Page 196 of My Rules

“Okay.” His eyes hold mine, as if knowing something is wrong.

“What?”

He raises an eyebrow. “What, what?”

“Tea?”

“You got it.” He stands and walks out of the room, and I close my eyes and internally kick myself.

He should run while he can.

“So ...” Rosemary smiles into her coffee. “What are you two going to do all week?”

“The question is what aren’t we going to do.” Blake winks across the table at me.

His sisters all laugh, and his dad nudges me with his elbow with a chuckle.

I force a smile.

The morning has been happy and jovial.

Blake’s family are beautiful people, and yet I’ve sat here all through breakfast feeling like an outsider. I mean, what’s the point of getting attached to them?

Just more people to lose.

They chat and laugh, and I stare into space a million miles away.

Coming here was a mistake.

Falling for Blake was the monumental mistake of all mistakes.

Now the worst possible scenario is going to come into play.

I’m going to lose him as a friend, which is something that I never, ever wanted to do.

It’s only early days. Hopefully we can ... be civil about this and retain our friendship.

I imagine a life without him in it, and my heart constricts.

So dumb, Rebecca.

“Okay, well, we should get going,” his father says. “Our plane isn’t going to wait for us.”

We all stand, and everyone says their goodbyes. Rosemary pulls me into her arms. “Have the best week, darling.”

“I will.” I hug her a little bit tighter.

It was nice nearly knowing you.

“Have a safe flight home.” I smile. I hug his sisters and then his father, and as they walk off into the distance, I’m left alone with Blake. I glance up, and he raises an unimpressed eyebrow.

“What?”

Huh?

“Are you still unwell?”

“I’m fine.”

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