Chapter 9

Scarlett

My body hasn’t felt this sufficiently sore, in all the best ways ever, in my history of sex. Mark was not by any means a fierce lover. He was a missionary all the time kind of guy and if he got off before me, so be it. It sucks that it’s taken being left at the altar to realize what I had with my ex was not what I thought it was in my heart. That all this time I was simply convincing myself that a life with Mark Adleman was the kind of life I wanted.

Now I beg to differ.

Now I know that kind of life isn’t what I want at all.

I deserve better.

I deserve to wake up every morning with the man of my dreams.

I deserve to have my body worshipped like it was last night.

I deserve to be able to wake up so sore that I need a warm bubble bath to rejuvenate my tight muscles from all the intense but oh, so enjoyable sex the night before.

I deserve to be happy.

But when I roll over in this big comfy bed expecting to feast my eyes on the divinely sexy and sleeping Oliver Magallan, I find his side of the bed empty. No sign of him or his luggage. Nothing except for a note lying on his pillow. Opening the folded paper ripped from the notepad on the desk, I read his words.

Good morning, Gorgeous.

I know if I had woken you to say goodbye, I would’ve missed my flight and possibly my next game and well, with fame comes responsibility, right? In all honesty though, I find it extremely hard to resist you and felt it would better for both of us if I just left peacefully rather than drag any of our emotions into my departure. But I can’t leave without saying one thing.

You are an amazing human being, Scarlett Dayne.

Okay, maybe two things, because I’m not done. The way you aim to live your life, spreading love and kindness, your proclivity for spontaneity, your energy in making messes, and your inner peace are what make you a beautiful person. I sincerely hope you can follow your heart in all that you do when you head back home. That you continue to be brave and take chances. Remind yourself the brave don’t live forever, but the overly cautious and those who dampen your light don’t live at all, Scarlett.

Our time together is something I will NEVER forget. Thank you for encouraging me to let go and “live” with you. It meant more to me than you know. Until we meet again…and I hope we do meet again…

All my love,

Oliver.

His note clutched to my chest, I lie back on my pillow and stare up at the bed canopy. “Dammit. He’s really gone.”

It’s not like I didn’t expect this.

I knew at some point we would have to say goodbye to one another. I guess the selfish part of me wanted to experience waking up next to a man who genuinely cared for me. A man who put my feelings first. A man who found me sincerely attractive. Even if for just a fleeting moment.

Tears spring to my eyes as I read his note a second, third, and fourth time.

“I miss you already, Oliver.”

He was right to leave when he did. Knowing me, I would’ve bawled my eyes out and begged him to try and figure out a way to make a relationship work. Or I would’ve pretended what we had was no big deal, played it off until he left, and then drowned my sorrows in a bathtub with a bottle of tequila.

When I posted on social media that I was looking for a plus-one for last night’s party, never in a million years did I expect to fall for the guy who would end up being my date.

But here I am.

Alone, again.

And missing his presence more than I ever thought possible.

___

“Hey Scar! How was the party? How was the date? What shenanigans did you get into today? Are you out there finding your inner peace?”

Sniffles greet my best friend on the other end of the line. “Hey Maria.”

She gasps. “Oh noooo! What’s going on? Who do I need to kill? Should I bring a shovel?” She lowers her voice to a mere whisper. “Seriously, are you alright?”

“I’m alright,” I answer. “Just feeling down is all.”

“Aww, I understand, Babe. This is good. You’ve needed to get all your feelings out and maybe New Orleans was right where you needed to be to release them.”

“Maria?”

“Yeah Babe?”

“What if…” Do I really want to ask her this?

Yes .

“What if New Orleans was right where I needed to be to fall in love with my actual soulmate?”

Silence falls between us, followed by an emphatic, “I’m sorry, WHAT?”

“Do you believe in love at first sight? Or I don’t know…love at first…meet?”

“I mean, I want to believe it’s possible, so sure. Why are you asking? Did you meet someone at the party?”

“No. I met him when I got off the plane. He was my date.”

She really gasps this time and then chuckles. “You’re falling for Oliver Magallan?”

“I don’t know,” I cry. “I mean, maybe? Is it possible? Can two people fall in love in one day? Because ever since he left, I’ve done nothing but think about him all day and the absolutely amazing time we had together last night and Maria, I think I really like him.”

“Okay…”

“But seriously, who falls in love with a guy they just met in one day?”

She laughs. “Uh, just about every fairytale princess known to man with a few exceptions.”

“Touche.”

“You asked.”

“You’re right, I did.”

“So, alright, you like the guy. Did he seem to share the same feelings?”

“I think so…but Maria what if I’m so off on this one? What if I put myself out there again only to have him break my heart? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I fear if that were to happen, it could hurt worse than Mark.”

“Ouch,” she replies. “For Mark I mean.”

I huff out a laugh. “Yeah well, the truth hurts sometimes.”

“It does. And you just answered your own question. The truth can hurt sometimes, but you’ll never actually know the truth if you don’t put yourself out there and try. I mean honestly, Scarlett, he’s not that far from L.A. You could potentially make it work.”

A twinge of hope sparks in my chest.

Is it really possible?

“Do you think?”

“Uh, relationships have been built with a lot further distance between them before, so yes. Absolutely. You just need to convince yourself to jump in with both feet instead of keeping one dry just in case.”

Jumping in with both feet.

Oh, my God.

That’s what Rowena said too.

What if…

Could we…

I won’t know if I don’t try.

Live, Scarlett.

Swiping any residual tears from my eyes, I sit up on my bed and notice my trashed wedding dress in a heap on the floor. My plan was always to trash it and burn it, but now the more I look at it, another idea floats through my head.

“Alright, Maria. I think I’m going to go for it.”

“That’s my girl! Whatever you do, you’ve got this, Babe. You can do hard things! Trust me, you would much rather regret the chances you were brave enough to take than regret the ones you never took because you were too scared to take them.”

“Exactly. I’ve got to go. I have a plan to make.”

Maria gasps, startling me. “Holy shiiiiit.”

“What? What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Uh, Scarlett?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you been on social today?”

“Not since this morning, why? Oh God. Was Mark having an affair this whole time? Am I now the laughingstock of social media? What kind of damage control am I going to have to do?”

“Negative on all that, babe. It’s good news. I won’t bother telling you, but when you hang up, I would check in if I were you.”

“Uh, okay.”

“Love you babe. Good luck with your plan. Call me if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Maria. I’ll update you later!”

I press the button to end my call and immediately open my social media accounts. To my shock and surprise, my name is trending.

“What the…”

As I scroll through posts, I come across Oliver’s account and click to open his profile. My face heats and my heart melts at the numerous pictures he’s posted of me from last night, memories of us I never knew he was catching, along with the couple of selfies we took together.

The caption in his post reads:

To my newest crush. I think Rowena was right. About everything. Do you believe?

“Holy shit!” I scream a little louder than appropriate in a hotel room but I don’t care.

I scroll through each of the pictures and read the hundreds of posts from fans of mine and of Oliver’s wishing us the absolute best and hoping his post means what they think it means.

God, I hope he means it too.

As I’m reading through more comments, a message comes up in my direct messages so I click on it.

Charlee Landric: Hi Scarlett. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Charlee. Charlee Magallan Landric. I am Oliver’s younger sister. I know, I know, if he knew I was writing to you right now, he would never forgive me for butting into his relationships, but holy shit once I saw his social media post, how could I not? *smiley emoji* Giiiirl, he’s crazy about you!! *heart emoji* He spent the night with Milo and I last night and was telling us all about you and how he didn’t want to leave you and he felt terrible about it. And he was all sad and boo-hoo because this man is in luuurve! And maybe this is just me being the super romantic type because I edit romance books for a living or maybe it’s that I’m very pregnant which means very hormonal but I need to know your feelings on all of this because if there’s a chance his feelings are reciprocated, then I have to get you here to surprise him! I may be married to a Chicago Red Tails player, but oh, my God, if my brother goes on the ice like the depressed sad sap he was today, beating their asses at tomorrow’s game will be all too easy and I don’t want him to have to deal with that blowback on his performance because you know, he’s my brother and I love him. Soooo….girl talk?

Me: OH MY GOSH! I can’t believe you just wrote me and fuck YES!!! GIRL TALK!!!

Charlee Landric: Perfect! Send me your number and I’ll call you!