Chapter 12 #3
“Good night, Gabe,” she said.
“Good night, Emmy.”
The next morning, Emmy woke alone. She wondered if it had all been a dream, but the pillow wall was still intact, and Gabe’s
side of the bed was neatly made up with the blanket. His phone was gone from the nightstand and in its place, a piece of hotel
stationery with a word scrawled in his familiar handwriting.
Running.
She reflexively rolled her eyes, because of course he would get up at—she turned to check the clock—8a.m. on his first day
of vacation to go for a run. She had half a mind to pull the sheet over her head and sleep off her sugary sweet hangover for
two more hours. But she quickly realized his absence meant she had free rein to use the bathroom without worrying about sharing,
and that might have been exactly why he’d gone out for a run.
Not wanting to waste the opportunity, she threw back the sheet and quickly padded into the bathroom. The icy floor made her
both shiver and thankful that she’d convinced Gabe to sleep in the bed for fear he would have frozen to death on the marble.
She basically ran through a steaming shower and took care of all necessary business in record time. She’d just flipped off
the blow-dryer when she heard a knock at the door.
She walked into the hall to peer out the peephole and saw Gabe on the other side.
“Forget your key?” she asked in greeting when she opened the door.
She almost staggered back at the sight of him in a tight gray tee, black shorts, and a pair of red running shoes. Sweat clung to the ungelled hair around his face, flipping it out in chaotic little curls. Dashes of rosy pink colored his cheeks. He towered over her where she stood barefoot.
“Hey. No,” he said, slightly winded, and swiped a hand through his damp hair. She saw his key right there on his wrist next
to his smartwatch. “I just wasn’t sure what you’d be doing in here and didn’t want to barge in.” He glanced at her outfit
and softly smiled. “But I see you’ve taken advantage of being alone.”
“Yes, um. Thank you,” she said, and stepped aside to let him in.
“Of course.” He passed her and somehow smelled like a tropical beach and not someone who’d just run several miles on one.
The view from behind was even more distracting. The nylon shorts hugged his ass in a way that put jeans to shame. The sweat-dampened
shirt carved out the muscles in his back.
She found herself forcefully having to pull out of a daze. “I can return the favor. I was about to head down to breakfast.”
He found a water bottle in their minifridge and set about gulping it. “Great. I can meet you there after I shower?”
Emmy was suddenly hot and possibly a bit bothered. There was no way she could sit in the room knowing he was naked on the
other side of the bathroom wall. She needed to make an exit well before that scenario.
“Sounds good. We’ll be in the lobby restaurant.”
“See you soon.”
Gabe began untying his shoes, and she quickly grabbed hers along with her phone and sunglasses.
“See you.” She slipped out the door still shoving on her sandals and steadied herself with a deep breath on the other side.
Once she had her head on straight, she made her way to a shuttle stop and rode back to the main lobby.
The bright day already hung thick with humidity and enormous puffy clouds.
She’d scrunched her hair into a tight bun and could already feel it fighting to expand itself.
Piper had instructed her to meet at the lobby breakfast buffet, and Emmy found her there with Ben looking resort bridal chic and like she was ready to stab someone with a fork.
“Hey,” Emmy greeted when she joined their table. “Everything all right?”
Her sister sat across from her over a plate of papaya and scrambled eggs with her eyes drilling into a party at a nearby table.
“That’s them ,” Piper muttered.
As Emmy sank into her chair, she glanced across the terrace—a sun-splashed patio overlooking one of the enormous swimming
pools—and saw two men sharing breakfast, one of them staring daggers right back at Piper.
“Them who?” Emmy leaned in and whispered. A waiter appeared and poured her a glass of water that instantly started sweating
in the heat.
“Café?” he asked.
“Sí, por favor,” Emmy said quickly as she tried to get a read on who her sister was assaulting with her eyes. “Piper, who
are you looking at?”
“ Them ,” Piper said again. “ The other wedding. ”
Realization dawned on Emmy. She glanced over her shoulder again to notice the men were her age, one of them with dark features
and a painfully stylish hairdo, and the other, the one waging ocular warfare with her sister, fair and blond. They looked
American, based on what exactly, Emmy couldn’t tell, but she somehow knew it. The dark-haired one reached out and squeezed
the blond one’s hand and whispered something with a nod in their direction, prompting the blond one to scoff and look away.
From that one interaction, Emmy got the sense they shared the same dynamic as Ben and Piper: one was cool and levelheaded,
and the other a firecracker.
“Gary and Cary,” Piper seethed like the two had personally conspired to ruin her wedding.
“Their names rhyme?” Emmy said. “That’s cute.”
Piper scoffed. “They are not cute , Em. They are the enemy and must be stopped!” She picked up her fork and stabbed it into a juicy slice of papaya.
Emmy made wide eyes at Ben, who scrubbed his face with a hand and sighed. “Well, what are you going to do? Battle for the
wedding venue?” she asked, and sipped her water.
“If it comes to it, yes,” Piper said, and narrowed her eyes.
Ben heaved another breath and lifted his napkin off his lap. “Piper, you are not fighting them for the venue.”
“Why not? I could totally take Cary. We’re the same size.”
Emmy snorted, and Piper shot a death glare at her. She grimaced and decided to go fill a plate with breakfast.
When she returned with sliced fruit and an omelet, Piper and Ben were deep in hushed conversation.
“So, what’s the deal?” Emmy interrupted. “How is this going to go down?”
Ben sat forward with his elbows on the table and folded his hands like he was in a board meeting. “We’re meeting with the
manager at nine thirty to see what can be worked out.” Piper scoffed. “And everyone is going to behave ,” he said over the sound.
Emmy glanced over at Gary and Cary again. The blond one—who she gathered was Cary given Piper’s comment on being his same
size—was still glaring like he fully planned to out-zilla Piper during the showdown. “Well, this should be fun,” Emmy said.
“How do you know their names?”
“Because Gary, who is a very nice person ,” Ben said, emphasizing the words, “came over and introduced them. They are from LA. They got engaged around the same time
we did.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” Emmy said, and speared a pineapple wedge.
“It’s not nice ,” Piper said with a glower. “Don’t take their side, Em. I need you.”
“There are no sides, Piper. It was a mistake, remember? It’s the hotel’s fault, not theirs. So you can stop staring at them like they ran over your foot.” She waved her fork at her to refocus her attention.
Piper only glowered deeper.
Ben sighed again. “Where’s Gabe?” he asked, and sipped his coffee.
“Oh, he went for a run this morning, so he’s still in the room showering. He’ll be here soon.” Her face ignited to rocket
launch temperature at the word showering . She sipped her own coffee and wished it was iced instead of hot.
Ben checked his watch. “Well, you might have to catch up with him later because I could really use you in this meeting in
a few minutes.” He tilted his head toward Piper with a pleading look on his face.
“Happy to help,” Emmy said, though she was dreading it. She wasn’t a great mediator, and with the way Piper and Cary were
glaring at each other, she felt like a warthog about to be torn apart by two lions.
What she needed was an ally on the other side. Another neutralish party who could help negotiate without the emotional investment
of being the bride or one of the grooms. How she was going to find one of those in the next fifteen minutes, she had no idea.
Emmy settled into her breakfast and tried to keep her nerves at bay as the pending meeting drew nearer. To compound that,
Jacob could arrive at any moment given they were so close to the wedding. She was cautiously keeping her eyes peeled for a
flash of blond surfer hair and an entitled smirk roaming around the property. She didn’t want to run into him at all, but
especially not without the buffer of Gabe there for support. So far, she was in the clear.
Soon, they were all back in the lobby. Team Piper Gary’s mom, based on the resemblance; a few members of the bridal parties.
A small crowd had gathered, and Emmy felt like they were the Sharks and Jets about to throw down in a tropical paradise.
She was nervously wringing her hands, trying to think of an opening argument for equitable division of the venue, when Gabe
appeared at the lobby entrance.
The calming wave that washed over her at the sight of him was not subtle. It muted the surrounding chatter, dulled her nerves.
Narrowed her senses to only the space he occupied and cradled her there with him.
“Hey,” he said with a warm smile when he approached her. “What’s all this?”
The freshly showered smell of him flooded over Emmy. She took a small step back only to prevent herself from shoving her nose
into the contours of his chest left visible by his partly unbuttoned shirt. He wore his boat shoes again and another pair
of shorts. His hair was without any of its standard gel and was left curling over his forehead in rebellious little loops.
Vacation looked good on Gabe Olson. Very, very good.