Chapter 29 #2
Mom leans closer, her eyes sparkling. “Your dad is right. I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time. That flush on your cheeks isn’t from the sun, is it?”
I laugh, trying to play it cool even as heat creeps up my neck. “Mom…”
“Oh, don’t ‘Mom’ me,” she says, lowering her voice so only I can hear. “I know that look. And between us girls… whatever you two were doing before you got here this morning? Keep doing it. Whatever it was, it’s clearly working wonders.”
“Mom!” I whisper-shout, mortified but laughing.
“What?” she grins, sipping her coffee. “I’m just saying…”
Aria steps up to the microphone before I can die of embarrassment. The chatter and laughter throughout the pavilion quiets as all eyes turn toward her and Ethan, excitement bubbling in the air.
“Alright, everyone!” she beams, clapping her hands together. “Time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for—the bingo card winners!”
Ethan leans in beside her, his eyes gleaming with amusement as he speaks into the mic.
“Aria and I loved seeing all your photo and video evidence roll in. Some of you got very creative. But there can only be one winner. And this couple…” He pauses dramatically, letting the suspense build.
“…completed all their squares exactly three minutes before the runners-up did!”
The pavilion comes alive with murmurs and whispers.
“And some of you didn’t quite make it in time,” Aria adds with an exaggerated pout. “Mom and Dad, for instance, refused to do couples yoga.”
Dad grumbles from beside Mom, crossing his arms over his chest as she giggles behind her hand. “I’m an old man, Aria! I wasn’t about to pop a hip doing yoga at my age. You try balancing on one leg when your knees sound like bubble wrap.”
Warm laughter sweeps through the crowd. Mom swats his arm while unsuccessfully hiding her smile.
“Excuses, excuses.” I tease, leaning forward with a grin. He shoots me a mock glare—the same fatherly look that somehow makes me feel twelve years old no matter how old I get.
“Ryan and Claire were another couple who didn’t finish in time,” Ethan continues. “They had two squares left… and honestly? They were probably the easiest two on the entire card.”
A chorus of laughter breaks out before Ryan even has the chance to defend himself.
“Where exactly were we supposed to find temporary tattoos?” Ryan shouts from the neighboring table, throwing his hands in the air. “We looked everywhere. The gift shop only had seashells and pineapple keychains!”
Claire buries her face in her hands beside him, laughing helplessly while the crowd lets out a chorus of playful boos and teasing shouts.
“You clearly didn’t look hard enough,” I call back, turning toward him with a grin. “They were near the back wall. They even had dick tattoos.”
Ryan’s eyes go wide. “You’re lying.”
“Nope,” I shake my head, barely holding back a laugh. “Milo wouldn’t let us get them… which is honestly a shame. We could’ve totally rocked matching dick tattoos.”
Milo lets out a low chuckle beside me as Ethan snorts loudly into the microphone, trying and failing to keep a straight face.
“Now that’s something I would’ve loved to see,” Ethan says, grinning. “Blackmail content until the day we die.”
“Fuck off, Cole,” Milo mutters beside me, though he’s smiling.
“Love you too, Reyes!” Ethan shouts back, pounding his chest with his fist.
Aria rolls her eyes and keeps talking. “We’ve had so much fun watching all of you over the past few days.
The photos. The videos. The complete and utter chaos.
It’s honestly been one of our favorite parts of the trip.
” Her smile softens as she glances around at everyone gathered under the pavilion.
“But now it’s time to announce who will enjoy a private sunset catamaran sail tonight. ”
A chorus of excited cheers follows.
“Can we get a drumroll please?” Ethan shouts.
Immediately, hands begin pounding against tables.
The sound grows louder and louder until it becomes a rolling thunder of noise.
Under the table, Milo’s hand finds mine again. The simple touch sends a rush of warmth through me. His thumb strokes slow circles over my knuckle—a quiet, steady rhythm that somehow calms my nerves even as my stomach flutters harder.
Aria leans closer to the mic, her excitement bubbling over. “All right, everyone, stand up!”
The crowd hesitates.
“No, seriously. Stand up,” she urges. “Come on, get on your feet! Let’s give this a proper announcement!”
“You heard my soon-to-be-wife!” Ethan claps his hands and gestures for everyone to stand. “Everybody on your feet!”
Chairs scrape across the floor as the entire wedding party rises. I slip my hand from Milo’s, suddenly unsure what to do with myself. My fingers fidget with my dress’s hem.
“And the winner is…”
Aria lets the silence stretch just long enough for everyone to hold their breaths.
“Sienna and Milo!”
The moment our names ring out, a delighted squeal escapes me, and I launch myself straight into Milo’s arms before I can even think. He catches me instantly, like he knew I was going to do it.
His hands slide beneath my thighs as I wrap my legs around his waist, laughing breathlessly. Then he spins me. Once. Twice. The world blurs into flashes of sunlight and ocean blue.
One of Milo’s hands remains firmly pressed against the hem of my sundress, keeping it in place as he spins us. The thoughtful gesture sends a different kind of flutter through my chest.
When he finally slows, he carefully lowers me back to the ground. Neither of us lets go right away. His arms stay wrapped around my waist. For a moment, we’re both smiling too hard to speak.
Then Aria appears beside us, carrying an envelope. “You two absolutely earned this,” she says, pulling us both into a hug. She leans in, lowering her voice so only I can hear. “And honestly? You deserve each other.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
“I love you,” I murmur, hugging her tighter and kissing her cheek. “So much.”
“I love you,” she says, kissing my cheek in return. “To the stars, around the moon, through the atmosphere and back.”
Our old childhood saying hits me right in the chest. My heart aches sweetly at the memory of us whispering it to each other every night. We’d repeat it through tears and laughter, through every stage of growing up together.
A promise.
A reminder.
No matter where life took us, we’d always find our way back to each other.
My eyes sting. Aria notices immediately and cups my cheeks, giving them a gentle squeeze as if she knows my thoughts before I even do. Then she flashes me a smile before bouncing back toward the stage.
Once there, she taps the microphone again. “We thought the runners-up deserved something special too.”
The crowd quiets.
“So,” Ethan says with a grin. “We’ve arranged a romantic beach dinner for them tonight.”
The announcement continues, but it fades into the background because all I can focus on is Milo and the warmth of his fingers mindlessly stroking my thigh as we stand there.
The solid presence of his body beside mine anchors me, while the constant swarm of butterflies in my stomach reminds me, again and again, that this is real.
And it’s starting to not feel like a vacation fling anymore.