I've never watched the sunset from the beach before. While lying on my beach towel, I can't help but marvel at the colors in the painted sky. The orange and pink hues swirl together, and if I didn't know better, I'd think they're promising another beautiful day tomorrow. But this is just the calm before the storm, and it's painfully clear why they call it that. With the quiet stillness in the air and the subtle chill that tickles your arm when a small breeze blows by, it's truly captivating and makes me never want to leave.

"You ready to go, Al?" Ana asks quietly, pulling me from my reverie.

I want to say no. I want to stay here for a little while longer, but with the guys coming to the house tomorrow, I know deep down we should be preparing for that. With a low sigh, my shoulders slump while packing up my beach bag. Looking past the shoreline, I make a silent promise to myself to come back again before our vacation ends.

Riding back to the house is relatively quiet amongst the three of us. We're all beat with how long we stayed in the sun today, not actually meaning to stay there all day. We probably could have stayed longer, but Nora was almost asleep by the time Ana and I had everything put away. Walking into the house, we simultaneously drop our bags with a loud thud against the hardwood floor.

Nora shuffles her feet toward the sectional before she plops herself onto the end of the cushion. "How are we even going to know when they're on their way?" she asks through a stifled yawn.

"Oh, Jax had me write my number down with the address. He said he'd text when they leave," I say nonchalantly, taking a seat on the other end of the couch.

Ana and Nora whip their heads toward me with a smile pulling at the corner of their mouths.

"He asked you for your number?" Ana asks with her eyebrows knitted together. I can see the faint hope sparkling in her eyes from here, hope that needs to extinguish immediately.

I squint my eyes with a look of confusion and pull the throw blanket over myself. "Well, yeah. How else would we know they're on their way?"

"Mhm," Ana mumbles through her shit-eating grin.

"What?" I chuckle, tossing one of the decorative pillows at her. "Don't try to make it something it's not."

"Anyway! Why don't we order a pizza, drink as much wine as our hearts desire, and watch one of those sappy romance movies?" Nora suggests with a shrug.

Ana and I exchange puzzled glances before our gazes land on Nora. "Weren't you just about passed out on the beach not even an hour ago?" I ask jokingly.

"Yeah, and now I have my second wind!" she exclaims, already jumping off the couch to head toward the kitchen.

With a low chuckle to myself, I decide to pull out my cell phone to scroll aimlessly until Nora returns with the wine she mentioned. A small flicker of excitement heats my spine while my thumb hovers over the text messages, seeing an unread notification available. Taking a deep breath, I press it hesitantly when the unread message stares back at me.

Trevor: What time do the girls normally go to bed for you?

A wave of disappointment floods me to know the text was, in fact, not from Jax. I can't even pinpoint exactly why I feel disappointed. He said he'd text in the morning, so why was I hoping it was him? I quickly reply to Trevor to remind him of the girls' routine at my house when Nora waltzes back into the living room, balancing three glasses of wine in her hands.

"Alright, pizza is on the way. Now all that's left is finding a movie!" she says, handing each of us our own glass.

"What did you have in mind?" I ask before taking a small sip.

Nora sits on the edge of the couch and props her feet on the coffee table before grabbing the television remote. "I was thinking The Best of Me. It's been my favorite ever since you showed it to me."

I nod my head while my glass rests against my lips. "That is a good one. Although, the book was better."

"I think you've mentioned that a few times," Ana says with a grin, peering over the top of her laptop screen.

The doorbell rings before I can defend myself when Ana puts her laptop aside and runs to the door. Her giggle tells me she knew damn well I was going to say something about her being an author and knowing I am correct.

My cell phone vibrates on the cushion beside me when Nora's eyes fly to where it lays. I grab it slowly while my heart rate picks up with excitement. I take a deep breath, trying to settle my nerves when I know it's probably just Trevor replying to my message.

Unknown Number: Hey, it's Jax. I wanted to text you beforehand, so you had my number just incase anything changes before morning.

I stare at the message, reading it and rereading it as if I'm trying to crack some sort of hidden code. 'Incase anything changes before morning.' Is he hoping something will change?

Before I can overthink myself into another dimension, Ana returns with 3 boxes of pizza in her arms. Laying them on the coffee table, she flips the top open and grabs two slices before sinking back into her chair.

"Why do you look like Nora just stomped on your hopes and dreams?" she asks before taking a bite of her pizza.

I shake my head, hoping it'll also shake off the disappointment from my face before leaning forward to grab a slice. "Oh, it's nothing."

"Don't lie! I saw your phone go off, so who was it this time? Trevor? Your mom?" Nora pries.

"Neither. It was Jax," I mumble, placing my phone back down next to me.

Both of them sit straight up in their seats while they lean over like they're about to hear the best gossip of their lives. "Go on," Ana says with a devilish grin.

"There's nothing to tell. He was just texting me so I had his number 'incase anything changes before morning,'" I say with air quotations of his actual words.

Ana wags her finger at me before placing her plate on coffee table. "Nope. You're not doing that."

"Doing what?" I ask, completely dumbfounded.

"You're not going to sit there and overanalyze what he said."

I scoff, trying to hide a smirk. "I'm not overanalyzing anything!"

Sitting back against the couch, Nora finally hits play. When the opening scene begins, I can't bring myself to concentrate on the movie while I do exactly what I said I wasn't going to do. Over-analyze my text from Jaxon Owens.

I won't deny the fact that I've had an enormous crush on Jax over the past year. I've listened to his songs on repeat, and watched far too many interviews when I realized how beautiful his accent was. Having the opportunity to get to know him on a personal level will be like an out-of-body experience for me. But deep down, I know that's where it would end, and I'm okay with that.

I've learned to come to terms with single life roughly six months ago. After Trevor and I split up, I didn't bother even attempting to go on a date until Ana sat me down and said I deserved what the world had to offer. So, I finally went on a date. It went amazingly until I mentioned having two daughters. I took the hint that he didn't want a second date when he just about choked on his water and signaled for the check. I haven't been out with anyone since then. Sure, I miss the physical and emotional intimacy that comes with a relationship, but I don't want to settle for less again.

That's why even though it would be one of my wildest dreams to be with Jax Owens, even just once, I'm not going to try anything with him. I'm just going to pretend like my insides don't completely disintegrate every time I see his dimple appear beside his mouth. Or that I don't feel this odd magnetic pull toward him every time he's within arm's reach of me. Because even if something did happen, I know it wouldn't amount to much more than a one-night stand.And I've never been that woman that could find her release with a stranger and be fine with it the next morning. I crave a real connection with someone, and I won't settle for feeling special for a single night rather than a lifetime.

Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I down my glass of wine and lean toward the coffee table for a refill. The satisfied sound of the liquid pouring endlessly against the glass triggers both Ana and Nora to glance my way skeptically.

"Damn, Allie. Leave some for us," Ana says jokingly as she grabs the bottle to top hers off.

"Oh, is that what we're doing tonight?" Nora chides, wiggling her eyebrows while she holds her glass toward Ana to fill. "Bottoms up, Ladies!"

I snicker to myself while taking a generous sip; the bubbles tickling my tongue with the familiar flavors.

"So," Ana says loudly, placing her now empty wineglass on the coffee table. "What is the plan for tomorrow?"

I click my tongue, trying to remember if I have seen any extra blankets or candles just in case God forbid the power were to go out.

"I know my closet has a few candles on the shelf. Plus, the kitchen draw has new batteries," Nora says with her nose resting against her almost empty glass.

"Yeah and there's the extra bedrooms in the basement if it gets real bad," Ana suggests through a smile.

My eyes widen at her suggestion while I grab the bottle for a refill. "They aren't staying over, Ana."

"You're going to make them drive back to their hotel if there are trees down everywhere?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

I take a slow, prolonged sip while eyeing her above the rim. She knows I wouldn't make them drive back, but just the mere thought of them sleeping over makes me feel nervous. We don't even know these guys and yet they're already planning this huge slumber party?

"Did you even text him back so he knows he has the right number?" Nora asks curiously.

Immediately picking up my phone, I check the messages to find I did forget to message him back. I quickly type out a response to him thanking him for texting ahead of time and that we will plan to see them in the morning. My phone almost immediately vibrates with an incoming message before I can lock the screen when my heart dances in my chest.

Unknown Number: Sounds great. We'll bring a few flashlights for extra precautions. See you tomorrow, Allie.

This time I purposely leave him on read and place the phone on the cushion beside me. My chest fills with warmth when I think of how quickly he responded to my message. Almost like he had been waiting for me to answer back. Although he could very well had been scrolling through his phone when the message popped up, it still feels nice to think he was waiting for me.

My attention lands back on the movie, where I can finally get lost in the fictional world of romance. These types of movies and books have always been my favorite, but I don't think it's a coincidence that almost every single one has some tragic, heartbreaking event that occurs. She's too good for him, he does something terrible and doesn't talk to her for years on end and they never stop loving each other until they finally see each other again and live happily ever after. But the terrible thing lingers like a leech within the entire relationship every time. Is it even worth it at that point? Can people change for the better and truly believe that love is enough to save each other? After spending 8 years with Trevor, I'll go ahead and be the Debbie downer that says it's impossible for people to change.

"So, that's it?" Nora slurs with tears brimming her eyes. "He just dies and they don't get to love each other?"

Hearing Nora slur makes me chuckle loudly until I realize I am also witnessing the room glide in slow motion. How much of that wine did we drink? My eyes scan the coffee table to find one large empty bottle of Moscato staring back at me before I get lost in a fit of laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" she asks, tossing a couch pillow at me.

Catching the pillow mid-throw, I toss it back at her when it bounces off her arm. "Nor, we've seen this movie at least ten times. You know how it ends."

"I know, but... it's still sad. So how dare you laugh!" she says, wiping beneath her eyes.

"Just watch the alternate ending. He's alive in that one," Ana suggests while standing to clear the table.

"There's an alternate ending, and you made me watch this one?" she exclaims.

The room continues to move in slow motion as I run my hand along the couch cushion in search of my phone. "Alright, I'm going to bed."

"Okay, do you need help? You drank almost that entire bottle," Ana chuckles.

I shake my head and stand from the couch, immediately regretting shaking my head to begin with when my stomach lurches. "No, I'll be alright."

When I finally reach the bedroom, I throw myself onto the comfortable pillow top while my body sinks into the blissful duvet. With my legs suddenly feeling like jello, I hastily throw off my dress and lay there in my bra and underwear without a care in the world. Closing my eyes, I try to muster the energy to get up and change into pajamas, but I'm far too comfortable to move. At least the girls aren't here to barge in on me like this.