Cate

"Not now, Trick," I scoffed, scooting toward the front of the room to act as a barrier between my brother and Zac. "Bea is getting married. Bring it down a notch, okay?"

My brother snorted. "I don't know what you see in this fucking loser, Cate. You could do so much better!"

I growled a warning at Trick, "Dude... just stop."

Zac then placed his palm lightly on my hip, shifting me behind him instead. He took a step towards Trick, looking my brother dead in the eye, and murmured, "In case you forgot, we're all here to celebrate with Bea and Evonne."

Zac's amber gaze darted toward me for the briefest of moments, and our split-second look seemed to communicate more than an entire conversation. Without even discussing it, on instinct, both of us had defaulted to the same game plan: Deflect the focus from us back onto Bea and Evonne's wedding. They deserved the spotlight, anyway. This strategy was a win-win. It also showed that our minds were in sync. I felt as though Zac and I were partners in crime again, and this sweet, short-lived connection made me far happier than it should.

Scowling at Zac, Trick grunted under his breath, "Don't give me that bullshit, you prick. I doubt you care about the wedding. To me, looks like you showed up to hook up with my sister."

Without missing a beat, Zac fired back, "Cate and I don't owe anyone an explanation."

Narrowing his eyes, Trick ground out, "Stay away from my sister."

"Look, I don't wanna fight you," Zac sighed as he held out his hand, offering unexpectedly, "truce?"

His show of maturity caught me by surprise. In the past, Zac's fist probably would've made contact with Trick's face long before offering to shake hands with his old bully. It was clear that Zac was trying to be the bigger person here. I noticed a slight tick in his jaw, though. It couldn't be easy for him to make peace with a guy like my brother. There was too much history, too much bad blood, between these two hard-headed males.

Yet, Zac's olive branch only seemed to antagonize my brother more. Unlike Zac, Trick's show of aggression didn't surprise me. Even after all these years, my brother hadn't changed much: He still hated people who didn't treat him like the alpha in the room. Trick remained the very personification of toxic masculinity. He thrived on dominating others. He liked to feel superior. A little too fucking much.

Zac was a secret sore spot for my brother. Not only did Zac stop cowering in Trick's shadow, but he had surpassed him. We all knew that Zac could take Trick down in a fight.

My brother snarled, "You were a fucking piece of shit in high school, you're still a piece of shit, and you'll always be shit."

Trick clenched his fists and lunged towards Zac. As Zac readied himself for the assault, I grabbed his arm and pulled him aside, muttering, "He's not worth it, Zac."

At the same time, Bea sprinted forward and yanked Trick back by the collar, railing at our brother, "I thought I already warned you about being nice to Zac? You promised to be on good behavior! No one is allowed to have a black eye or busted lip in my wedding photos, okay? Get that through your skull, Patrick Charles Hayes, and play nice over the next few days, or I'm kicking you out of my wedding!"

"Are you being serious, Bea?"

Bea's blue eyes flashed with irritation. "If you ruin my wedding, you're dead to me."

With a look of disbelief, Trick reminded Bea, "But I'm your fucking brother!"

"I know. It's very unfortunate."

He jabbed a finger in Zac's direction. "You would choose this asshole over me?"

Bea's brow pinched with hesitation. "I mean..."

Frowning, Evonne stepped in to defend Bea, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Trick. Zac is my guest. Please don't take this out on my fiancée, or else I'm gonna call security on your ass."

Trick snapped at Evonne, "I thought Christians weren't supposed to swear?"

Evonne retorted, "I think God can forgive me this one time."

I glared at my brother. "Honestly, you're the only one with the problem with right now. Can't you just enjoy Hawaii with the rest of us? For once, Trick, don't be an asshole. Please."

Realizing that he was outnumbered and treading on thin ice with all of us, my brother finally relented with an indignant grumble, "Fine, I'll try to be... civil. But, for the record, all of you guys suck."

Then, with an angsty, adolescent-sounding huff, Trick stalked out of my room.

Bea wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, Trick can be such a drama queen."

"I know, right?" I agreed with a grimace.

Evonne muttered, "He really hasn't evolved much since middle school."

Bea sighed, "Totally. He's forever going to be an unevolved charzilla."

"Don't you mean," Evonne mumbled, "a charmander?"

"Oh, right. Charmander. Oops. I always get them mixed up."

Zac glanced at Bea in surprise. "You actually know about Pokémon?"

Bea smirked at him. "Well, I'm trying to learn. Evonne has been talking nerdy to me."

Evonne gave Bea a peck on the cheek. "Just trying to help you fit in with the cool kids."

Bea kissed her back with a good-natured eye roll. "My hero."

As I watched my sister with her fiancée, I couldn't help but smile at how sickeningly adorable they were together.

"Anyway," Bea said abruptly, her eyes darting curiously between Zac and me, "we should probably, ah, get out of your room. Sorry for barging in on you two."

"No worries," Zac grunted with a cough.

I griped at her, "Next time, Bea, wait for permission to enter after you knock!"

She fired back, "Don't blame me. You should've locked the door!"

Evonne chuckled. "Well, come out to the living room whenever you two are ready so we can get this party started!"

Zac shot her a grateful smile. "Sounds good."

Bea gave me a questioning look and mouthed silently in my direction, You good with him?

I nodded, appreciating her concern.

My sister mouthed again, We need to talk. Later.

I nodded again, but, this time, I did so more reluctantly. I didn't really want to be interrogated over Zac even though I knew Bea had good intentions.

As Bea and Evonne headed out the door, Evonne glanced over her shoulder and gave Zac a sly look.

"Don't mess things up this time, Mazur."

Blinking once, Zac played dumb and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Evonne coughed into her first. "I can only play cupid so many times before my love juju runs out..."

He blushed slightly. Bea tittered and Evonne giggled as they, too, left the room, closing the door behind them.

It was just Zac and me again.

Thank God Bea and Evonne didn't press us for the tea. I knew, though, Bea was going to give me a cross-examination of sorts. Later. My sister knew how broken up I had been over Zac these past two years, and I doubted she would approve of me jumping into bed in such a no-strings-attached kind of way with the boy who shattered my heart.

But I didn't even know if I could answer any of Bea's questions at this point.

I needed to sort things out with Zac first.

Were we going to keep fucking in a no-strings-attached kind of way?

Or did we want something more from each other?

I didn't want to be pushy, but Zac and I needed to address this shit now since we may not get another chance to talk about it later. Bea, Evonne, and Trick were already here. Jada, Chloe, and Chance were set to arrive this afternoon. Soon, the wedding were going to take front and center stage, and I didn't want to leave everything feeling so unresolved between Zac and me.

I cleared my throat and got straight to the point, "So, um, I meant to ask, before we were so rudely interrupted..."

Zac glanced over to me with an expectant expression. "Yeah?"

For someone who had been recognized for her public speaking skills in national speech and debate competitions, it was embarrassing to suddenly struggle so much with communication in front of Zac.

Yet, my words felt tongue-tied and clumsy when I tried to get my point across, "I was wondering..."

"Go on."

"Are you okay with this arrangement between us being just based sex? Or do you..."

His eyes narrowed as he prompted again, "Do I... what?"

Gazing up at him with wide, hopeful eyes, I whispered, "Do you want something... more?"