Page 139 of Stupid Matchmaking Love

“My dad talked to him, told him to leave me alone.”

“I’m glad he did.”

“Yeah.”

Silence stretches between us. “I’m just relieved you’re okay. I mean, if you’d wanted my attention, there are a thousand different things you could’ve done to get it.”

“You mean suffocating isn’t your first choice?” she jokes, her eyes bright but her expression tired.

“No. Last choice.”

She nods, sighs. “You looked . . . lost when it happened.”

My eyes flare. Oh, God. She saw it. She knew. It was bad that I had the flashback, but worse that she saw it.

“Yeah, um. I kind of froze back there. Almost . . .” My shoulders tense. “If I hadn’t let them take you—”

I swallow the rest.

Cristina squeezes my hand and whispers, “You thought I was Sarah, didn’t you?”

It feels like she just punched me in the neck. My God, but Cristina sees me. She knows me. “For a brief moment.”

She slowly nods, like it’s sinking in that I wasn’t myself, that I almost became someone else.

Tears start to fill my eyes, but I blink them away.

A small exhale slips past her lips. “I’m sorry.”

My gaze snaps on her. “No, no, no. Let’s get one thing straight here. You have nothing to be sorry about, and I would feel worse if you thought any of this was your fault. No, Cristina. This is me and my own . . . stuff.”

She turns on her side toward me. “Whatever it is, we can get through it together. I mean, the magic knew what it was doing when it matched us, didn’t it?”

There’s hope in her eyes but something else, too—doubt. Like she’s wondering if we really are soulmates, if the magic was ever right about us.

Maybe the magic only got it half right. Cristina needs someone who will remain present in a crisis.

But you did, Rhett. You were there for her.

Not enough, I tell myself.

“Listen, why don’t you get some rest? We can talk about all of this later. There’s an entire waiting room full of people who love and care about you. I’m sure they’d like to say hi and make sure you know they came to support you through this.”

A shadow falls over her face, but all she does is nod. “Yeah, sure. Send them in.”

I rise and walk to the door, turn back and say, “I love you,” and I mean it with my whole heart.

“I love you, too,” she replies, but her voice is weak, like she’s thinking about something else.

Or someone better.

Chapter 47

Cristina

The drive back to the resort is quiet. My parents offered to bring me back, but I wanted to be with Rhett. So when he asked if he could take me, I jumped at the chance.

But he’s been quiet. Too quiet. Like, something’s-weighing-on-him quiet.