Page 88 of For Pleasure Or Worse

Through the haze of lights I could barely make out Natalia’s silhouette at the back of the room but my chest felt lighter knowing she was there. My finger snapped in the direction of our table, to Tally, hopefully. With a metaphorical beer blanket draped snugly over my shoulders, I dialed it up to ten and sang my goddamn heart out. At the very least, I’d make her laugh at how ridiculous it was. On the other hand, it might be enough to win her over. If I was willing to make a fool of myself in a shitty karaoke bar there was no saying how far that desperation could extend.

All I knew was that I wanted the song to be over so that I could return to our group with what little dignity I had left and a point for the boys to fall back on. Bella was singing me in circles, but there was no rule saying I had to be good at the task to mark it off the list.

As the final keys played, my future sister-in-law abandoned her mic on the stage and bounded away from me with her hand covering her face. The audience’s reaction was lukewarm, but our friends and family lit up the room with an embarrassingly long standing ovation to really hammer in the most awkward four minutes of my life.

If I was lucky the floor would open and swallow me. But I was the opposite, and when I traipsed back over to the table, not only had I completely embarrassed myself in the name of love, but that love of mine was nowhere to be found.

Mia hung over Ophelia’s shoulder, looking down at a piece of paper keeping track of the score. “We’re tied,” Ophelia announced.

Mia tossed a hand on her hip. “That’s bullshit. Mateo stole that right out from under us. We were here first, so we should get the point.”

“That’s not how a scavenger hunt works,” Angelo pushed back. “It’s how many, not how quickly. Everything on the list is fair game.”

“I’m sorry, what exactly have you contributed to your team?”

A low whistle rang out and Camilla high-fived her sister. Angelo scrubbed an impatient hand through his short beard and Mia squared up to him with a self-righteous tilt of her head. So far, this weekend had been the catalyst to every problem. No one seemed nearly as concerned with Natalia’s whereabouts as I was; my palms were clamming waiting for her to reappear. I tried to voice that concern—the words were on the tip of my tongue—but instead I was silenced by the sight of my brother wrapping a hand in the hair at the nape of Mia’s neck, and tugging her mouth onto his.

The kiss dragged on for a questionable second before Mia ripped herself away, and if that hadn’t already left us speechless, the slap of her palm connecting with Angelo’s cheek did the job just fine.

“Oh fuck, you deserved that,” I said.

“One hundred percent,” Pike agreed.

Sam shook his head. “Am I missing something?”

“My contribution.” Angelo was grinning, even though his cheek was pink with the imprint of a thin set of fingers. There, at the bottom of the list, was the linekiss someone you just met.He stole Ophelia’s sparkly pen right out of her grip to write his initials next to it.

“He did not,” Bella scoffed.

Mia pressed her plump lips together and folded her arms over her chest. She wouldn’t make eye contact with anything butthe ceiling, and the only thing more concerning than a vindictive Mia was a silent one.

“Does that…count?” Tyler mumbled.

Angelo shrugged, tossing the pen on the table nonchalantly. He’d successfully thrown a live grenade into our already uncultivated bridal party and then turned toward the bar. “Anyone need another drink?” No one replied. “Suit yourselves.”

My brother left the table, and Mia spun in the opposite direction, stomping toward the bathrooms with her sisters hot on her heels.

Reality folded in on itself, and I blinked. “Where’s Tally?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” Ophelia said, but I knew her better than that. At least enough to say she’d never blindly allow her best friend to take off in Vegas alone without some kind of plan. Tal was having a field day making me chase her.

“Try again,” I offered kindly, while my hand tightened on the wooden backrest of her chair. “Come on, let me go get my wife, O.”

Her lips twisted, fighting to hold something back. She breathed deeply in through her nose and let it go as a sigh. “All she said was that she was going to find Elvis, and she needed to do it alone.”

Elvis.So this was a scavenger thing. She was trying to get ahead again.

Wracking my brain for somewhere I might find an impersonator, I came up short, and desperation struck. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I Googled it. My pulse picked up, thudding in my neck, because there were several results, but one very specific one nearby that stood out against the rest.

I knew exactly where she was headed.

It was where we’d been heading this entire time.

chapter thirty-two

Natalia

I staredupwards at the buzzing white sign and yellow bulb lights. Elvis was there dancing with a red acoustic guitar across his waist and smiling down at me like he knew a secret.

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