Page 33 of The Fallacy of True Love
If that was a prerequisite, then Dani and I wouldn’t have dated in the first place. Hell, that would mean she and Aaron were destined for each other. Both their parents would probably throw a party if they did get together now. No—a gala.
“Shit.”
Cam’s sudden exclamation pulled me out of my contemplation. I focused on the scowl she aimed at some undistinguishable point in the distance.
“I thought you talking was annoying, but you being this quiet is freaking me out.”
That drew out a laugh from me despite everything. “Sorry.” I didn’t know why I’d shared as much as I did, but something about her just had me talking. It felt like I’d unloaded a bit of the weight off my chest, and yet saying the words out loud made the situation all the more real. And so I searched for a different topic. “Do you always walk here alone?”
“That sounds like a sucky pick-up line.”
“I’m serious, Cam. Is it safe?” We’d left the rows of houses behind and reached where the gravel gave way to rocky sand. There didn’t seem to be anyone around, but if we’d ventured out earlier, it would have been pitch black. Way too easy for a stranger to creep up on a woman out on her own.
“This isn’t Manila.” She glanced at me, and the crease between her brows lightened. “Not that I owe you an explanation, but I studied self-defense. Plus, I usually hold onto my keys.”
My stomach tightened because I knew what that meant. Luna used to do the same when she lived in Manila, tucking her key ring in her fist with one key peeking out between clenched fingers. “Good.”
“I know how to take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for years.”
“Since you moved here?”
“Longer.”
My brows rose. “When you say take care of yourself, what do you mean exactly?”
The corners of her mouth tightened. “However way you can imagine.”
Her vague answer had my brain snagging, and despite knowing I was pushing my luck, I persisted. “What?—”
“That’s all you’re getting,” Cam grumbled, lengthening her stride.
“Okay, okay.” I filed it in my ever-growing mental compartment of things I’d never know, telling myself to let it go. That was a puzzle I didn’t need to decode.
“Do you always interrogate strangers?” she asked.
“Only the ones I keep running into. I take coincidences as a sign.” Without looking at her, I could tell she was rolling her eyes. I continued talking anyway. “I think meeting a stranger over and over again means we aren’t supposed to be strangers after all.”
“Sounds like stalker logic to me.”
I laughed. “Maybe this is the universe telling us we should be friends. Or at the very least, that you should give me a tattoo.”
“Ha! In your dreams.”
Now that we were closer to the beach, the sounds of the waves crashing grew louder. A pair of surfers stood with their boards by the shore while a third paddled out.
“Watch out for the boards,” Cam told me without looking away from the sea. “Bye, Manila.”
I stood still, watching as she headed to the single-room shack where locals stored their surfboards. My eyes drifted down her body, taking in the black rash guard she wore with matching board shorts.
My stare lingered on her backside far longer than it should have before I pulled it away to settle on the sea. Guilt and confusion gnawed at me.
For years, I’d never let myself look at any girl aside from Dani. She was the only one for me.
We’d been each other’s firsts. I thought that also meant forever.
Dani said we could work through this, but could we? She’d broken the trust I’d implicitly given her, and I couldn’t see a way that we could ever get it back.
Maybe the real question was, did I actually want to?
