Page 46 of Flawless

Not that I was better myself. I purposely hurt Zenon to push him away. So, I know that I’m not the woman who deserves him.

I love him enough to admit that now.

“Danica,” Amaris says, catching up with me.

I turn and place my hands on my hips as I look at her. “Yes?”

“I wanted to come and apologize to you. The other night when we all started gossiping about what happened to you, that was very thoughtless and mean.”

When I don’t say anything, she continues.

“Sometimes, we, as the public, get caught up in celebrity lives. It gives us a lot to talk about, and it’s exciting. I think that we forget that you all are real people and that this stuff is really happening to you. It’s not something to just read about or see on TV, but it’s reality. It hurts you all the same way it would hurt us if it happened to us.”

Amaris looks back out at the ocean and then resumes.

“It’s like your life is part of the entertainment, too, and that can’t be easy or fun. So again, I apologize for the things that we said the other night.”

“Thank you,” I say softly, not sure if she truly means it.

“And about Zenon,” she says hesitantly with a shy smile as she tucks her hands into the back pockets of her cutoffs.

“Listen, we’re both grown women, Amaris. Let’s not pretend that you care about hurting my feelings. I know that you want Zenon, and if you think that I’m standing in your way of that, please let me assure you that I’m not.”

She eyes me closely, rolls her eyes, and then looks out to the ocean. I turn away from her and begin making my way back to the cottage again.

I have only taken a few steps before she says, “You don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?” I ask, turning around to face her.

“Zenon couldn’t be with another woman if he wanted to. Not me, not any of the beautiful, single women on this beach, or anywhere else in the world.”

Confused, I shrug my shoulders. “Yes, he can. Zenon can be with anyone he wants.”

“No, Danica. He cannot because he’s so deeply in love with you that he can’t see anyone else. You’re all he wants.”

Huffing out a breath, she places her hands on her hips and then looks back at me. “I basically offered myself to him on a silver platter with no shame. He turned me down. That’s not something that I’m used to.”

I can easily see that. Amaris is a beautiful, brown-skinned woman of about five-seven with long legs, large breasts, and a curvy body with nothing out of place. Her long braids frame a heart-shaped face, sparkling, warm, honey-brown slanted eyes, full lips, and dimples in her cheeks. Her teeth are evenly spaced, and her smile is perfect.

“What’s that got to do with me.”

“He told me that he wanted to fight for your friendship, and that you were worth fighting for. Zenon’s a good guy. When I first saw him, I was attracted to him and thought that we could have an amazing, hot fling.

“But in the short time that I have gotten to know him, I can see that there’s so much more to him. He seems to be battling pain of his own. There are so many women in the world looking for a man just like him. All I’m asking is that you make sure that you make his fight easy. Don’t give him hell, Danica.”

“And I should listen to you because?”

“Not any reason other than that you should just care, if you’re a half-way decent human being,” she says, shrugging.

I watch as Amaris turns and walks away from me this time.

“Amaris!” I call after her.

She stops, but this time, she doesn’t turn around.

“Thank you,” I say.

She nods, waves her hand in the air, and keeps walking.

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