Page 43 of Guava Flavored Lies

She needed to get away from Lauren. Being around her was having a destabilizing effect. Sylvie held on to the bar to steady herself while she put on her shoes.

Lauren scratched the back of her neck and glanced away for a moment before returning her attention to Sylvie who had managed to get her sneakers on. They were packed with sand, but at least they were on her feet.

“We broke up actually.”

Heat rushed over Sylvie’s face. All she wanted to do was bolt to her car.

“Oh,” she replied uselessly before thinking of something else to say. “I wasn’t trying to be a dick. I didn’t know.”

Lauren shrugged. “You didn’t have any way of knowing.” One of her lethal dimples broke through when she smirked. It was a gut punch making Sylvie sway. “Unless you happen to follow her on Insta. Then you’d learn, just like I did, that she’s back in California and spending a lot of time with her ex-girlfriend.”

Cringing, Sylvie wished she’d kept her mouth shut. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, defeated and resigning herself to the awkwardness of the moment.

Lauren replied with a shrug. “No reason to be sorry. It was a long time coming. Sometimes things don’t work together no matter how hard we try.”

Sylvie nodded, not that she’d ever tried particularly hard to make a relationship work.

“How about some water?” Lauren gestured toward an open cooler near the exit to the loading zone.

Sylvie nodded.

After chugging half a bottle of icy cold water, Sylvie felt better. The world around her stood still. Well, it spun a little less and that was good enough.

“So, what’s up with you? You haven’t even insulted me once today.” Lauren started to walk out of the tent and Sylvie followed.

Sylvie tried not to notice how Lauren’s shorts exposed her thick hips and shapely thighs. How her smooth calves flexed when she walked.

As they strolled toward the water, the thumping music grew quieter. “I’m sure that’s not true,” Sylvie replied after another sip of water. “I’m sure I insulted you plenty.”

“Nope.” Lauren assured her with a shake of her head. “Not once.”

Sylvie paused and stared at her, intending to be dramatic, but getting caught in a trap instead. With the lights from the festival behind them and the full moon glowing above, Lauren’s smile was heart-stopping.

“I have to go,” Sylvie blurted.

“I’ll take you home. There’s no way you’re driving anywhere.” Lauren’s response was so fast it was obvious she had it loaded in the chamber and ready to fire.

“Was this your plan all along?” Sylvie crossed her arms over her chest.

“Plan?” Lauren chuckled. “Everything isn’t a ploy, Syl.”

“I can get myself home. I’ll call for a ride.”

Lauren shook her head. “Do you know what that’s going to cost? Midnight? On a Friday? From the beach to Miami Lakes?” She slipped her hands into the back pockets of her denim shorts. “Plus, I’ll even drive your car so you have it tomorrow.”

Sylvie narrowed her eyes, the booze flooding her brain made it hard to see the trick. To figure out what advantage Lauren was trying to snatch. Maybe she just wanted to rub it in Sylvie’s face later. When she couldn’t see the motive for herself, Sylvie gave in and asked. “Why would you do that?”

Lauren’s dark eyes widened. “Why don’t I want to leave you drunk and alone twenty-five miles from home in the middle of the night?” She laughed, the throaty sound was starting to make Sylvie hypertensive. “Do you really have to ask that? Would you leave me if the roles were reversed?”

Sylvie didn’t have an answer. She wasn’t sure that she would put herself out there the way Lauren did. She wouldn’t want to risk the rejection. Even if she would be worried about her, she wasn’t confident that she’d be as relentless as Lauren.

“Come on.” Lauren started walking with unshakable confidence that Sylvie would follow. As if they’d already discussed it.

“Hey! I never accepted your stupid ride!” Sylvie complained, rushing to catch up to Lauren and her stupid long legs.

Without looking back, Lauren held something above her head and shook it as she walked. “That’s your problem. I already took your keys out of your bag.”

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