Chapter 3

3.

I turned around to see my ex from years ago, my first love, Liam.

A wave of mixed emotions washed over me. I forced a smile.

"What a coincidence..."

But a sharp pain shot through my calf, and I gasped.

Liam immediately realized something was wrong. He came over and deftly unclipped my skis.

I tried to refuse, but his determined expression made me give in.

He then put his arm around me, steadily helping me to the side of the trail. I instinctively held onto his arm for support.

Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I saw a faint, almost imperceptible smile on his lips.

When we got to the rest area, Liam knelt and carefully examined my injury, gently rotating my ankle.

"I don't think you broke anything, but you might have sprained a ligament..."

I fought back a cry of pain, my nails digging into my palms.

Liam looked up at me, pulled an energy bar and two Ibuprofen from his pack, and handed them to me.

"If it hurts, just say so. Don't hold it in. Have some of this, it'll help."

I pressed my lips together, took the pills and the bar, and washed them down with water from my bottle.

Liam helped me fix my pant leg and asked casually, "Are you here by yourself?"

I was silent for a moment. Seeing that I didn't want to answer, Liam didn't press the issue.

He then asked for my hotel, and it turned out we were staying at the same place.

So, Liam offered to take me back.

I had just gotten back to my room when Preston called.

"Are you back at the hotel?"

I grunted, "Mhm."

Preston started to apologize awkwardly.

"Babe, I was too harsh earlier. Don't take it to heart."

"Uh... could you Venmo me like, five hundred bucks?"

"I got into a fight with my dad, and he cut off all my cards."

"Maya and I are out to dinner, and my card just got declined."

For a second, I actually thought he’d had a crisis of conscience and was calling to apologize.

I guess I still didn't know him at all.

I couldn't help but laugh coldly.

"Then have Maya pay for it."

Preston tried to keep the anger out of his voice as he pleaded.

"Babe, can you please not be difficult right now?"

"I always pay when I go out to eat with friends."

"Besides, Maya's a girl. I can't just ask her to pay."

Preston was a trust-fund kid, but whenever we went out, he insisted we go Dutch. But now, to keep up his generous image in front of Maya, he was asking me for money?

When it was convenient, she was his "bro," just one of the guys.

But now that they were out to dinner, he was suddenly a perfect gentleman.

I saw right through his bullshit―using the "we're just bros" line as a cover for their little flirtation.

"I'm broke," I said flatly, then hung up and blocked him on everything.