Page 11 of Blue Hawaiian
“Yeah, it’s great.”
Marc’s words sounded so flat Connor resisted the urge to bust his balls. If something was off about the wedding, the least he could do was listen. “You don’t sound too excited.”
“It’s all good. I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Gabi’s so stressed out. I thought she’d chill once she got here, but…”
But Gabi didn’t know the meaning of the word “chill.” When they’d played together as kids, she was the one who followedallthe rules. A total buzzkill. Unlike Connor and Jess, she thrived on schedules and organization.
“Don’t you have a coordinator to handle all the little shit?” Connor asked.
“Sure, but you know Gabi. She has to micromanage everything.” Marc let out a long breath. “The first night was perfect. We stayed up late and closed down the bar. But yesterday morning, she had a flower crisis.”
“A flower crisis? What does that mean?”
“The type of plumeria she wanted wasn’t available, and now her color scheme is messed up. And then she freaked out because her sister’s arrival kept getting delayed. She wanted Jess to help her out with a bunch of errands yesterday, but she didn’t get into Maui until midnight.”
“I know. She and I arrived at the same time.” As they passed a couple of female joggers, the prettier of the two gave Connor a sexy smile. He smiled in return, but his mind was still on Jess. “She wasn’t in a great mood, given that her plane was ten hours late.”
Marc laughed. “Dude, even if she had a perfect travel day, she wouldn’t have been happy to see you. She hates you.”
He stopped short, his feet skidding on the sand. “No, she doesn’t.”
“Come on. You broke her heart.”
“I didn’t mean to.” He hadn’t wanted to hurt her. But when she’d professed her love, he was so overwhelmed he had to put some distance between them.
“She waseighteen. You should have known better.” Marc cleared his throat. “Speaking of which, Gabi wanted me to ask you something. It’s none of my business, but…”
From the awkward look on Marc’s face, Connor could guess what he was asking. Or rather, whatGabiwas asking. “Is this about Jess?”
“Yeah. Gabi doesn’t want you getting involved with her. She’s worried Jess’s breakup with Simon left her extra vulnerable.”
A lump of irritation lodged in Connor’s throat. Even if Gabi was just trying to protect her sister, he didn’t appreciate her setting constraints on his love life.
Then again, this washerweek.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I have no interest in hooking up with Jess.”
“Good. Besides, Gabi convinced me to set her up with Lance. He’ll keep her busy.”
Why did Gabi need to set Jess up withanyone?
Connor strained to keep his voice level. “Who’s Lance?”
“You met him before. My old roommate from UC Davis. He was at my housewarming party two years ago.”
As they resumed running, Connor tried to recall Lance. He didn’t like what he remembered. At the party, the guy had bragged about his sexual exploits to anyone who would listen. “Isn’t he kind of a player?”
“In college, yeah, but he’s settled down since then. Gabi thought he might help Jess snap out of her funk. Simon really dicked her over.”
And you think a douchey frat boy’s going to give her the respect she deserves?
But he didn’t say it. After the way he’d treated Jess, he had no right to interfere.
They ran for a few minutes in silence until Connor got his annoyance under control. “About the wedding—anything you need?”
