Catalina and Diego never got over each other after high school, but years later they meet by chance, and multi-millionaire Diego sweeps her off of her feet.
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Diego and Catali...
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"Brittany's going to be upset that you left her alone," Cata says in an accusing tone.
We're walking along a low, wooden boardwalk to the seawall. We pass under a palm tree, and a hot breeze wafts in from the Gulf of Mexico. I look up at her. "Huh? Who?"
Cata stops, then whirls around. "Brittany. Your date from Tinder. The one with the pink bikini top. Isn't that her name?"
I laugh and break into Spanish, which I sometimes do if I'm feeling awkward or want to make a sarcastic joke. "Claro que si. Of course. I get it. So that's what this is about. You're jealous."
Cata walks off, her ballet shoes making little padding noises on the wood. I watch her legs in those sexy black stockings, and her hips sway in the short skirt. I catch up with her.
"She wasn't my date."
"Whatever."
We walk in tandem, fast. We're moving away from the bars and condos on the beach and into a dark section, landscaped with big white flowers and illuminated by the full moon.
"I brought Liam with me to the bar. We were alone. I came to find you. He ran into those girls when we walked in. He'd hooked up with both of them a few months ago."
She rolled her eyes and sighs.
"I know, I know. He's a pig," I respond.
"Like you're any different?" she shoots back. "I read what everyone online said about you. Your dating habits. How you pick up girls on Tinder. Tinderellas. Disgusting."
I groan. We're at the end of the boardwalk, where the wood meets the sand. It's a few hundred feet to the seawall. She stops and I can see her shaking, she's so angry.
"Cata, I need to explain."
"What's there to explain? I thought you were different. I thought you weren't like all the other guys. When I saw you again, when I kissed you, I thought maybe you were still decent. Honorable. You used to be kind of guy who wanted a real connection with a girl, not one who taps and swipes at his phone so he can fuck." She practically spits the last word.
I run a hand through my hair, then count to five to dial down the tension between us. "I'll be honest. I've gone out with exactly two girls from Tinder."
She whirls, and shoots fire at me with her eyes. "What we had was amazing, Diego. I don't want us to hook up and cheapen that memory. Well, any more than we already cheapened it with the photos. That's what I'm afraid of – doing more damage. Wait. Two? You went out with two women?"
"Yep. Two. One was six months ago. The other a year ago."
"But those gamers online made it seem like you..."
"I know what they made it seem like. But it's not true. Sawyer and Liam talked shit online; then the fans started thinking I was looking for girls on Tinder every night. And then the Wired article, the reporter made it seem like I was a veritable online Casanova. I'm not proud of it, Cata, but I didn't try to tell them otherwise. It's part of the persona. It's the brand. You know me. I'm shy." I huff out a laugh.
