Page 104 of Nothing to Do

“I never thought about it.”

“If she’d waited until he was in rehab, then what? He’d have an excuse to leave the program; would that be her fault too? He’d only left for love, right? The woman couldn’t win, no matter what she did. Put yourself in her shoes. See them as people, see her as a person. How would you react if Sway was your friend and Roman wasn’t a famous actor with millions of fans?”

That got her sister thinking, she could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. These were people, with real lives and real emotions. Sometimes the masses forgot that.

“It feels like they have… everything.”

And her sister wasn’t alone in that assumption. “I want to be with Zane because of who he is, not what he has. Shouldn’t all relationships be that way?”

“He loves her.” Alessia stacked her hands over her heart. “He loves her so much, and when it’s love like that—”

“Roman, like you know him, doesn’t exist. He’s a construct. And that’s okay, you’re allowed to believe it, everyone is. Love him, hate her, do what you need to do. Just don’t expect me to feel the same or feed the gossip monster.”

Shocked, Alessia sat back. “You really mean that.”

“I really do.” She picked up a glass to give Alessia. “Now drink this. It’s important to Roxie. And tell me what you want to eat. I’m starving.”

Without revealing the truth, she couldn’t make her sister see. She also didn’t want to share Sway’s private moment. Being in Zane’s world, and all that came with it, she’d need to practice discretion like she never had before.

Roxie was private. Zairn. Tripp. Sway. They might be new to her, but she had to treat them as precious. They’d opened themselves to her, she had to respect that trust, and guard it.

THIRTY-TWO

FOR MOST OF the day, she’d been searching the island for her things. Packing was no easy feat when her possessions were scattered in various locations around a whole island. One sandal proved particularly elusive, and it was a favorite too, she didn’t want to lose it and ha! There it was, right…

On her hands and knees, she stretched to reach under the bed to retrieve it.

“The sun’s gone down.”

His voice brought her head up.

Zane stood in the open doorway. The terrace behind him was the one she’d stood on that first day, staring out into the ocean, wondering what might come next. She never could’ve imagined him.

Grabbing the bed with her elbows, she held up her shoe.

“I was looking for this,” she said. “Found it.”

He sauntered her way. “You’ve been avoiding me all day.”

“I haven’t been avoiding you,” she said, holding the shoe to her chest as he approached. “I have to get everything together. Not like I’ll be back here any time soon.”

“You’ll be back here any time you want to be.” He bent to take her arms and help her to her feet. She stood for just a beat, then sat on the bed. “I can stay.”

“We talked about this.” She hooked her fingers into the pocket of his shorts. “There’s no point. I’m leaving too; our departure difference is only a matter of hours.”

“Everything is only a matter of hours.”

“Yes, okay,” she said, tick-tocking her head side to side. “If you want to get particular about it.”

“You can stay at the house.”

“You told me that already.”

He sat with her. “Roxie and Zairn are leaving with—”

“I know,” she said, resting a hand on his thigh. “If I told you last night that I wanted to stay at the house, would you have let me?”

“Yes.”

---