When Logan and I make it to the beach, we find some of our group lingering near the horseback riding stand where they cart us off to the ranch. Ainslee is present with Kaitlyn, Tory, and Maddie but only Logan and Jesse are here from the bachelor's side. Having Logan as a distraction is helping me not worry about the female dynamics of the group and how I don't have anyone there to latch onto. 

"Good morning!" Ainslee beams as we stride over to her and I immediately notice Kaitlyn, Tory and Maddie wearing the same light pink tank tops with "Bride Tribe" written in gold across their chests paired with black shorts. I freeze and look at Ainslee, "I thought we were supposed to wear those for the spa day."

"No, last night we decided we wanted photos with them on the horses too, remember?" Ainslee answers with a tight-lipped smile.

"Oh shit, she left the club early babe," Tory tells Ainslee, and then they both look back at me, "We were supposed to notify the group chat. I spaced it."

"Shit, I did too," Maddie says with a grimace. They don't know I have no intention of snapping group pics on horseback, but I need to look eager to remedy the situation.

"I can run up and change?" I offer as Ainslee checks the time on her phone.

"No, it's fine. Everyone is supposed to be here in the next five minutes and it's a bit of a trek back up to the hotel," she replies but her annoyance is still lingering. I had no idea of the outfit change, so her annoyance should be aimed at their lack of communication. Not at me. 

We hear laughter behind us and turn to see Chase, Callum, and Alex walking over to us. They all have Bloody Marys in their hands and Maddie throws her hands up, "No love for the rest of us, mate?"

"I don't think you can leave the resort with those," Logan mutters.

Chase just shrugs, "They can come take it out of my hand then," he says before taking a long swig of his drink. "With the money I am paying to be here, I can bring a drink." 

They all have on short shorts that kind of look like swimming trucks and are wearing bright neon tank tops. I have no idea if it was coordinated or not.

"Missed the memo, Stel?" Chase says with a wide grin like he thinks it's actually pretty funny.

"Must have gone to my spam," I joke back as I look down at my shirt. He leans in next to my ear and says, "But you also hate the matchy-matchy thing, don't you." He gives me his smirk with his signature dimple. He knows I think the matching tees are ridiculous, but no one else hears what he said to me. He walks away, leaving the secret between us and I'm smiling as I shake my head. Chase continues to Ainslee and plants a kiss on her cheek.

"Just waiting for Lauren and Mike then?" Kaitlyn asks after doing a head count and Maddie swings her hip into Kaitlyn as she says, "They left the club together. Maybe they slept in late if you know what I mean."

"Unless Mike asked her to be his girlfriend, there is no way they hooked up," Ainslee confidently tells the group.

"But we are in Mexico, there are no rules here," Maddie playfully retorts before licking Kaitlyn's cheek. Kaitlyn then launches herself at Maddie and starts pretending to make out with her.

"This is what I like to see," Alex says as he pulls his phone out to take a photo of the two women all over each other. Maddie laughs while Tory looks irritated.

A man donning a cowboy hat from the horseback riding team interrupts the chaos and asks us if we are the Camden party. We all hoot and holler in agreement and I take a step forward when he asks for Señora Harlow. I'm the one who booked the reservation so I stride over to him, but I tug on Logan's hand to join me since he speaks Spanish.

The man, Javier tells us that we all need to sign waivers and I tell him we are waiting for two more. He tells us he'll wait to cart us over until Mike and Lauren make it down and for us to fill out the paperwork in the meantime.

I hand off the sheets and pens to our group and Lauren finally makes it down, apologizing that she got hung up with work and Mike saunters over just as the rest of us are handing in our forms with no excuse. I don't miss the glare Ainslee gives Lauren but Lauren blows it off. 

Javier radios his team that we are ready to hop on the golf carts and then turns and does a headcount. I am hoping I can pull off not going, but won't pull the fake phone call until we are at the ranch. It will look less suspicious. 

I glance around the group and spot Logan pulling his phone out. He waltzes away from the group for a few minutes to take a call.

Four golf carts appear from the resort and everyone starts pairing off. I purposely stand near the back, hoping to get lumped in with either Lauren or Logan.

Ainslee, Chase, and Callum are off first and I watch as Kaitlyn, Maddie, and Tory fill the next cart. Jesse, Mike, and Alex pile into the third cart which leaves Me, Logan, and Lauren snagging the last ride. Lauren takes the front seat, so Logan and I drop into the back. He's texting someone the entire way so I look at the amazing florals and greenery as we are driven down a dirt path to the ranch that sits about ten minutes beyond the resort. Mariachi-style music blares out from the cart's radio, so it would have been hard to talk anyway.

We start descending a small, narrow hill, and I turn to see a massive ranch unfolding before us. Several large, brown barns dot the landscape, and I can see horses trotting around in expansive fenced-in areas. The pungent smell of horse manure hits me hard, and I watch as Logan glances at me, immediately plugging his nose. I can't help but grin and swat playfully at his hand.

The golf carts come to a stop outside the first barn, and I watch as everyone eagerly piles out, ready to get this excursion underway. Three ranch hands approach Javier, and I spot two other small groups behind us, already getting settled on their horses.

It's only ten in the morning, but the humidity is relentless, and I can already see the beads of sweat dotting our hairlines, trickling down the backs of our tops. 

"Bienvenidos," one of the ranch hands loudly tells us and we all clap in excitement. 

"Who is the bride and groom?" Javier asks with a thick Mexican accent. Ainslee and Chase both step forward as Chase polishes off this Bloody Mary. I haven't seen Chase without a drink in his hand since we arrived. He hands the glass to Callum so he can shake the man's hand. Another ranch hand appears with a white cowboy hat with a veil attached to it and another black hat resembling a top hat. Ainslee giggles as he places it on her head and Tory is already snapping photos.

Javier approaches me while the other man entertains the group and holds our waivers up.

"You reserve ten horses, but there are twelve here," he asks as he points us out.

I know I reserved eleven and quickly ask, "Ten?"

"Si, we have ten ready, pero...we have one caballo being a stinker. I can get two more but they leave at ten thirty. Are there two people that can wait, and we all meet together at the same lunch spot?"

"Honestly, it's fine, I don't have to go," I tell him quietly, but I am unsure who wants to trot behind the group alone. Logan waltzes over to us and I relay what Javier just told me. Logan breaks into Spanish and I have no idea what he is agreeing to. I'm sure he's making it so I get on a damn horse.

Javier is now pointing off toward the resort as he talks to Logan but I am not hearing the word "caballo" included in their conversation. Logan nods and then strides over to Chase without filling me in first. I suddenly hear Ainslee while, "What? Are you serious, Logan?"

"I'm sorry, Ainslee. I can't be unavailable for three hours and let this deal fall through. I have to head back and get this sorted, but I'll meet you all back at the resort for pool time." My heart drops and he can't see my eyes shooting daggers at him from across the ranch. 

He's using my excuse to bail. I'm now gonna be the loner trotting alone in the wrong outfit, cursing every step of the way.

He walks over to plop into a golf cart and I turn to the group, "Unfortunately, we have one horse not cooperating this morning so one of us will have to be behind the others. Javier says we can all meet for lunch and ride back together, but we'll have to wait about a half hour until the next horse is ready."

"Alex and I can double up," Tory offers with a weird swivel of her hips but Javier quickly explains that the ride is too long for the horse to carry two adults.

"This is unacceptable, we reserved twelve horses weeks ago and now there are only eleven ready? What about the horse Logan would have ridden?" Chase interjects. I've never heard him be rude to staff before. 

"Well, technically they had ten available. Two of us would have ridden behind," I tell the group and Maddie slaps her hands on her legs in annoyance. Before the group breaks out in an argument, I pipe up, "Hey, I don't mind taking one for the team honestly. Ana, the hotel event coordinator called on the way here to discuss an issue that came up. I can resolve that if I stay behind."

"What issue?" Chase asks and I shrug, "I didn't get great reception. I'd love it if I could run back to the hotel and check in with her anyway. This is what I am supposed to be doing."

"You're supposed to be having some time off with us," Chase replies and I grin, "You know how event planning goes. Little fires pop up all the time." I look to the other girls and add, "And I am not even in the right shirt. The photos will be far cuter if me and my blue shirt aren't in them." I give them a small laugh, trying to diffuse the situation but Kaitlyn and Tory are already off taking photos by the barn and not giving a shit about the drama happening here.

"If they are taking Logan back to the resort, I can hop in with him, go check the issue, and then meet you all at the lunch spot," I offer but Chase seems reluctant. Ainslee cocks her head and says, "Maybe by then there will be two horses and Logan's work emergency will be tied up. They can ride up together so Stella isn't alone." She eagerly looks at me for confirmation and I nod. I know I wanted to get out of this but she now seems content to have me lumped in with Logan, who is now on his phone in the cart.

"That works for me if that's okay with you," I tell them and Chase finally shrugs. Maddie lets out a shrill laugh and I am fine not spending three hours with her and Kaitlyn who are acting drunk, but as far as I know, are totally sober. 

I turn to Javier and let him know that the ten of them are ready to proceed. He herds them off to the barn and I drop into the back of the golf cart Logan has occupied. He puts his phone down and turns to face me as we wait to be shuttled back.

"You stole my move," I tell him and he gives me an evil grin. "Do you actually have a work emergency?"

He shakes his head, "No, I was never planning on riding horses today." My jaw drops slightly and a shocked laugh escapes me.

"What? Why? What do you have planned instead?"

"I grew up on a ranch for eighteen years in Wyoming. Chase should have known I wouldn't have enjoyed this. I canceled my booking a week ago and booked a different excursion for today. Javier is kind enough to drive us over." My brain tries to catch up with everything he just said. 

"Okay, we are circling back to the ranch thing but first, drive us over? To do what?"

"Don't worry, I made a few calls when I found out you had no intention of getting on a horse either. I assume your wedding emergency is a lie?"

I shrug but don't confirm or deny. 

 "We are going ATV riding on a different part of the beach that leads us to a waterfall and a cliff to jump off of instead. We'll be back a half hour before the rest of the group with them none the wiser."

"That's what you've been doing on your phone?" I ask in shock and he nods, "I wasn't going to let you stay back and hide all day again." I eye him, surprised that he made all this happen in the twenty minutes we had from the elevator to the ranch. "Unless you have some completely irrational fear of getting on an ATV."

I smirk, "No, actually I went riding in Costa Rica and it was the best time. Thank you for planning this."

"Holy shit, so no pushback here at all?" He jokingly asks and I shake my head.

"No, I actually think that sounds way more fun than riding a monstrous beast who can buck me off and break my bones." He stares at me behind his black Ray Bans and I add, "That actually did happen."

"Mmm, so you have some horse PTSD as well then," he says and I nod. "Will you jump into the waterfall with me?"

"Depends on the water. If sea snakes and water demons are swimming around in there, then no."

"Such a Stella answer," he replies with a grin and Javier comes trotting back over to the cart leaving the Camden party to prepare for their excursion. Logan and him exchange a few sentences in Spanish and then Javier tells me to hold on as he zips away from the ranch.