Chapter 31
Adelaide
I start to believe, despite the rocky start with Liam this morning and my conflicted feelings for Connor, that perhaps today might just turn out okay.
We’ve all spent a few hours together, grabbing a bite to eat and gambling some more in the casino without any drama.
Evie temporarily disappeared, but returned shortly after with Jameson by her side, her hand defiantly interlocked with his.
It’s nice to finally have everyone together, all the guys and us girls—except Melissa, of course.
We’ve plowed through drinks at an alarming speed, collectively lost far too much money, and cracked one too many jokes at Hailey and Theo’s expense.
At least I have my answers with that. I’d have hated for the two of them to sneak around behind my back, thinking they couldn’t trust me to be cool with it.
We’re all adults here, and I think Hailey could do with someone like Theo in her life.
He’s extroverted and confident, her complete polar opposite, and I’m sure he has a fighting chance of pulling her out of her shell.
They don’t leave each other’s side all afternoon, but they also don’t touch each other that much and I wonder if they’re intentionally holding back on the PDA.
Although I am cool with it, I still think it’ll be weird to ever watch them kiss.
It’s why I shielded my eyes back at the sign this morning.
Maybe one day . . . but that day is not today.
I’ve been refraining on the PDA front, too.
Navigating Liam is proving challenging, because I don’t want him to suspect that anything has changed, but I just can’t fake it anymore.
Every time he rests his hand on my thigh, I find a way to shake it off.
Every time he puts an arm around me, I find a reason to walk away.
Every time he tries to look me in the eye, I look at absolutely anything else but him.
But I also remain calm and complacent, close by his side, engaged in his conversation.
He won’t have forgotten about the show us girls are attending later, but if we stay surrounded by the others, he’ll have no choice but to suck up his disapproval.
He won’t lose his temper with an audience.
Except he did . . . Yesterday at the pool party.
So maybe today might not turn out okay, after all. There’s still every possibility Liam may blow up again, because his perfect facade is beginning to crack.
Connor has permanently hovered nearby. Wherever I go, he is no more than five feet away from me, observing my interactions with Liam.
I try my best not to make too much eye contact with him, but I also know it’ll look suspicious if I avoid him entirely, so it’s a balancing act.
It’s so difficult to act indifferent around him when I feel anything but.
No one knows about the secret conversations we’ve shared over the weekend.
No one knows that last night Connor’s lips were locked with mine.
“It’s High Roller time!” Hailey announces, brandishing her crumpled, torn copy of her itinerary. “Drink up and let’s go.”
Happy hour on an observation wheel overlooking the strip is definitely something the men are on board with, because it involves copious amounts of alcohol.
We get the last of our drinks down our throats, close out our bets, and head out of the Cosmopolitan’s casino onto Las Vegas Boulevard.
We can see the LINQ High Roller from here, but like everything in Vegas, the distance is grossly deceiving.
It becomes a twenty-minute walk under the blistering, dry heat of the Nevada sun, and my feet are not happy in these heels.
The only saving grace is that it’s nice, as a united group, to walk the strip together for the first time all weekend.
The Bellagio fountains sing and dance as we pass.
Club representatives offer us free guest list entry for various clubs later.
A drunk woman waves her Fat Tuesday yardstick cocktail at us with cheers of delight before her husband sheepishly whisks her away, even though I was fully willing to welcome her into my bachelorette party.
Anything goes on the Vegas strip. It’s like Disney for adults, a place where everyone is happy.
More than five hundred feet high, all modern and white steel and glass, the High Roller towers over the very end of the LINQ Promenade.
You really have to focus to notice its slow rotation, and I think of how it looked last night in the dark, all twinkling neon lights, as Connor and I flew overhead in the helicopter.
Thanks to Hailey’s incessant need to be organized in advance, us girls already have our tickets. The guys purchase theirs at the counter, and together we all head through the security check and out onto the loading platform. The giant pods slowly pass us by as people are loaded on and off.
“It’s quiet today, so you guys can take a cabin to yourselves,” one of the attendants informs us, then grins.
“Y’all ready to get drunk? Because you’ll be surprised how many drinks you can get through in thirty minutes.
Just don’t make me pick any of you up off the floor when you come stumbling off at the end! ”
We all share a laugh as we wait, everyone in good spirits. Eventually it’s our turn to step into one of the pods, and a bartender joins us, wheeling on a portable bar cart with her. The doors seal shut and the pod smoothly begins to rise.
“I’m Trina!” the bartender tells us as she sets out a row of plastic cups.
“I’ll be spending the next thirty minutes with you guys, serving you whatever you want and as many as you want.
But first, let me see those IDs!” Once satisfied we are all over twenty-one, Trina starts pouring out nine identical cocktails with a cheeky grin.
“No allergies in the group? Everyone good with pineapple? If so, let me get you all started with a favorite drink of mine.” She passes out the drinks, which are sunset orange in color, and then points to a small speaker on the edge of the bar cart. “Do we have a music preference?”
“Travis Scott,” John says, at the same time as I say, “Taylor Swift.”
I fix John with a glower before I turn to Trina with a sweet smile. “I’ll tip you more if you play Taylor Swift.”
Trina laughs as she scrolls through Spotify on her phone. “I’ll alternate, okay?” she says, just as the opening lines of “The Man” vibrate through the cabin.
“Fucking Taylor Swift!” Liam scoffs, rolling his eyes and taking a swig of the cocktail Trina has handed out to everyone.
“Only men who feel threatened by powerful women hate on Taylor Swift,” Connor says, his tone easy, his body language relaxed. “Hey, Trina, can you turn it up? I love this song.”
Liam doesn’t miss a beat on that jab. He tenses slightly as his eyes narrow at Connor, trying to get a read on him and his intentions, but Connor simply turns away to gaze out of the windows as the LINQ Promenade drops away below us.
“What brings you all to Vegas? Are we celebrating something special?” Trina asks.
“These two are getting married,” Evie says, reaching out for mine and Liam’s arms and thrusting us forward.
Today is the first day I haven’t worn my bridal sash.
I didn’t feel like broadcasting the fact I’m an upcoming bride anymore, because just the notion of walking down that aisle toward Liam makes my stomach churn with bile. “We’re on a joint bach.”
“Congratulations!” Trina says, and even though I already have a cocktail in hand, she pours two Fireballs and hands them to Liam and me. “Cheers!”
Oh, God. I know it’s an open bar, but I expected the bartender to be stingy, purposely pouring the drinks slow, restricting how much we can actually drink. But no, not Trina—she appears to be on a personal mission to make sure we all get our money’s worth.
When I look at Liam, his eyes have lit up. So much for no shots today. “Love you, babe,” he says, tapping his shot glass to mine.
I don’t say it back. I just swallow back the cinnamon whisky and smile, but dear God, it’s strong—I immediately chase it down with the cocktail, which is sweeter, fruity, and delicious. “Can I have another one of those, please?”
“Yeah, me too,” Theo says, stepping forward with his empty cup, and we exchange a glance with one another and laugh.
We have been on this wheel for approximately six minutes. I dread to think what kind of state we are all going to be in twenty-four minutes from now if this is how quickly the drinks are going to be consumed.
As we smoothly ascend above the Las Vegas strip, the three-sixty glass walls offer unparalleled views of the sights below.
The Greek marble columns of Caesar’s Palace, the Eiffel Tower replica at Paris, the wraparound LED display of the Sphere, the stretching desert on the horizon.
I take so many photos and videos, but nothing can beat seeing these same sights from the skies overhead in the helicopter with Connor last night.
Trina curates the perfect playlist that keeps both us girls and the guys happy, empty cups are immediately refilled with the next drink, and the vibes are immaculate.
It feels so private and intimate, with Trina being our own personal bartender, working exclusively for us.
While most of us are onto our fourth drinks by now, Hailey is still nursing her second.
I can’t even tell if it’s because she hates the taste of alcohol or if she’s genuinely too distracted by Theo to remember to drink.
They take selfies together, get lost in their own private conversations, and laugh often.