Chapter 17
Hailey
Connor is bleeding, John is so drunk he’s stammering, and Adelaide can’t relax because she’s stressing over Evelyn’s whereabouts. When Melissa suggests that now is probably a good time to call it a wrap for the night, everyone agrees.
Whatever tiff Addy and Liam were having earlier must have definitely been squashed, because they walk arm-in-arm together.
Melissa’s feet are so blistered from too many hours in heels that she’s whipped off her shoes and now treks barefoot through the hotel.
Connor walks ahead of the group, still holding napkins to his palm to stem the bleeding after he smashed a glass in his hand.
John and Tyler are drunkenly roughhousing with each other.
Admittedly, having Liam and the guys join us hasn’t been the worst idea in the world, but I figure the evening would have stayed on track if it had remained just us girls. Instead, it’s been kind of chaotic, and I don’t enjoy chaos. I can only hope that tomorrow runs smoother.
As we reach the elevators and join the crowd of others calling it a night, Addy turns to me.
“What’s on the itinerary for the morning, Hailey? Do we need to set an alarm?”
Oh, so we are still somewhat following the plan I spent so many hours of my life working on. My shoulders lift with joy as I pull out the printed itinerary from my purse and scan over tomorrow’s agenda. “So, I have us down for breakfast at Eggslut at—”
“Eggslut?” Tyler scoffs, and I cross my arms over my chest, dragging Theo’s wrist along for the ride.
“Yes, as in a love for eggs. It’s a restaurant here in the hotel that does amazing breakfast sandwiches according to reviews, so hopefully you aren’t too hungover to enjoy them, because I assume you’re all going to join us?” I look at each of the men in turn, an unimpressed eyebrow raised.
“You can always count me in for a good old bacon, egg, and cheese, Hails,” Theo says with a lick of his lips.
“So,” I say, ignoring him, “everyone meet at Eggslut for nine.”
“Nine?” Liam groans.
“Fine. Ten. And be dressed in your swimwear, because we’re going to a pool party, which I assume you’re also going to gatecrash.”
“I’ve got some hot speedos,” John says, sticking out his tongue.
The doors to one of the many elevators ping open and we all huddle inside.
Us girls’ rooms are on the forty-ninth floor, while the guys are on the twenty-first. I’m so exhausted, yet I reckon I could fit in some more writing before I climb into bed .
. . Except Addy will be in the room with me, and I don’t want her to think I’m some pathetic loser chasing such unattainable dreams at 2 a.m.
“I hope you sleep well,” Liam murmurs against Addy’s neck as he pulls her in for a quick goodnight kiss.
We reach the twenty-first floor and the guys move out of the elevator. All of them except Theo, that is.
“Melissa, I think you’re forgetting something . . .” I hold up mine and Theo’s handcuffed hands with a smile. It’s officially the end of the night, so my dare is complete.
Liam sticks a foot back into the elevator to keep the doors from closing. “What are we doing? Do Theo and Hailey need to stay together?”
“Hang on,” Melissa says, rummaging through her purse. She’s a bit drunk, but suddenly her boozy smile falters and her brows furrow. She lifts her chin and looks me straight in the eye. “I can’t find the keys.”
“Ha-ha,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“No, Hailey, I’m serious.”
Laughter rips from the guys. Meanwhile, Addy presses her lips together with a sigh and rubs her temples, Melissa raids her purse even more frantically, and I gape at Theo in horror, jaw slack.
“Which one of you stole the keys to the handcuffs out of my purse?” Melissa snaps angrily, pointing a finger at the guys out in the corridor. “Give them back. I’m tired and not in the mood for messing around anymore.”
Silence. The guys exchange glances, each of them shrugging in denial. The elevator doors attempt to close again, but Liam hunkers down even more between them.
“Well, shoot,” Theo says, slapping his thigh with feigned disappointment.
I pivot toward him with a glare, because much like Melissa, I’m too tired to entertain these pranks. “Did you steal the keys?”
“Hails, I’ve been handcuffed to you all night,” he says, cocking his head to the side. “If I stole the keys, you’d be my accomplice.”
“I must have lost them,” Melissa says guiltily. “Do you think . . . Well, do you think you guys could get through the night together and we’ll figure out a way to release you from those cuffs in the morning?”
What an absolutely terrible idea.
Panicked, I glance helplessly around the group. “Connor. You’re a literal Marine. You’re strong enough to break these, right? Right?” I yank Theo forward as I hold up our handcuffed wrists, my eyes pleading desperately.
Connor backs away with an apologetic grimace. “I’d give it my best shot if my hand wasn’t fucked. Sorry.”
“So, what are we doing here, guys?” Liam asks again, still blocking the elevator doors but rapidly losing patience. “Do we need to rearrange rooms? Where are Theo and Hailey going to sleep?”
“It doesn’t sound like Evie’s coming back to her own room tonight, so Melissa, I’ll come stay with you instead,” Addy suggests, because Addy always knows how to resolve a problem. “Hailey, you and Theo can have our room to yourselves. I don’t really want to be there while you two fight all night.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll catch up with you guys at breakfast,” Theo says with a small wave to the bachelor party.
As Liam steps back into the corridor, the elevator doors finally close, shutting them out. Theo is left rocking it with us girls, which doesn’t seem like too much of a hardship for him. As the elevator continues to the forty-ninth floor, he’s smirking in delight.
“This is diabolical, Addy, that I have to share a bed with your brother.”
As we head down the long corridor to our rooms, Addy finally manages to crack a smile. “Hey, it’s Vegas,” she says with a nonchalant shrug, which makes me wonder . . .
Maybe if she saw me glancing at Theo the way I have been tonight, she wouldn’t find it all that repulsive. Whenever other girls in our high school class would fawn over Theo back in the day, Addy would physically gag and beg—beg—her friends to stay away from her younger brother.
But we’re not kids anymore.
“Let me grab some of my stuff,” she says, swiping the key card for our room as Melissa disappears into the room next door. “I noticed your laptop, by the way. I really appreciate everything you’ve done when it comes to planning this weekend, Hailey. You’re the best.”
As Theo and I walk into the room behind her, we exchange a knowing glance. “Oh, you’re welcome.” Note to self: when done sneaking off to write, hide the evidence.
Addy doesn’t take long to get her stuff together—she grabs some toiletries, her bridal-themed pajamas, a phone charger, tells Theo she’s left him a spare toothbrush—and then wishes us good luck before she dashes off next door to sleep in Evie’s bed for the night.
As silence settles over the room, Theo and I turn to each other.
“How are we going to do this?” I ask, then anxiously bite my lower lip. “Because now I need to pee.”
“The same way we’ve handled it all night—working together,” Theo says with a confident, assertive nod.
He pulls me into the bathroom, stands as far away from me as he possibly can with his arm outstretched and his back turned, and closes his eyes while I do my thing.
“I hate you so much,” I mumble. I want nothing more than the ground to swallow me up right now. My cheeks are burning up from the embarrassment of it all. Is there anything that could possibly be worse than having a guy listen to you pee?
“Me? I didn’t do this. Hate Melissa.”
I finish up, and as I wash my hands, Theo washes his too. I keep catching his eye in the mirror, and I keep looking away, and then I catch his eye all over again. He waits patiently by my side as I remove my make-up and work through my skincare routine.
“You’re so lucky Addy carries spares of everything,” I say, handing him the toothbrush she’s left out on the counter.
I apply some toothpaste for him, then some on my own brush.
Together, we brush our teeth as our handcuffed hands hang between us.
“You know we’re going to have the worst sleep tonight, right?
Whenever one of us rolls over, we’re going to drag the other with us. It’s going to be terrible.”
“Don’t be so negative,” Theo says through a foamy mouthful of toothpaste. “Think of it as a fun sleepover with the hottest guy you’ve ever known.”
“Debatable.”
“Who exactly am I competing against?”
I lean over the sink, rinse my mouth, then meet Theo’s eyes in the mirror as I straighten back up. “I’ll have you know we get some very hot men in our dental chairs with their perfect smiles. You’re not even the hottest guy I’ve seen this week, let alone ever.”
Theo raises a smug eyebrow. “So you do think I’m hot.”
“Fine, Theodore, I’ll admit you’re not exactly horrifying to look at.”
“That might just be the first compliment you’ve ever given me.”
“Don’t get used to it,” I say, pulling him out of the bathroom.
He follows, but it’s not like he has any other choice.
“I need to get out of this dress. Can you, like, turn around and close your eyes? And don’t be a creep who steals a peek in the mirror.
Please?” My voice is soft, kind of vulnerable.
“I would love to watch you step out of that dress, Hails,” Theo says, eyes dipping to my waist, “but I also would never do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Does this work?” He turns away and smacks his free hand to his face, covering his eyes.
“If you don’t believe me when I say I can’t see anything but darkness right now, then feel free to blindfold me with a towel or whatever. ”