Cate

The jam-packed weeks leading up to Bea and Evonne's destination wedding were pure chaos. As maid of honor, it fell on me to coordinate the venues, activities, and lodging. I was forced to communicate with the guests on the sly since Bea and Evonne didn't want any mentions about their upcoming nuptials to appear on social media.

My dad thought we were going to Hawaii to celebrate a mutual friend's birthday. The truth was to remain a secret until my sister and her fiancée officially became Mrs. and Mrs. Walsh-Hayes.

Bea also had a very specific set of requirements for me on what she wanted out of her bachelorette party and wedding weekend. Bea and Evonne had insisted on good, clean fun that aligned with their religious reliefs, which pretty much nixed all of the traditional debauchery that most people expected. There would be no excessive drinking or clubbing and definitely no strippers this weekend. I did my best to honor their wishes and organized alternatives to the typical pre-wedding activities that would, hopefully, make everyone happy.

After a ten-hour flight from DC, I landed in Honolulu. It was eighty degrees in the middle of November. The tropical air and warm sunshine felt divine. I purposely came a day early to take care of some pre-wedding prep work. Bea and Evonne were flying in tomorrow morning to help me, and the rest of the guests weren't supposed to arrive until much later in the evening.

There would be eight people total cramming into our suite.

Five girls: Bea, Evonne, Evonne's best friend, Jada Anderson, Bea's best friend, Chloe Sinclair, and me.

Three guys: Trick, and Evonne's cousin, Chance Walsh, of course, Zac.

Festivities would transpire all day and all night on Friday and Saturday, leading up to the main event, Bea and Evonne's beachside ceremony, on Sunday, with a post-wedding brunch on Monday before everyone flew back home and Bea and Evonne took off to Greece for a week-long honeymoon.

Amari helped me secure a four-bedroom suite at the Four Seasons through her family's hotel connections. The suite had looked breathtaking online. When I arrived at the actual suite, the rooms were even more gorgeous than I ever imagined. The interiors were airy and modern, filled with furniture and decor in shades of cream and white and sandy beige. Massive floor-to-ceiling windows let in plenty of sun while displaying scenic ocean and mountain views all around. There was a cream-felted pool table in the common area, and each bedroom came with its own bathroom and private balcony. An infinity pool and hot tub sat just outside.

I arranged for Bea and Evonne to take the largest and nicest bedroom, Jada and Chloe were going to share the second bedroom, I saved the third bedroom all for myself because I fucking deserved some privacy after all the work I put in, and Chance and Zac would get the last bedroom. Since each room only came with a king-sized bed, Bea and I had to bully Trick into sleeping on one of the pull-out couches.

It was around four in the afternoon. I had a meeting with the concierge scheduled in an hour to go over our weekend itinerary. I decided to take this free hour to unpack some of my clothes and freshen up from my long-ass flight. I jumped in the shower for a quick rinse. After I was done washing up, I stepped out of the stall. As I started getting dressed, I heard some shuffling noise outside my bedroom.

Was it hotel staff from the concierge service?

Or had one of the guests decided to show up early?

With my hair still dripping wet, I called out, "Who's there?"

When I received no answer, I quickly pulled on a white terry robe over my bra and panties and rushed outside to check on the noise. As I stepped into the common area, my eyes went wide with shock. I was greeted with the sight of a tall, dark, and tatted figure with brooding amber eyes. He had grown at least an inch since we last saw each other in the backseat of his Audi. His muscles had filled out as well. There was a five o'clock shadow on his jawline. He no longer looked like a boy anymore. He was all man.

"Zac!" I gasped. "What are you doing here?"

Per our last group chat discussion, I assumed he wouldn't be flying in until tomorrow.

His gaze found mine, and tension wound taut in the air. In a low, husky voice that sent prickles of anticipation down my spine, he murmured, "I changed my flight."

"Last minute?"

"Yeah."

I studied him curiously. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Thought you might need some help before everyone arrived."

Foolishly, delight surged in me. It seemed Zacstill cared about me even though we had grown somewhat distant these past twoyears. Unable to help myself, I felt a smile spread across my face. "That's really sweet of you, thanks."

Zac didn't smile back at me, but he didn't appear unhappy, either. His reaction was a little hard to decipher. "Well, Evonne's counting on us. I want her big day to be perfect. Friends look out for each other, and we're all friends, right?"

Friends.

I was starting to hate that word with a passion.

"Right," I clipped.

Zac's lackluster response dampened my mood immediately. I was getting excited over nothing. He hadn't come for me. He came for Evonne.

Why did my dumb ass assume that I was still special to him?

As I stood in front of Zac, I tried not to notice how broad his shoulders had grown. How tall he stood. How good he looked with his tats and piercings. It was so nerve-wracking to be in such close quarters with a boy who used to mean the world to me.

I cleared my throat and glanced away, struggling to maintain composure when I said, "Anyway, I should probably go dry my hair and put on some real clothes. Um, make yourself at home. I'll be back in a minute, and we can get to work on wedding stuff."

He nodded, seemingly oblivious to my internal chaos. "Sounds good."

As I made a beeline for my room, I noticed, from the corner of my eye, that his gaze was still following me. Beneath the intensity of his stare, my heart hammered with every step. It began to flip flop between uncertainty and hope.

Was Zac as hyper-aware of me as I was of him?

God, what I would give to read his mind right now.