Page 73 of 10 Days to Ruin

The straw bends between my teeth. My mind briefly goes into replay mode:Sasha’s scarred torso glistening under spa lights, his grip on my hips firm enough to bruise. His breath hitching when I dragged my nails down his chest?—

“It was just a massage. He sucked. I’ve had better for ten bucks in Koreatown.”

Lie. Such a big, fat, embarrassing whopper of a lie. It was the best massage of my entire life.

His technique had been devastating. Clinical at first, then deliberate. Punishing. A thumb pressed to the pulse point behind my knee. A knuckle dragged up the arch of my ankle. My body had turned traitor, arching into every touch like a fucking submissive.

Gina scoots closer. “Suckedwhat?”

I roll my eyes so hard I see my own prefrontal cortex. “You’re not helping.”

“I’m trying, but you gotta give some to get some, girl. Bratty first date? Backfired. Office tease? Backfired. Spa tease? Extra backfired.” Gina’s brows waggle. “Face it, Ariel—your repellent game is working about as well as a screen door on a submarine.”

I slump, defeated. Gina’s right. The office stunt? He’d looked at me like I was course number one at the Last Supper. The rude diner act? He’d sent dishes back without blinking. The spa?Christ.Let’s not revisit the spa.

“We need a new strategy,” I blurt. “He’s like a horny Terminator. Nothing fazes him.”

“Wrong.” She leans forward, eyes glinting. “Everything fazes him. That’s why he’s still chasing. You’re the first thing that hasn’t fallen at his feet.”

I flick a sugar packet at her. “Insightful. Got a plan or just commentary?”

“Glad you asked.” She whips out her phone, pulling up a Pinterest board titledHow to Lose a Guy in 10 Hikes. “We go full Basic Becky. Nature edition.”

I’m dubious, to say the least. “Hiking? Gina, you and I walked the mile every single P.E. class from third grade to senior year. That’shorizontal,and I still hated it. Now, you want me to go uphill?”

“That’s my point exactly,” she insists. “You were miserable for every single one of the twenty-three minutes it took us to walk that mile. Imagine how insufferable you’ll be when there’s elevation involved?”

My lips purse up as I think through the scenarios. “I’m not totally sure that’s a compliment, but okay, fine. I guess I’m just not sold. We really think that some mildly irritating exercise is gonna work when literally nothing else has?”

Gina shrugs. “If you have better ideas, I’m all ears.”

I press my forehead flat to the tabletop as I think. “I wish I could just stick him on the mountain and leave him there. That way, I could— Wait.” I bolt upright and look at Gina. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

She grins wickedly. “I think I’m thinking exactly what you’re thinking.”

Perfectly in sync with each other, we chorus,“Leave him there.”

It’s simple.

It’s genius.

Maybe this time, it’ll actually work.

Or maybe not.

Two hours later, I’m standing in my closet, holding up a pair of sequined booty shorts that even a Vegas showgirl would side-eye. “This is insane.”

“That’s the point!” Gina’s voice crackles through my AirPod. “We need distractions so he doesn’t catch on. You’re gonna be a glitter bomb in the wilderness. A peacock in REI.”

I toss the shorts aside, reaching for a mesh crop top with strategic cutouts. “What if I get poison ivy on my… everything?”

“Then Sasha will carry you back to civilization and rub calamine lotion on your hoo-ha. It’s a win-win.”

“I hate you.”

“Love you more. Now, don’t forget the Bluetooth speaker in your Juicy Couture fanny pack. Have it on full blast the entire time.”

“I’m getting less and less sure about this by the minute, Gee.”

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