Chapter 13
13
MAX
As I stepped into the restaurant for breakfast, I scanned the room. There was no sign of Stella and as bad as it sounded, I was kind of relieved.
She hadn’t shown up for dinner last night either. Or maybe she did, but managed to avoid me. The last thing I needed was to sit with someone who hated my guts.
If I had any doubts about her feelings towards me before, they were definitely confirmed when I listened to her playlist.
The opening track was ‘Dickhead’ by Kate Nash. That was followed by ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ by Taylor Swift, ‘Walk Away’ by Kelly Clarkson, ‘Silly Boy’ by Rihanna with Lady Gaga, and that angry ‘You Oughta Know’ Alanis Morissette song.
Even though Jasmine said we only had to include five songs, Stella clearly thought I deserved three bonus tracks so she’d added OneRepublic’s ‘Apologize’, Dua Lipa’s ‘IDGAF’ and finished with ‘Bye, Bye, Bye’ from *NSYNC.
It could’ve been worse, I supposed. At least she hadn’t included ‘Eat Shit and Die’ by Paloma Faith .
But she’d succeeded in communicating her feelings. She didn’t like me. Message received loud and clear.
My playlist was more apologetic, but I doubted she’d even listened to it.
I sat at the table and ordered an egg-white omelette and a coffee. As the waiter walked away, I glanced at the door again.
Speak of the devil.
Stella breezed into the room and I swallowed hard.
Fuck. She looked good.
Her hair was tied up into a ponytail and she was wearing a white sleeveless top that showed off her incredible shoulders and clung to her chest. And that bright yellow skirt accentuated her toned thighs and perfect legs.
I was trying really hard not to let her affect me, but it was difficult. Despite the bad blood between us, I was attracted to her. I had to find a way to get that under control.
I dropped my gaze to the table and pretended to scroll on my phone. I hoped she wouldn’t see me. Or if she did, that she’d have the sense to ignore me and find her own table.
Those hopes went out the window when I heard the sound of the chair opposite me being scraped across the floor.
‘Before you get any ideas that I’m sitting with you by choice, the restaurant’s fully booked this morning. That’s the only reason I’m here.’
‘Don’t worry.’ I looked up at her, instantly wishing I hadn’t when I saw that she looked even prettier up close. ‘I know you wouldn’t choose to live on the same continent as me, never mind eat with me. You made that clear by not coming to dinner last night. Oh and of course with your lovely playlist.’
‘Last night I fell asleep, so I didn’t have dinner.’ Skipping meals, even though it wasn’t intentional, wasn’t good, but I wasn’t about to lecture her. ‘Glad you enjoyed the playlist, though. ’
She flashed a mischievous grin, before turning to the waiter who’d just arrived and placing her breakfast order.
‘I got the photos.’ I slid the envelope I’d collected from reception earlier.
‘What photos?’
‘The photos from yesterday. For the Love Task book thing. I haven’t looked at them yet because we’re supposed to go through them together.’
‘Let’s get this over and done with.’ She pulled out the selection and placed them in the centre of the table.
As Stella flicked through the photos, she frowned.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘These can’t be right.’ She went through the selection again. ‘These are…’
‘Nice?’ I replied.
‘Yeah.’ Her face creased. ‘They’re all happy and smiley and… this is fake.’
I picked them up to have a closer look. There were photos of each of us hitting the ball across the net, one with us smiling as we high-fived after winning a game and Stella wrapped in the towel I gave her after the incident looking up at me with what a stranger might wrongly assume was awe.
The next shot was a photo I’d prefer wasn’t taken. It was me looking at Stella like she was a snack I wanted to devour. The last picture showed us outside the pool grinning as Jasmine handed over the gold envelope containing our nightmare prize.
‘I see what you’re saying. How many do we have to choose again?’
‘One each.’ I put them back down in the middle of the table.
If I was being honest, I’d choose the one where she was in the towel, looking up at me.
She looked happy. Grateful. Relieved. Like she actually liked me. I used to love the way Stella looked at me. It was a million miles away from the death glares she’d given me since we were paired up.
I also liked the triumphant high-five photo. A flashback of the bolt of electricity I’d felt when our hands connected jumped into my brain and I pushed it out again.
Nope. I couldn’t choose that photo either.
‘I like the one of us hitting the ball over the net,’ I said.
‘Only because you’re the one hitting it.’
‘No, that’s not why I…’
‘Fine,’ she snapped. ‘Choose whatever you want.’
‘What about you?’ I asked. ‘Which one do you like?’
‘If I was forced to choose, then maybe the envelope one. Even though the smiles are fake and we won’t get to use the prize, it shows that we won the competition, so it’s like an achievement, which is good.’
‘Great,’ I said, relieved when the waiter returned with our breakfast.
At least our first set of Love Tasks were complete.
After breakfast we’d be heading to the pool to find out what today’s activity would be.
I’d like to say I was looking forward to it, but seeing as it meant spending more time with Stella, the chances were slim.