All Bets Are Off

Chapter 1

Adelaide

My bachelorette party is ruined, and I’m the only one who knows.

I’ve known for a week now, and it has eaten away at me for seven whole days.

The bubbling excitement I should have been feeling deep in my stomach in the days leading up to this moment has instead been knots of anxiety, twisted so tight it has made me nauseous.

This morning, while blowing out my hair, the dread became so much I gripped the edge of the bathroom sink and stared at my pale reflection in the mirror as I began to dry heave.

Liam appeared in the reflection behind me, a soothing hand caressing my bare shoulder. He promised me I was worrying over nothing; that my friends would understand and respect my wishes. It’s my bachelorette, after all. I should have the final say on things.

Except I didn’t decide this, and I have just spent the five-hour flight from Miami forcing a smile upon my face while wondering how the hell I break the news that this weekend in Las Vegas won’t quite have the freedom I longed for.

“It should be right out here,” my best friend, Hailey, says as she points to a door exiting the terminal at Harry Reid International Airport.

She pulls her small suitcase in one hand, the other holding a printed itinerary for the weekend that I have zero doubts is perfectly planned down to the minute.

I can trust her with my life, so of course I can trust her to organize my bachelorette.

“I called the transfer company yesterday to confirm and I studied the terminal map online last night. It’s definitely this way. ”

“You studied the terminal map?” A scoff escapes Evelyn as we all trail behind Hailey with our luggage in tow, and then she casts me a sidelong look and rolls her eyes.

“Now I understand why you didn’t choose me to plan this weekend.

I’m no longer offended by your decision, because I definitely would not be printing schedules and researching airport layouts. ”

“We’re not all as laid back as you, Evie, and considering you asked last night what time our flight was this morning, I made the right choice,” I tell my little sister.

“Besides, you’ve been twenty-one for, what?

Three and a half days? You do not have the experience yet for planning tipsy brunches and VIP entry into clubs. ”

“And how would you know? Life is wild at the University of Florida.”

“I’d rather not know,” I say, waving her away with my hand, because what Evie gets up to is none of my business, though it’s very clear she lives a much more scandalous college life than I ever did.

Our parents have me under strict instructions to look after her this weekend, and of course I’ll try my best, but there are so many other things I need to worry about first.

“Here we are!” Hailey announces as we step outside into the burning Vegas sunshine. “Activity one of your bachelorette weekend, Addy—the cringiest, most attention-seeking ride to our hotel! It had to be done. I’m so sorry.”

Parked up by the curb is a neon pink stretch limousine, and I’m relieved that I’m capable of laughter with how tense I feel right now.

Although I left Hailey in control of the itinerary and had full confidence in her ability to put together a seamless plan, I’m no fool—I know I’m in for a lot of surprises that will have my cheeks turning red over the next few days.

It’s a rite of passage for any bride to be completely and utterly mortified on her bachelorette party.

“It’s so cute!” Melissa, one of my other bridesmaids, gushes. “And oh. He’s not too bad, either.”

Our chauffeur steps out of the limo; six foot tall and suited up with a matching hat. “Welcome to Vegas, ladies!” he greets us with a wide grin. “Which one of you is Adelaide?”

“Right here,” Hailey says, and I sheepishly allow her to nudge me forward.

Our chauffeur plucks his hat from his head and sets it down on mine instead, and because I do not want to be that bridezilla who freaks over the small things, I bite my tongue and accept my doomed fate of wearing a stranger’s hat that will no doubt flatten my blowout.

“Now let’s hit the strip!” he cheers, yanking open the rear door of the limo to allow the four of us to climb inside while he deals with our luggage.

There’s a buzz of excitement in the air as we sink into the plush leather seats beneath a ceiling of glittering disco lights.

It’s August in the desert, so the AC blasting at full force is a welcome relief, and Evie immediately drops to her knees on the carpeted floor and examines the drinks on offer inside the ice buckets.

“Oooo, let’s get started with some bubbles,” she says gleefully. With a pop, she effortlessly cracks open the first bottle of champagne, and I raise an eyebrow as she begins filling glasses. Definitely not her first rodeo. She slips a glass into each of our hands. “Here we go, girls!”

Hailey clears her throat before any of us can even take a sip.

“Let’s cheers to Addy,” she says, soft brown eyes settling on me with an emotional glaze.

Hailey cries often. And very easily. “Addy, I think I speak on behalf of all three of us when I say we are so lucky to have you in our lives. I’ve loved growing up with your friendship, and I’m so excited to watch you enter this next chapter of your life.

I hope you have the most amazing weekend, and I really hope you remember it . . . Or at least some of it . . .”

“Cheers!” Evie and Melissa say in unison, but before they can clink their glasses together, I abruptly hold up a hand.

“Wait.”

And this is it—this is the moment where I break the news and change the course of the entire weekend.

Evie gasps and snatches the glass of champagne out of my hand. “You better not be pregnant.”

“Especially after those screwdrivers we had back in the departure lounge,” Melissa adds, eyeballing me warily.

“No! Give me that.” I swipe the glass from my sister’s hand and, because I’m in need of a little courage to spit out the truth, I tilt it to my lips and gulp down the champagne.

I blow out a breath as three very concerned faces stare back at me, each of them wondering what on God’s earth is important enough to ruin the nice moment we were sharing. “There’s been a slight change of plan.”

“But you aren’t in control of the plans,” Hailey says with a panicked glance at her printed itinerary peeking out of the corner of her purse. “So what do you mean, they’ve changed?”

I squeeze my eyes shut for a brief moment and then spit out the news I should have broken a week ago: “Liam has decided to throw his bachelor party here in Vegas too. They’re actually on their flight out here right now. Double the fun, right?”

And the reaction I receive is exactly what I feared. Complete and utter horror conveyed by the exchange of bewildered expressions and grimaces. The limo rounds a corner at speed, and we all quickly stabilize our champagne glasses in our hands.

“What?” Evie gasps. “I thought they were going to Cancun. Why the hell are they crashing our weekend? Addy, c’mon.”

“We thought combining our parties would be fun,” I say with a forced smile. Maybe I can convince myself to believe it’s a great idea, too. That this is what we want as a couple.

“Men are not included in the schedule of events, Addy. What am I supposed to do now?” Hailey stresses, and I can practically see her itinerary going up in flames inside her head.

“We’ll still stick to your plan,” I promise her, reaching out to squeeze her hand in reassurance. “The men can work around us. It’ll be fun, you guys! And we’ll still spend some time together as just us girls.”

“Adelaide Sinclair, I have told you a thousand times, stop being such a people-pleaser,” Melissa grumbles.

She grabs the bottle of champagne and refills her glass already, and I have a terrible feeling that my entourage are going to drink their way through the pain of having our weekend gatecrashed by my fiancé.

“Which hotel are they staying in?” Evie enquires, her tone hesitant. She already fears what the answer will be, and her mouth is arranged into a disapproving frown.

“The Cosmopolitan . . .” I say meekly, triggering a second round of groans. Now I’m the one reaching for another refill of champagne, because although it’s a short journey to the Las Vegas strip, I have a feeling this limo ride is going to feel like the longest journey of my life.

“God, are you guys that obsessed with one another that you even have to stay in the same hotel?” Evie rolls her eyes and looks at Hailey with pity. “Hailey, you’re going to wake up in the middle of the night to find that your roommate has snuck off across the hotel to get freaky with her beau.”

Hailey narrows her eyes at me, and I shake my head quickly to ease her worries.

“I will not be sneaking out in the middle of the night to meet Liam, okay? Guys, please,” I plead, pursing my lips as I glance between the three of them.

“This is how Liam and I want to celebrate. Please can we just roll with it?”

“If this is what you want, Addy, then . . . I’m cool with it,” Melissa says. She gives Hailey and Evie a pointed look, encouraging them to follow suit with their own acceptance of the situation.

Hailey’s scanning her itinerary again, stressing logistics, but she manages to glance up and offer me a small nod. “I’ll try and rework things as best I can.”

Evie suddenly erupts with a horrified shriek.

“Wait, does this mean Theo will be here?” When I smile apologetically at her, she throws herself back against the leather seat in a disgruntled tantrum, arms folded angrily across her chest. “Ugh. No. How are we supposed to go wild on your bachelorette weekend with not only your fiancé around, but our brother too? I want to kiss some hot men, Addy. Preferably Europeans. French . . . Or perhaps Italian.”

I sink back into the seat alongside her, getting comfortable, and reach once more for the champagne. “I’ll tell Theo to close his eyes,” I tease, and when I get a laugh out of Hailey and Melissa, I pray that the hardest part of the weekend is now over.

But the truth is, there is so, so much more I’m hiding from them.