Page 30 of To Her

He slowly deflated as I yelled, but he still stood his ground. "Don't be mad at me when you're busy fucking other men," he shot back. "Kelly rang me and told me all about Alex. So don't play that card. I thought we had something. I thought we were together."

James's voice came from behind me, calm but cutting. "You would actually have to call someone, be around them, show some interest to be able to claim that card, mate."

And James wasn't wrong. I was done with feeling guilty, done with being the one who waited and wondered and made excuses.

"Yes, I did that," I admitted, my voice steadier now. "And I'm not even sorry about it."

Matt just looked sad. "Bye, then," he said, turning and leaving as abruptly as he'd arrived.

I felt hot tears in my eyes as I walked back to the bar and sat down. I downed my beer in one go, the bitter liquid doing nothing to wash away the bitter taste in my mouth.

Con, who was still sitting there, looked at me with a mixture of sympathy and hesitation. "If it helps," he said carefully, "he has a girlfriend. Her name is Jamie. She lives just out of town. They've been together for three months now. She has a kid, which is why I'm assuming he ghosts her all the time too."

I looked at him, struck dumb. "What?"

"Yeah," Con nodded. "Jamie is a friend of mine. Her best friend used to date my brother a few years back. She's super nice and sweet, but he ghosts her all the time, gives her no explanation as to where he is."

My stomach dropped as the realization hit me. "He's playing both of us," I said, my voice hollow. "And I'm here feeling guilty about moving on..."

Con looked at me with a sweet smile and held his hand out. "Hi, I'm Con. I'm not mean to women at all. In fact, most of my friends are girls. Let's be friends."

I smiled at him because I needed another friend, someone who wasn't tangled up in all this mess, someone who could offer a fresh perspective.

James laughed at us. "Come on, let's pour a quick shot of tequila and move on from this mess. The afternoon shift is about to start, and I refuse to allow dickheads like that to kill our vibe."

Con nodded enthusiastically. "Shots!"

Marco, who'd been quietly observing the whole scene, pulled out a bottle of tequila and four shot glasses. "To new friends and leaving assholes in the past," he toasted, raising his glass.

"To new friends," I echoed, clinking my glass against theirs before throwing back the shot.

The tequila burned its way down my throat, but it was a good burn—cleansing, clarifying. In that moment, I felt something shift inside me. The weight of guilt and confusion I'd been carrying around lifted slightly. Matt had a girlfriend—had had one the entire time we were whatever we were. I wasn't the other woman; I was just another woman he was stringing along.

And suddenly, the idea of escaping to Alpine Ridge for the winter season seemed even more appealing. A fresh start, away from the drama, in a place where I could reinvent myself. Maybe I'd even make some new friends, like Con, who seemed genuinely kind and straightforward.

"So, about that job at Alpine Ridge," I said to Con as James and Marco moved away to prepare for opening. "Tell me more."

His face lit up. "Seriously? You're interested?"

I nodded, surprising myself with how certain I felt. "Yeah, I think I am."

As Con launched into details about the application process and what life was like at the resort, I felt a strange mix of emotions—anger at Matt for his deception, relief at finally having clarity, excitement about the possibility of a new adventure, and a lingering sadness for what might have been if things had been different.

But mostly, I felt free. Free from the cycle of hope and disappointment that had defined my relationship with Matt.Free from the guilt of moving on with Alex. Free to make choices based on what I wanted, not what someone else might think or feel.

It was a heady feeling, that freedom. And as I listened to Con talk about snowboarding and staff parties and the breathtaking sunrises over the mountains, I allowed myself to imagine a future that looked nothing like my past. A future where I was in control, where I didn't wait for anyone's call, where I didn't make myself small to fit into someone else's life.

Maybe this was what growing up felt like. Maybe this was what it meant to truly move on.

Chapter 12

Geri

Two months later, my car slid into the parking lot designated for workers at Alpine Ridge. It was still a massive walk to the resort where I'd be working, but I couldn't contain my excitement. This was it—my fresh start, my escape, my chance to figure out who I really was away from all the drama.

I climbed from my little car and grabbed my suitcase, sending off a quick text to Con to let him know I'd arrived. Con had become a fast friend who slipped into my life easily. He reminded me a lot of James—super dependable, didn't want anything from me, and genuinely gave a shit about me. He was also not into me, or so I thought. I mean, one can't speak for someone truly, but he always had some girl he was currently talking to.

He wasn't a man-whore, but he took women out to dinner a lot, and it never went further than that. They would go out, eat, then he would drop them home and explain to me the next day that the spark wasn't there, so why bother stringing them along? He was always super upfront with them too, and honest. I loved that about him.

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