It turns out this front room sofa is also comfortable for sleeping. The sound of birds greeting the sunrise, the waves crashing nearby, even the staff vacuuming outside has all provided only brief lapses in slumber before drifting back into one of the best rests of my life.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt at all to have the extraordinary being that is Madeline resting on top of me, both of us wrapped up in this enormous bedsheet and nothing else.

That ringtone is getting to be annoying, I’ll admit. I don’t know if it’s some staff members outside or what.

It can’t be Madeline’s; she keeps sleepily asking what it is when it goes off.

There it goes again. Maybe it’s time and to get up anyway, and... fuck, Madeline’s already gone.

That incessant fucking electronic beeping is still fucking going, and I’m waking up to a world where Madeline has drifted away yet again...

I rub my temples. I know that I keep saying I’m okay with it, that Maddie is a fling, part of a fantastic week that’ll always be nothing but a memory, but feeling the lack of the beautiful, perfect weight of her body holding me in this new, wonderful place that is my life—well, I don’t know.

I’m rubbing my face and my eyes. Everything that happened last night just makes this all the more fucking painful. I may have been fine if I hadn’t fucking bothered.

Maybe not fine, but better, at least.

“It can’t get any worse.” I gotta stop saying shit out loud.

“What was that?”

The siren song. There it is.

“Holy shit, babe. I thought you left me again.”

I’ve got a grin of relief and just general happiness plastered across my face as I turn to see that absurdly stunning face, that gorgeous body, that golden hair that I already know is shimmering in the morning sunlight.

Even hearing her voice and smelling her scent is enough to fill me with motivation to get up and see what the day has to offer.

Seriously. When was the last time I felt like that? Possibly fucking never.

Not until now.

Okay, maybe I’m going a little nuts here. I try to dial back the shit-eating grin a bit before turning to look at Maddie.

I still have what I hope is a warm smile when I turn my head to look at Maddie, who’s dressed in a resort bathrobe with her torn dress slung over the shoulder.

“Hey, I’ll buy you another dress.”

I’m about to start laughing, but Maddie’s staring daggers. She’s also holding my phablet.

“You ever fucking pick this thing up?”

“Uh, no, actually. Was the ringing coming from there? Sorry, it’s brand-new. I had no idea.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

I do laugh a little, sitting up on the sofa.

“I’ll put it on silent if you want to get a bit more...”

“Who the fuck is Audra?”

You know how I love to complain about the cold, lonely air in the honeymoon suite? Because now it feels like there’s no fucking air at all and I’m about to fucking suffocate.

I inhale deeply, trying not to have another bout of panic as Madeline stares at me with furious green eyes.

I need to explain that I’m not married to Audra. It was never actually official, and she made it very clear she wanted it to be over, anyway.

But my mouth feels too arid to even speak, and my heart’s pounding in my ears, and I can’t even think of the right words to start explaining.

I’m sure my silence is worse, though.

“It’s complicated.” Well, that’s a terrible fucking start. “What did she say?”

Fuck. Keep fucking digging, buddy.

“She said...” Goddammit, Maddie’s talking through her fucking teeth. “She said that she made a huge mistake.”

A sudden tension headache starts burrowing its way into my forehead, immediately getting worse. I start rubbing my temples, which I’m sure looks really bad.

But all I need is a chance to explain.

I hold my hand up.

“Madeline, I want to answer your question of who Audra is...”

“She said,” Madeline continues, stalking in my direction, my oversized phone looking like it might shatter in her livid hand, “she said she didn’t want your MARRIAGE to be OVER!”

One good thing I can say about this sudden storm of shit, and about the only good thing I can say about this or anything that’ll probably ever happen again in my life, is that when Madeline pitches the phone at my head with the intensity of Pedro Martinez throwing a fastball, the device lands safely on the sofa instead of hitting the wall.

The only way it could’ve gone better is if she beamed me in the fucking head.

The worst part is, I’m thinking like a guilty person. Like a guy who actually is married and tried to hide it, and now my big secret is out.

In this case, it just appears that way. And because of the circumstances, there’s no way to convince Maddie of the truth. But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t tell the fucking truth.

“This was supposed to be my honeymoon...our honeymoon.”

Madeline looks around like it’s her first time in this room. She’s probably thinking about how she should have been suspicious about this.

This horrible story is all coming together for her. It’s an untrue story, but the more it comes together the less likely I can convince her of it.

“In the honeymoon suite,” she whimpers softly. “It’s so fucking perverse.”

“I’m not married,” I announce loud enough for anyone to hear.

Maddie doesn’t bat an eye. I just told her the crux of this whole thing, the most important piece of the puzzle that she just happens to be missing, but to her it’s just another fucking lie that’s not even worth acknowledging.

Madeline’s lips are forming into a scowl. I’ve never seen her look anything like this. I’ve seen her make all sorts of aggressive, angry faces, but those were jokes, just adorable, sexy messing around while posing for a photo or something.

This expression is something she can’t help—it comes from genuine hurt and anguish, and it’s breaking my fucking heart.

“I can’t fucking believe it,” she states evenly, her face flushed with rage. “I can’t fucking believe this is happening. This has to be a nightmare.”

I take another deep breath, preparing to convey the truth as believably as I’m capable of.

“There was a wedding...”

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up! I never want to hear your voice again!”

When she’s in the mood to be, Maddie is absolutely one of the most articulate and intelligent people I’ve ever met. She doesn’t have an ounce of pretense, but after getting to know her over these past few days, I’ve no doubt that she puts every one of the myriad self-declared financial geniuses I’ve had to deal with to shame in the brains department.

But right now, she’s being carried away on a tide of emotions, and her words are becoming terse and basic beyond the point of rationality.

Maddie’s almost completely red as she stands in the middle of the room, the false reality of the situation coming down on her with more weight than she can bear.

Like I said, it breaks my heart.

“Maddie,” I say, trying to plead but subtly trying to get one last chance to break through this horrible web of bullshit, “all I need is two minutes...”

“And what?” Fuck, she’s talking through her teeth again. “You can explain? There’s nothing to explain. You’re mar—”

I didn’t think Maddie was going to cry, but she’s coming close now. I don’t think I could bear the sight.

At least Maddie stops herself from crying. The color is draining from her somewhat, but I don’t know if that’s a good thing.

“The way I see it,” Maddie continues with unnerving calmness, “your actions, your deceitful, disgusting fucking actions have cast a long, dark shadow over what was supposed to be one of the brightest times of my life. I was really looking forward to the future, near and far.”

I want to tell her that I was too. Instead, I say nothing—because this is a uniquely horrible fucking situation in which telling the truth won’t make a bit of difference.

A patch of sunshine comes beaming through the window, bathing the borders of Maddie’s hair in an ethereal glow—the kind of glow I hoped to see before I turned my head.

But that was a few minutes ago, and now all I can feel is the heartbreak, the anguish of seeing Maddie in serious pain but being able to do fucking nothing about it.

I want to tell her that the only thing I want in the world is for her to be happy again.

But she’d never believe it, and she’s already walking out the door.