After Sleeping with My Childhood Prince, I Kicked Him Out from My World

2: A Drunken Night in Las Vegas

<< Avery >>

I've spent the last six months running from my past, traveling anywhere that wasn't New York. Paris, Barcelona, Sydney-just stamps in my passport that failed to stamp out the memories. Now I'm in

Las Vegas, where people come to reinvent themselves or at least forget who they are for a weekend.

That's why I'm here. To forget.

My phone buzzes with another text from my cousin Lisa. She's been my onlynoveldrama

lifeline to home since I

left.

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*Just heard about Dad and Joy's wedding. You okay?*

I stare at the message, unable to formulate a response. The divorce is barely finalized, and already Dad has moved on. After Mom discovered his affair with Joy, everything fell apart so quickly. Mom stayed in Europe, refusing to return to what she called "the scene of the betrayal." Dad and Joy

moved back to the States, and I was left caught between two broken halves of my former life.

"Make it a double," I tell the bartender when he returns with my martini.

The alcohol burns going down, but it's a welcome sensation. Anything to dull the pain of the memories that keep flooding back.

The worst part wasn't even the divorce. It was Ethan. He'd pursued me for months last year, and I'd

turned him down repeatedly. I wasn't ready for a relationship then. But after Dad and Joy's affair

came to light, Ethan started spending more time with Joy's daughter, Della.

I swirl the olive in my martini, feeling the familiar tightness in my chest.

Maybe it was our resemblance that attracted him. Same hair color, similar features. We could have

been sisters even before our parents got together. Whatever it was, Ethan fell hard for Della-the girl

who was now my stepsister.

The irony is brutal. The man I rejected now loves the woman who looks like me but isn't me.

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After Sleeping with MuChildhood Prince I Kicked Him Out from My Worl

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Whenever I saw them together, it felt like watching some twisted alternate reality of what my life

could have been.

"You look like you're trying to drown something serious," a voice says beside me.

I look up to see a woman about my age, with a pixie cut and friendly eyes.

"That obvious?" I ask.

"Only to a fellow heartbreak survivor." She extends her hand. "I'm Carmen."

We exchange pleasantries, and I find myself telling her bits of my story-not everything, just enough How my parents' divorce shattered our family, how the man who once pursued me now loves my

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stepsister, how I'm trying to put an ocean between me and my problems.

Carmen is a good listener, nodding at all the right places. She tells me she's in

Vegas for her sister's wedding-a classic Vegas chapel affair.

"You should come!" she says suddenly. "My sister's wedding party is one

bridesmaid short, and you

look like you could use some fun."

I laugh, the sound unfamiliar to my ears. "You're inviting a complete stranger to your sister's

wedding?"

"It's Vegas, honey. Strangers

become best friends in the span of a

night here." She grins. "What do you say? Better than sitting alone at a

bar."

Maybe it's the martinis, or maybe it's the desperation to feel something other than hurt, but I agree.

"I need to find my sister first to make sure it's okay," Carmen says. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

I.ne

As she disappears into the crowd, I order another drink. The alcohol is hitting harder now, making the world soft around the edges. It's a pleasant feeling-I can almost forget the reality waiting for me back home. Dad and Joy playing happy family. Ethan looking at Della the way he once looked at me.

"Can I buy you a drink while you wait?" A man asked.

I glance at my half-empty glass. "Why not?"

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After Sleeping with My Childhood Prince. I Kicked Him Out from My World

I didn't think this drink change my life forever.

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