Chapter 60

MILA

I spent the rest of the day in bed.

As I fell in and out of sleep, all I could see was Felix’s face the last time I saw him. The haunted eyes. The deep frown. The heartbroken slump of his shoulders.

And although he was now only a few miles away, he felt farther away than ever.

Towards the end of the day, I heard a small ping coming from my phone. I jolted as I realized I had gotten a match on my dating app.

A man named John wanted to go out that night. He lived nearby, was about my age, and worked as an accountant.

I stared at his picture for a few moments, wondering how I had ended up here. I didn’t want to go out with a random stranger–I wanted to go out with Felix.

But that wasn’t an option, and John the Accountant would be a good distraction for a few hours.

I put on a pair of jeans and a nice tank top before brushing my hair. I could not bring myself to wear any of the clothes Felix had purchased for me, even though they made up a majority of my closet at this point.

John picked me up at 7:59 sharp, and I rushed out the door so he would not have to meet my parents.

“Hi,” he said when he saw me. “You look nice.”

I gave him a small smile. He wasn’t hideous–he had ruffled light brown hair, was a few inches taller than me, and wore large-framed glasses–but he wasn’t Felix, either.

No man ever would be.

I fought the urge to compare him to my former fiancé and followed him to the car.

By the time we made it to the bar for drinks, I learned that John was the oldest of four siblings, that he preferred cats to dogs, that he was an accountant but had really wanted to play professional baseball, and that he was having problems with his roommate at the moment.

He had not asked one single question about me.

By the time our drinks arrived, John was deep in the trenches of the story of his fourth birthday, and I was already looking for an escape route. I had been in need of a distraction, but even this was too far.

When our waitress made the mistake of asking John how his day had been, I seized the opportunity to run out of the bar.

I was surprised to see several notifications on my phone by the time I got home, all from various men wanting to go on dates with me.

I responded yes to each and every one.

What’s the worst that could happen? I thought to myself.

Andrew was seven inches shorter in person than in his picture, and asked me in the first five minutes if I wouldn’t mind changing my shoes so that I could be shorter than him.

Zach dreamt of running for president, and practiced campaign speeches on me without warning.

Finn thought working as a chef was the stupidest career a woman could have and wasted no time in sharing that with me.

But the worst was Josh.

Josh greeted me at the door with flowers. Josh smiled and complimented my outfit. Josh took me out to dinner instead of drinks. Josh was polite and gentlemanly for the first hour of meeting him, to the point that I actually started wondering if I could get over Felix.

And then things took a turn for the worse.

“You’re Nadine Benson’s sister, right?” He asked, swiping butter on a slice of bread.

I frowned. I knew that Nadine was popular in town, but people rarely made the connection that we were related. Nadine preferred to tell people she was an only child.

“Adoptive sister, but yes,” I said, nervous to hear his response.

Josh nodded, his eyes growing distant.

“She’s beautiful,” he said. My heart sank.

“Yes,” I said softly. “She’s always been beautiful.”

Josh peered at me over the rim of his water glass.

“It makes sense that you’re adopted,” he went on. “You’re not nearly as pretty as Nadine.”

And there it was.

“So I’ve been told,” I managed, swallowing a sob.

“Do you think that’s why everyone likes her more? Because she looks like a supermodel and you’re just the forgotten baby that doesn’t even belong to her parents?”

It was like he was reading my soul into my deepest, darkest insecurities. I felt sick to my stomach.

“I’ve always been more introverted than Nadine,” I said finally. That much was true.

“She is a people person,” Josh said agreeably.

“I’d like it if we didn’t spend time comparing me to my sister,” I said tightly. “I hope that’s fine with you.”

Josh raised a singular eyebrow.

“Isn’t that what you’re used to, though?” He asked. “No one would ever actually go out with you, they just want to use you to get closer to Nadine.”

That was it. I practically toppled over my chair as I ran from the restaurant. I walked the rest of the way home, hoping the wind would wash away my sour mood.

As I entered my family’s house, I noticed a light on in the kitchen.

Nadine was drinking a glass of wine, clearly waiting for me to return.

“How was your date?” She asked.

“How do you know I was on a date?” I responded. She smirked.

“You don’t have any friends. I assumed you’d want to get over your ex by getting under someone else.”

I flushed. “I’m not getting under anyone, Nadine. Don’t be crass.”

Nadine tilted her head. “Of course. Silly me. No man would ever want to fuck you.”

I swallowed hard at her language.

“But Josh is a sweetie. He had a massive crush on me in high school,” Nadine continued, carefully monitoring my reaction.

My blood ran cold.

She was the one behind it all.

“You set me up with Josh?” I asked Nadine. She grinned at me, but her eyes were full of malice.

“Of course I did,” Nadine said. “You really think you’re better than me just because you lived in Europe for two months? Absolutely not. Josh was just a reminder that you’ll always be nothing compared to me.”

My eyes burned with tears. “Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?”

Nadine shrugged. “To be honest, Mila, I just really don’t like you.”

It was maybe the most honest thing she had ever said to me, but it felt like a knife to the stomach. There was nothing I could do to ever have a decent relationship with my adoptive sister, and our conversation only proved just how shallow she truly was.

A knock on the front door interrupted my resentful thoughts. Nadine gestured at me dismissively, and I went to answer.

There was a man standing on the front porch. His back was to me, and he was illuminated only by the small little lightbulb above the door, but something about him seemed… familiar.

He turned, his face finally shining in the dim light. I gasped as I saw those familiar eyes, which widened when they saw me.

Felix.