Page 28 of Blue in the Deep Blue Sea

“If no one has ever told you this, I’m lucky to have you. And you light up my whole world, not just a room.”

“I’m lucky to have you, too.” I smiled.

The sound of the ocean soon blended with footsteps behind us. A hand landed on each of our shoulders before a woman with pink hair dropped down between us. The scent that clung to her hit me instantly, sandalwood and tobacco, so familiar it almost felt like a memory. She glanced toward Gianni and Oliver sitting on the cliffs, and a smile tugged at her lips when her eyes found Oliver.

“Nikki,” Annie said, pulling her into a tight hug. “We missed you.”

She turned to me. “And you? Did you miss me, Gabby?”

I chuckled. “Not really.”

“Are you still holding a grudge because I had sex with Oliver?” she laughed. “We were both drunk. It was a moment of weakness.” She turned her head toward the cliffs again, her gaze lingering over him.

I let out a slow breath and shifted away from her. My heartbeat climbed into my throat. I wanted to wrap my hands around her neck.

“I don’t care that you slept with him,” I said with a sigh. “What I care about is that you did it in my bed while I was in the next room taking care of my brother. You even had the audacity to leave the door wide open. The one night I needed both of you, you were busy fucking behind my back.”

“He never gave a fuck, so why are you still so worked up about it?” she asked. “Besides, we still helped you out, and we even washed the sheets.”

I laughed out loud. “Thank you, Nikki. You’re such a good friend.”

As she turned back to Annie, Annie looked at me instead, her eyes quietly asking if I was okay.

I nodded and looked back toward the cliffs.

Nikki had grown up with Gianni and me. I never saw her as a good friend, but she was always around, and for a long time, I was grateful for that. When you’re lonely, and no one is truly by your side, you hold on to people who aren’t really your friends. You naively convince yourself that one day you can change things. You spend years trying to prove yourself to people who simply don’t give a fuck about you. Then, the moment you trust them with a piece of yourself you’ve kept hidden from everyone else, they use it to make themselves feel bigger than they are.

That was when I realized I was better off alone than with someone beside me who had everything and still felt the need to compete with me, because even having everything was never enough.

I made only the briefest glance over my shoulder, but it was enough. I saw him drinking with Gianni on the cliffs while he watched me and Nikki from a distance. His eyes were half-lidded, drifting between us and the bottle of whiskey in his hand. Between my blinks, he’d take another sip, then lean back and stare at the sea.

His shirt hung open to the middle of his chest, and every so often he’d glance my way before turning his attention to the night sky. Even from that far away, I could make out the tattoo on his neck.

Veni, vidi, vici.

Two olive branches framed the words, as if he were some kind of God.

I came, I saw, I conquered.

Touché for a douchebag.

It should’ve said: I came, I saw, I fucked.

Because he wasn’t a God. He was just another fuckboy who thought he could play one. And Nikki, just like everyone else,was another girl in a long line that he fucked, hoping she’d be the one who turned into something more.

I turned to her and smiled.

“I forgive you. Not because of what you did, but because I pity you. You’re still in love with a man who will never love you.”

I stood, resting a hand on Annie’s shoulder. Without a word, she passed me a sheet of paper and a bottle. She knew I’d still want to make a wish.

Only this year, it was different.

Before I left the rocks behind, I leaned against the cliff and wrote:

“I wish I never met Oliver Sinclair.”

I pulled the cork from the bottle, rolled the paper tightly, slipped it inside, and sealed it again.