The freedom of seeing her best friend feels like a luxury after being locked away for over two months. Talk spills easily between them, desperately needing to share the words that have been kept captive. After weeks of forced friendships, it’s more comfortable than putting on her favourite tracksuit pants.

‘I have to confess, Bon, I didn’t think Ty was for you from the beginning,’ Paige admits as they’re halfway through their second glass.

‘Really?’ It feels weird that Paige has a perception of her relationship with Ty. Bonnie has no idea what footage the public has seen.

Paige shakes her head. ‘He’s gorgeous and seems nice but there’s something about him that isn’t you. A bit serious or something? I don’t know. Every time I watched, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.’

Deep down Bonnie’s pretty sure she knew Ty wasn’t the guy for her either, but she tried hard to believe that he could be … ‘Maybe the fact that he’s still in love with his ex has something to do with what you were picking up on.’ Bonnie had already explained the whole Penny situation.

‘True.’ An amused smile dimples her friend’s face. ‘So, what are you going to do about Oliver?’

Bonnie had also filled Paige in on Oliver announcing they’d called the wedding off and Bonnie’s awkward conversation with Sophie on their doorstep.

‘I don’t know.’ Bonnie wishes she had let Oliver tell her more before pushing him out the door. ‘If he was coming to tell me because he wants us to be together, why hasn’t he ended things with Sophie?’ Even saying those words makes Bonnie feel icky. Is she really okay with him jumping from his life with Sophie into hers?

There’s a knock at the door. ‘Carla?’ Paige guesses.

‘Probably,’ Bonnie says as she unfolds her legs and moves to the door. Her sister will no doubt want to hear as much as she can about Bonnie’s last moments on The One. But it’s a courier. ‘My phone!’ she exclaims, immediately buzzing as she signs for the package and rips open the envelope.

‘Expecting a message or two from Oliver?’ Paige doesn’t miss a thing.

Bonnie nods, hoping there will be something from him to offer her hope for the future. She’s so confused about how she’s feeling, let alone how Ollie’s feeling.

Her phone comes back to life and the flood of messages starts. There are messages from people she hasn’t spoken to in a long time and more missed calls than she can even fathom, but her eyes can only focus on one message.

You talked to Sophie about us?! What the fuck is wrong with you???

The hope she’d been letting herself hold on to explodes into a thousand pieces.

Chapter 47

47