1

Everybody wants to be the person who wins the break up, the one who able to put the relationship behind them and get on with their life. For my ex boyfriend Josh, it seemed that the moving on part came so easy because he started dating someone two months after we’d decided mutually to end things, whereas for me, it had been a year and I hadn’t even been on a date.

I didn’t want Josh back but I still felt that I owed it to the relationship to mourn the loss. We’d been together for a year and a half, with him being my first real boyfriend. We started dating in university, after meeting through friends and although we had plenty in common to start a relationship, it just wasn’t enough to fuel the fire to keep the spark ignited. By graduation we both knew it just wasn’t working.

I wasn’t bitter about how we ended and I didn’t hold any ill feelings towards him but when his engagment announcement came up on the Gram this morning I felt the strong sting of hurt slice me open. He had won the break up, and there it was, for all to see.

“Josh got engaged,” I announced to my friends, Tess and Bailey when we caught up for drinks at the bar, Shenanigans.

Tess, Bailey and I had been friends since high school, they knew I wasn’t bringing up Josh’s engagement because I was still holding onto feelings for him.

“No way,” Tess gasps, throwing her hand over her mouth.

“They’ve been together for Nine months,” Bailey adds, looking just as surprised.

“Ten, actually,” I correct her, not really feeling as if that extra month does anything to help the situation though.

“That’s too soon,” Tess says. “It won’t last and you just know he’s probably still with her because his ego got so badly bruised from you dumping him.”

I never actually considered that Josh’s new relationship was probably just a knee-jerk reaction to me initiating the break-up.

“I haven’t even kissed a man since the breakup up and he’s not only met someone but is now engaged to them” I laugh at how absurd this all is.

“Hold up a moment, you haven’t kissed anyone in the entire time you’ve been single?” Bailey asks me, dumbfounded by my admission. “Not even when we came here for New Year’s Eve?”

“No,” I admit, feeling sheepish. It’s not like I had an excuse for holding back and now I feel foolish.

“And am I right in guessing you haven’t had any action since the break up either?” Tess questions me further and I sink back into my chair, wishing I had kept my mouth closed.

Tess is the queen of one night stands, she likes nothing more than bringing a man home on a Saturday night, having her way with him and then setting him free in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“Josh was the only man I’d ever slept with…” I begin to defend myself but Tess just holds up her hand to stop me.

“Tonight, that’s all going to change,” she says gleefully, exchanging looks with Bailey, who starts looking around the packed bar, her smile widening.

“You need a pallet cleanser,” Bailey tells me, as if I should know what that is.

“What does that even mean?” I demand to know, feeling uneasy with what they’re cooking up.

“You need someone to remind you how great sex can be but not someone you get attached to,” Tess explains, locking her sights on a target. “That guy would be perfect.”

“No!” I protest.

“Why not? He’s gorgeous” Bailey says, swiping her tongue across her top lip and eyeing off her potential victim.

“He’s wearing designer jeans in a dive bar.” I point out, unable to take my eyes off the man. He is hot, I’ll give them that but there’s no way a man who can afford expensive clothing is going to look sideways at a girl like me. “Those jeans probably cost more than my rent”

“Well you can ask him how much he paid for them when you peel them off his body” Tess giggles, amused.

“You’re not going to let me get out of this are you?” I groan.

“Go get him tiger” Bailey laughs.

I reluctantly stand up from our table, gulp down my drink for liquid courage, straighten out my strapless black dress, run my fingers through my long, blonde hair and begin my nervous walk towards the target.

He’s sat alone at one of the smaller, round tables. He looks up from his phone and his eyes meet mine. A smile starts to spread across his face, easing my nerves.

“Do I know you?” He asks when I reach his table. His voice is like velvet, so smooth.

“No, but you want to,” I confidently answer, taking the seat across from him.

“I’m Charlie,” He introduces himself. “And you are?”

“Nortica,” I reply and he smiles.

“As in Goddess of the sea?” He asks and I’m surprised he’d even know that.

“Yes,” I tell him, blushing because it’s a little embarrassing to be named after a fictional goddess. “It’s spelt different but yes, my dad was a huge Hercules fan and loves to surf so when he heard the name mentioned in a cartoon, when my mum was pregnant, he put it forward as suggestion and it stuck.”

“I like it, it’s cool and unique,” He compliments me, filling my stomach with butterflies. “So, tell me Goddess, what brought you over to my table?”

I could lie and tell him I saw him sitting alone and thought I’d just come over and strike up a conversation but something tells me that he’d respect me more if I was just upfront and honest.

“My ex announced his engagement today, to the woman he’s been dating since we broke up. He’s the only man I’ve ever slept with and my friends think I need a one night stand, just to end my dry spell,” I ramble so fast that I’m sure he probably thinks I’m now crazy and is looking for the nearest exit.

“And you picked me to be the conquest?” He asks, his face hard to read.

“Yes, but it was a stupid idea and you can just forget I came over here,” I’m so embarrassed and I’ve obviously offended him.

I stand up, ready to make a run for it but when he puts his hand on my arm and I feel a tingling sensation I don’t pull away.

“I’m staying in a hotel a few blocks away,” He tells me as he rises from his seat but still his hand stays on my arm, as if he’s afraid I’ll run away. “We could go there.”

This is going a lot smoother than what I thought it would be I just have to make sure he’s not going to get the wrong idea and think this is something more than it it.

“Just to be clear, I’d be going back to your hotel room for consensual, no strings attached sex.” I lay out the plan for him.

“Goddess, this is not my first one night stand, I know the rules and I won’t cross any lines,” He chuckles, taking his hand off my arm and wrapping it around my waist, drawing me in closer towards him.

“It may not be your first one night stand but it will be mine,” I admit, feeling very inexperienced.

“Then I promise to make it a night you’ll never forget”