Page 26 of The One That Got Away

‘Go for it!’ I said to Stella. Even though I didn’t think she had anything to be ashamed of, I knew that if she got the winning point it’d boost her confidence.

Stella hit the ball at full force and it flew past them before our opponents got the chance to return it.

Jasmine blew the whistle.

‘The winners are: Thunderbolt!’ she cheered.

‘Yes!’ I held my palm up for Stella to high five.

As our hands connected, something shot through me. Our team name felt appropriate because it was like a bolt of lightning had struck me.

‘We did it!’ Stella smiled.

‘Yeah,’ I grinned before realising our fingers were intertwined. I pulled my hand away quickly to avoid upsetting Stella. Not even sure how or why that’d happened, but I knew she’d want as little contact with me as possible.

‘Come up!’ Jasmine said excitedly.

Stella got out of the pool and I averted my eyes to the other guests, then to the sky. Anywhere but looking at her arse.

‘Team Thunderbolt: it gives me great pleasure to present your prize.’ She whipped out a gold envelope. ‘Who’d like to do the honours?’

‘Ladies first,’ I gestured to Stella. It was probably something crappy like a bottle of wine so I wasn’t bothered. Knowing that we’d won was enough.

Stella beamed as she took the envelope. She made quick work of opening it. But when she pulled out the paper, her face fell and she glared at me. You didn’t need to be a detective to tell that Stella wasn’t happy.

‘No way,’ she scowled.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

When Stella handed me the paper, I winced.

Most couples would be thrilled with this prize, but not us. Never mind a bottle of wine. I think we’d both have been happier with a bottle of stagnant seawater.

This was the worst activity you could give a pair of exes who’d been forced together.

I was worried before about things getting awkward and I was right.

There was no way either of us would be going through withthis.

12

STELLA

‘Th-thank you…’ I plastered on a fake grin.

I didn’t want to sound ungrateful, but there was no way I was accepting this prize.

Once Jasmine had congratulated us again and the guests had dispersed, I turned to face her.

‘Um, Jasmine, this is really kind of you, but I’m not having a couple’s massage withhim.’

‘Maybe Stella can just use the voucher for two separate massage treatments or something?’ Max said.

That was decent of him to suggest. But he’d won the tournament too, so as much as I’d prefer to avoid him, it wouldn’t be fair for me to get all the benefits.

‘Or I could take one massage by myself and Max could take the other?’

‘Awww, I’m really sorry,’ Jasmine winced. ‘But this is a couple’s activity. It’s not a traditional massage. It’s a masterclass where you’ll learn how to massage your partner, so it won’t work as a solo activity. It’s not like you can massage your own back!’ She laughed as the blood drained from my face.

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