find me amusing. He just waited for me to get uncomfortable.

I shimmied out of my robe, making sure the sheet covering me didn’t move an inch. As soon as my robe was off, Felix became my new best friend when he placed hot stones on top of the covers. Instantly, I stopped shivering and let out a deep sigh.

Mia and I looked at each other and tried not to giggle at the position we’d found ourselves in.

“I’ll start with your feet and work my way up,” Felix informed me in his deep, rumbly, probably steroid-laced voice.

I nodded, thinking maybe I’d just have him work on my feet the entire time. Who didn’t love a good foot rub? You know who was excellent at giving foot rubs? Cash. Ugh. I needed to stop thinking about him.

The terrace quieted as soon as the massage therapists went to work. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about who was rubbing my feet, only that he was excellent at his job. Like wow, he had magic hands.

Unfortunately, the quiet didn’t last. Jade and several of the other bridesmaids asked Lexi to recount how she and Soren met, like we all hadn’t heard the story at least a dozen times. I’d heard it from Lexi at least three times since I’d arrived.

Lexi was more than happy to gush about it. “Soren is such an adventurer, and he loves spelunking. And everyone knows we have one of the best cave systems in the world. He was doing a tour, and at the time I was totally into Shane, one of the tour guides, so I frequently joined his tours. I had no idea I would meet the love of my life this go-around.” She sighed. “It was so romantic. I almost slipped on the wet rocks while we were passing one of the underground waterfalls. He caught me, and it was love at first sight.”

I wanted to roll my eyes but couldn’t. It was kind of how I’d felt about Cash. There I went, thinking about him again.

“Soren said finding me was like discovering buried treasure.”

Several of the bridesmaids oohed and aahed.

Maybe it was kind of sweet, but something about Soren was fishy, so it tainted the entire story.

I hoped I would now be granted the privilege of going back to simply focusing on Felix’s heavenly touch. That was wishful thinking.

Lexi had the worst idea ever. “Let’s play truth or dare.”

What? No. The only sound you should hear during a massage is soothing music. Sadly, all the other women, excluding Mia and me, thought it was a great idea. Either that, or they were all afraid of Bridezilla. It was probably the latter.

So while Felix worked his magic, and I do mean magic, I had to listen to the cringiest confessions of all time. Nothing was out of bounds for Lexi to ask. Everything from Have you ever cheated on someone? to What’s the meanest thing you’ve ever done? to Who do you hate the most? Let me just say I didn’t want to be friends with Lexi’s friends. One girl admitted to cheating, one to using sextortion, and Jade admitted to hating Lizzie in the group. I guess it was okay, because Lizzie said she hated Jade. I would have been in tears if someone had said that to me.

By the time my dear sister made it to me, I’d made up my mind to say dare. No way was I confessing anything to these vicious women. Not that I had any big secrets. I’d certainly never cheated on anyone, and the worst thing I’d managed to do was when we pranked our teachers in high school by wrapping all the chairs in bubble wrap. I still felt guilty about it.

“Okay, Sabrina,” Lexi evilly sang. “Truth or dare, big sister.”

“Dare.”

A hush went across the terrace.

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