Wild Nights With My Brother's Ex-Best Friend novel Chapter 87

NICOLE

We'll be leaving tonight, and the truth is that I wish we could stay longer, even though I have responsibilities awaiting me back home.

But I don't want to think about that.

I'm in the lobby, waiting for Roman because he forgot his wallet back in the room. He's been so distracted lately, but it's a good look on him. Different from what I saw back home.

I'm having a fun, wild time with him...but there's a part of me that keeps wondering what'll happen when we get back.

Will this last? Do I truly believe him when he says he'll do what he can to stay with me?

I don't want him to go to jail.

Not for me.

I'm chewing my bottom lip while thinking about this when I'm approached by someone unexpected. My heart sinks a little at the sight of his face.

Roman's friend. Malcolm. The one I met at the beach.

"Hello," he says with a smile as he approaches me. "It's nice to see you here. Where's Roman?"

"Oh, he's upstairs. He'll be down in a second."

"I see," he replies with that same smile. It's so fake it's almost uncanny. "Well, I've got to run, but I want to ask you to send regards to your...father."

I nod, swallowing, and he walks away. I don't like how he said the word father. To me, it sounded like he was implying something.

Or am I being paranoid?

Carmen and I look very different, from our skin tones to our hair colors. Only someone who truly didn't know her would believe I was her.

Maybe Roman made a mistake when he told him that.

At last, Roman shows up, and he smiles at me even from a distance. I push all this to the back of my mind, but before that, I briefly ask myself if I should mention the encounter to him.

I decide against it before he even reaches me.

"Ready?"

We walk out of the hotel and make it to the city's center in no time. We walk hand-in-hand, taking in all the pretty sights. It's getting increasingly harder to ignore the nagging in the back of my mind, but I push through it.

Focus on the moment.

A shop with pretty handmade dresses catches my attention, and I find my footsteps slowing while my attention is solely on the mannequin.

"Pretty dress," Roman comments beside me. "Maybe you should try it on?"

"No," I say quickly and dismissively, but Roman sees right through my act and practically drags me inside the shop despite my protests.

It smells of lavender. The woman behind the counter approaches us with a friendly smile, and before I know it, I'm in the fitting room with Roman to try on the new dress.

There's barely enough room for us both. He's seated on the small wooden bench and his knees are touching the back of my legs. The mirror in front of me is full-length.

I give Roman a look. "Is this really necessary? You don't have to be in here with me."

I end up taking two more dresses and Roman pays before I even have a chance to protest.

He carries the shopping bag. His other arm goes around me. The city's starting to fill up with lots of tourists. Roman says, "We should come back here someday."

"Sure," I agree. I don't know how I feel about his statement.

Roman tightens his arm around me and doesn't comment. I wonder if he senses it, too. My confusion. We head into the restaurant to have lunch, and things feel a lot calmer between us. We don't discuss the fact that we'll return soon. We don't talk about how life will be after this place.

It's hard to believe that, a few days ago, I was in a relationship with Sebastian and I was on that cruise ship with him.

Roman inches closer to me and says, "I don't like it when you're in this state. What are you thinking about?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

He sits back in his chair, assessing me. "Everything will be different. You'll see."

God, I want to believe that. So, so much. But the truth is I'm not ready to rejoin real life. It all feels so daunting.

And despite his words, I can tell he feels the same way.

"We'll do it together," he finally says. "We'll figure something out. You'll see."

I nod because it's all I can do. The choice has been made. I could've turned back a long time ago.

But here I am. Now, I have to live with the choices I made.