CLIO
Lila had not been exaggerating when she described the paradise that was her father’s beach house in Malibu.
While I understood that where we lived in Northern California was beautiful in its own right, we spent most of our time there in classrooms and at work. Here, the white, sandy beaches stretched for miles, the vast, blue water sparkled before us, and best of all, we didn’t know a soul there. It was heaven.
On the drive down to Malibu, I’d spilled my guts about the whole incident that led to me agreeing to come with Lila.
She shook her head in disgust after my story was over. “I know you cared about him, but Michael really is a rat bastard. Honestly, I think you should start looking at this as a bullet dodged instead of a heartbreak.”
“I know.” I sighed. “I just want to sta
