Page 1 of Make the Play

Chapter one

Any excuse to touch me in public

Zoe

Trouble has a name tonight, and it’s Chase Walton.

I spot him the second I step into the hotel’s reception hall, leaning against the bar.Of coursehe looks disgustingly good in his tux. And of course, as soon as he clocks me across the dance floor, his signature cocky grin spreads across his face.

I ignore him.

I’m not even surprised. The guy could roll out of bed, hair sticking up everywhere, and still look like he belongs on a magazine cover. But tonight, he’s dialed up to a hundred, and that tux isn’t helping.

Taking a deep breath, I step further into the reception, hoping to find Charlie or Claire or someone, fuckinganyone, to save me from the inevitable flirt storm headed my way.

I scan the room. Soft candlelight. Overpriced floral arrangements. A live string quartet playing something aggressively romantic in the corner.

It’s perfect—for someone else.

As I weave through the tables, I adjust my satin green slip dress and pretend I can’t feel Chase’s gaze still burning into me, but my steps slow as I spot the centerpieces.

White carnations.

White for pure love. For the kind that stays, endures, doesn’t waver when things get hard.

Breathe, Zoe. It’s just a flower.A stupid, meaningless flower. But my chest aches anyway, a complete traitor to my logic.

My grandma used to grow them—rows and rows of them in her tiny backyard, planted with her careful, gentle hands. She always said they lasted longer than other flowers.

Pure love should last.

That’s what she told me once, back when I still believed in things like love. She’d point out all the colors one by one, a little rainbow vista in her garden, her voice warm with affection.Red for deep devotion. Pink for never forgetting. Purple for wild and adventurous,justlike you, sweetheart.

Last month, I filled the entire funeral with white carnations. Every spare space. And yet, it still didn’t feel like enough pure love to last me until the next time I see her.

She raised me in all the ways that mattered. Moved in after my mom died giving birth to my sister, filled the silence my dad didn’t know how to fix. He worked long hours, always trying the best he could, but it was Gran who tucked me in at night, who taught me how to braid my hair, who said family isn’t measured by how many people are around you, but how well they love you.

We didn’t have a big, noisy household. For the most part, it was just the three of us. A quiet little triangle I didn’t realize I was clutching onto until one corner disappeared.

I exhale sharply, smoothing a hand over my dress. Before I can dwell on it any longer, a warm, familiar hand lands on my back.

“Hey, troublemaker,” Charlie Andrews says, linking her arm through mine, her giant engagement ring glinting in the candlelight.

I blink, my gaze flicking to her other hand resting on a very noticeable six-month bump. “Aren’t you supposed to be taking it easy? Where’s your guard dog?”

“I ditched him.” She grins. “Probably not for long, though.”

Right on cue, Jake Brooks appears looking equal parts smitten and protective, like Charlie’s carrying the entire future of humanity instead of just one baby.

The man’s been surgically attached to her ever since they reconnected—after twelve years apart, two kids with one spectacularly shitty ex-husband, and a relocation halfway across the world from New Zealand to escape him. Jake didn’t just fall for Charlie; he showed up for her kids, too. No questions, no conditions. Just full-blown love, which led to a proposal approximately three seconds after they made it official. Naturally, she was pregnant five seconds after that. Beautiful idiots.

Now they’re engaged, expecting, and apparently on a mission to cram a lifetime’s worth of love and kitchen countertop sex into the months before their wedding next summer.

“All good?” His hand coasts gently down her back.

Charlie leans into him with a soft smile. “Always.”

Jake mutters something under his breath which sounds likejust checking, and my chest tightens. They are so ridiculously in love, it’s borderline offensive. But I get it. They’ve been through hell, and somehow come out the other side stronger than ever. They both deserve it so much.

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