Chasing Ever After Read online

  A few days after that went down and Jax was released, he confronted me and said he wanted to talk about that night. I’d seen the nervous look in his eyes and knew he was trying to figure out how to let me down without a scene like the ones I’d heard about from Jaxyn, so I made it easy for him. I told him that it didn’t mean anything and I just wanted to put it behind us. Lying to him was easier than facing his rejection. A part of me had wanted him to disagree, to tell me that it did mean something, that he’d felt the connection too, but he hadn’t.

  I think once he knew I wasn’t going to throw myself at him like a lovesick schoolgirl or a crazed groupie, I became a safe target for his teasing and flirtations. It was my fault for letting him get to me, thinking it might be something more, even though I knew better.

  Sucker. I told myself.

  I shook away any thoughts of Ace and tried to sit still so that Jax could finish my makeup. When she was all done, I admired her work in the bathroom mirror. My hair had never been so straight and shiny, and with just a little bit of liner and mascara my eyes were brighter. My dress was light and summery, and fell just below my knees. It was a little more casual than the one I would wear tomorrow. Tomorrow all of us bridesmaids would don our sea foam green dresses, except for Vi, hers was coral, and Jax would look like an angel in white. Tonight though, we all wore dresses in the same style, but where mine was a pale green, Vi’s was a vibrant purple, Lucy and Izzy looked lovely in their pink dresses, Lissa wore yellow, and Jax rocked a beautiful turquoise one that matched the current color of her hair and her hot pink sandals matched the hot pink tips.

  The rehearsal would be on the beach where the actual ceremony would take place, and then we were attending the luau that the resort was putting on afterward. I was excited to see what a real Hawaiian luau would be like. I slipped on my own sandals, and then proceeded to follow them out to the courtyard, where the guys were already waiting. They all looked handsome, but naturally my eyes were drawn to Ace. He had on a pair of khaki shorts and a white, short sleeve button up that showed off his tanned and muscular arms. His golden locks were pulled back in his classic ponytail, but a couple strands had escaped and fell loosely around his face. He had shaved his usual scruff, but a five o’clock shadow was already visible.

  He looked good, and considering how long I’d been staring at him, he knew it. At least I wasn’t the only one affected. I could feel his eyes on me as well, and was satisfied by the appreciation I saw in them when his gaze met mine. Even if he didn’t want me, it felt good to know the he was attracted to me, although I’d had plenty of evidence of that fact since I felt it pressing into my stomach that night in the water. The memory had my cheeks heating and turning pink. His eyes quickly shifted away from me and we all made our way toward the beach.

  The event planner and Pastor Mark, who would be performing the ceremony, were already waiting when we got to the spot where it would all go down. It didn’t take long to run through a couple practices. The only hang up we had was that Jax kept giggling every time she looked into Kyden’s eyes and therefore, I don’t think she heard anything Pastor Mark was saying.

  Eventually though, they decided we had the routine down well enough that we should be able to pull it off tomorrow. If not, it wasn’t like there would be many people to witness it. Vi of course was Jaxyn’s maid of honor, although I think she had to fight Bas for it. Lucy, Lissa and I made four bridesmaids and Iz was the flower girl. Ace was Ky’s best man, his other two bandmates and Bas made up the rest of the wedding party. Danny was the photographer and Dr. Cross and Jake were responsible for ushering guests to their seats, not that there would be many.

  Kyden’s parents had been left off the exclusive guest list, as well as Jax’s dad and other siblings. As far as I knew she hadn’t heard from any of them since everything with Connor went down. I’d actually met her father when he visited Jax while she was still in a coma. He was a scary man, even scarier when he saw Jax in the hospital bed. I had no doubt he was a man capable of murder.

  From what I understood, Senator and Mrs. McCabe were pretty awful as well. They didn’t approve of their son being in a band, and they certainly didn’t approve of him marrying Jax. Neither Jax, nor Kyden, seemed all that affected by the absence of their parents. I knew Jax was missing her mom, but we were saving her a seat next to Dr. Cross.

  The ceremony would be small, but that was exactly what Jax and Ky wanted. Close friends and family only. Vi’s parents, a couple execs from the guys’ record label and their agent, along with their families, if they had them. I wasn’t sure. Aside from that handful, the guest list ended with the members of Expelling Shadows, the first band Ashes and Embers toured with and the only other celebrities that would be in attendance, despite rumors of a big blow up affair that the media was spouting. Rockstar Heartthrob to Marry, was a big enough headline, but Rockstar Hearththrob to Marry Mob Princess, was huge. Jaxyn’s notoriety had skyrocketed after reporters had looked in to her background and found her connection to Jack.

  I hadn’t met the other band yet, although word from the guys was that they had arrived on the island already and would be at the luau later. I’d gotten somewhat used to being around famous musicians in my time hanging out at concerts with Jaxyn and the guys, but I was still a little intimidated to be meeting Expelling Shadows. I owned all of their albums, and even got to see them perform at an outdoor music festival right before they blew up and made it to the top of the charts years ago.

  As we were wrapping up the rehearsal, delicious smells started wafting down the beach, and we could see the luau coming together on the far side of the hotel. When the event planner finally called it a wrap, the guys practically sprinted toward the food, ditching us girls.

  “Wow, I see how we rate,” Vi quipped and the rest of us laughed.

  When we reached the luau, we were all given leis, similar to those we’d received upon landing in Maui, and directed toward the tiki bar set up in the back, behind all the tables, for any drinks. I got myself something blue and fruity with a little umbrella and took a seat at the end of our reserved table next to Vi. Ace and Spade were at the opposite end, and everyone else filled in the seats between, while four big security guards hovered not far off. Until now, I hadn’t noticed a security presence on our trip, the guys avoided having them around as much as possible, but I guess tonight they were necessary.

  I almost embarrassed myself and spewed my drink all over when I looked up and saw five, very familiar and very attractive male faces moving toward our table, accompanied by some of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. I tried hard to keep my cool as introductions were made, but when Mateo Castell, the lead singer, took my hand in his and gave me a devilish smile, and purred in that rich voice of his, “Nice to meet you sweetheart,” I had a hard time not blushing like a school girl with a crush. Considering he had been my celebrity crush for years, it was a miracle that I didn’t make a complete fool of myself by fawning all over him.

  Everyone was laughing and chattering excitedly, but it wasn’t long before a Hawaiian man stepped up on the stage with a mic and got things rolling. He directed everyone’s attention to the pit that had been dug in the sand where a pig was currently roasting and being tended to by a couple of big islanders, who looked like they enjoyed more than just the occasional roasted pig.

  We all hopped up to take a closer look, and while we were checking out the pig roasting in the giant sand pit, everyone else was checking out the guys in our group. It was nothing new, everywhere we’d gone the past week, eyes had followed us, but now with Mateo, Trevor, Johnny, Lucas and Max here as well, it was even worse. I thought we were going to be mobbed before we made it back to the table.

  We watched the big guys lift the thoroughly roasted pig from the pit and place it on a platter while the man on stage raved and assured us it would be the most succulent meat we’d ever tasted. Sure it looked tasty, but to me it sounded like a lot of work; digging and setting up the pit, heating the roc
ks and then cooking the pig for like ten hours, but the guys’ eyes lit up, like only men’s eyes could when salivating over cooked pig, or really any animal. When we made it back to our table, surprisingly without incident, everyone was more than ready to eat.

  “We’ve got to dig a pit in the back yard,” Spade exclaimed excitedly.

  “Hell yeah,” Danny agreed, and it immediately began a discussion between all the guys about the logistics of creating their very own in ground, pig roasting pit. They were even considering importing sand. I just shook my head and finished off my drink, keeping my comments to myself.

  “Babe, can we put one in the back yard too?” Ky looked at Jax pleadingly.

  “Uh uh, not happening. You want to roast a pig, you can go over to their house. I’m not having any part of setting a neighborhood on fire.”

  “We’re not gonna burn down any neighborhoods,” Spade insisted, but coming from him, I don’t think she was very reassured. I know I wasn’t. I tuned out their discussion and listened to the man on stage share the history and significance of the luau and the order of events for the evening. I started to take another sip of my drink, and realized my tiki man cup was empty. Before I could get up for a refill, another was set in front of me. I looked up at Ace standing over me.

  “Thank you,” I said surprised. He just smiled and returned to his seat. I sighed and tried not to analyze that too much. He was just being nice. Ugh. There was that word nice again.

  Once the man on stage introduced the first group of dancers, I didn’t have time to think of anything else but the performance on stage. After that, the night was an exciting blur of hula skirts, half naked men chanting and doing warrior dances, intriguing Polynesian legends told through dance, and even fire dances. The food was amazing as well, and I even started to see the allure of a backyard roasting pit, but that didn’t mean I was hopping on board with their plan.

  Throughout the night there had been just as many eyes on our table as the stage, but it wasn’t until the end that people were brave enough to approach. After everything was wrapped up for the night, and the man on stage directed everyone to the left of the stage for picture taking opportunities with the dancers, it was like he had given the green light for them to swarm us as well. The guys handled it good-naturedly though, signing autographs and posing for pictures.

  Just about everyone else at our table dispersed, either to have their pictures taken with the dancers, or go back to their rooms since it was getting late. I stuck around with Jax, and was impressed as always, at how cool she was about having girls fawn all over her very soon to be husband. Eventually, three of the dancers in their hula skirts and skimpy tops, who looked like they couldn’t be more than nineteen or twenty, approached the guys.

  Kyden took Jax’s hand and chose that moment to escape. I should have followed them and gone back to my own cottage. Instead I stayed there and watched as the girls got their pictures taken pressing kisses to each of the guys’ cheeks, and then proceeded to give them a private hula demonstration. Spade and Chris had their hands all over the wiggling hips and even Ace’s attention was raptly focused on the show. I didn’t want to watch anymore so I turned and trudged back down the beach toward the huts.

  I told myself I had no right to be upset, flirting with pretty hula girls was exactly what he should be doing while on vacation in Hawaii. I’d needed a good dose of reality to squash whatever was creating this jealousy that I didn’t want to feel.

  He’s not yours. He’ll never be yours. He isn’t the settling down, marriage and babies kind of guy anyway. You need someone like … Garrett. Yes think about him instead.

  Garrett was a student of mine back in Boston at the music store where I worked and gave lessons. In fact, he was my first student after I moved from Portland. He was a nice guy who taught eighth grade history and took guitar lessons from me once a week. He’d also been asking me out once a week for the last three months, and I’d been turning him down just as long.

  “Maybe it’s time to finally say yes,” I mumbled to myself.

  “Finally say yes to what?” A familiar deep voice startled me.

  “Dammit! How many times are you going to sneak up on me?” I asked as my heart rate slowly returned to normal. I wanted to believe that the spike had more to do with being startled than it did with who did the startling.

  “I didn’t sneak. You were the one talking to yourself, not paying attention to your surroundings.” I really didn’t have an argument for that, since it was true.

  “Shouldn’t you be getting hula lessons?” I hated how jealous I sounded and wished I could take it back.

  Surprisingly he didn’t react and call me out on it like I expected. He just scoffed at my question. “Ha. No. Definitely not. Me take hula lessons? I don’t think so.”

  “Too feminine for you?” I teased.

  “No. I just already have crazy awesome hula skills. I don’t need any lessons,” he stated confidently and I raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. “Oh you doubt me? Well then I’ll just have to prove it,” and he proceeded to demonstrate his hula skills right there on the stretch of beach. He wiggled his hips and shook his ass at me while moving his arms in an attempt to imitate the dances we observed earlier. Other guests that had been walking down the beach stopped to witness his antics, and I was laughing too hard to tell him to stop.

  “Are you impressed yet, or should I keep going?” He asked, shaking his ass even closer to me.

  “No, no,” I exclaimed, trying to get my laughter under control. “You have mad hula skills. Now cut it out.”

  The cocky grin that I had actually missed the past four days returned. “That’s what I thought.”

  “You’re an idiot,” I told him before continuing on my way.

  He jogged after me, still grinning when he caught up. “I think that’s the least awful of all the names you’ve ever called me. Why Sadie, are you finally warming up to me?”

  “Don’t count on it.” As irritated as I wanted to be, I had a hard time hiding my own grin.

  “Come on, let me walk you back.”

  “It’s like ten yards to the courtyard. I think I can manage on my own.”

  “Fine then, walk me back. Protect me from the crazy women who want to kidnap me and make me their pleasure slave.”

  I stopped and looked at him. “Pleasure slave? Really?”

  “Have you seen some of them? You never know how much crazy is lurking under the surface.” He leaned forward to whisper in my ear, his warm breath on my neck sending a chill down my spine. “I’m afraid, Sadie. They’re looking at me like I’m easy prey.”

  “Well you are easy.”

  “Ouch,” he pulled back, “Now there’s the Sadie I know, and here I thought we were finally going to be friends.”

  “Friends.” I tried the word out skeptically. “Can we even be friends?”

  “Well since you begged, sure I’ll be your friend.”

  I smacked him on the arm. “That’s not what I meant and you know it, but you just proved my point. How could we ever really be friends when most of the time you make me want to do violent things to you?”

  “Because, secretly, you want me. Badly,” he said as casually as if we were talking about the weather, or where he wanted to go for breakfast the next morning. I was pretty sure he was only joking, messing with me, hoping to get a rise out of me, but a part of me wondered if he really could see through me to the truth.

  “Are you coming friend?” he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. My brow wrinkled in confusion because he was continuing his way down the beach instead of turning onto the path that led to our cottages.

  “Where?” He didn’t answer me, but kept walking. “Wait,” I called after him. “Where are you going?” He finally stopped and turned around.

  “You’ll have to come with me to find out.” I hesitated, unsure of whether I wanted to talk the scared part of me into going with him, or talk the other part of me that wanted to, out of it.
>
  “What are you so afraid of Sadie? I’m not a bad guy. In fact, I can be very, very good when I want to be.” I didn’t miss the innuendo or the dark look he was giving me.

  “That’s the problem. That’s what I’m afraid of. You,” I admitted before I could stop myself.

  “Why? What did I do to make you hate me so much?” I could tell he really wanted to know.

  “I don’t hate you Ace, not even a little.” I don’t know why I told him that when I wanted, no needed, him to believe that I didn’t want anything to do with him, but it was getting harder and harder to keep up the act. Every time I tried to push him away, he just pushed back, but he didn’t know what he was asking for. We couldn’t give each other what we wanted, because we didn’t want the same things, so all this; the flirting, the innuendos and smoldering looks, didn’t mean anything. They couldn’t, and no matter how much he wore me down, I wouldn’t let myself forget that, even if a part of me was hoping he would prove me wrong.

  “Look, tomorrow’s going to be a long day. I should get back to my room. I need to get some sleep,” I avoided meeting his eyes, but I didn’t miss the disappointed look on his face. He quickly covered it up.

  “Okay. Goodnight then. Sweet dreams, Sadie.” He turned and kept going down the beach.

  I watched him walking away for a lot longer than I cared to admit. I even considered changing my mind and going after him, but instead I returned to my cabin. After crawling in to bed, I lay awake wondering what would have happened if I’d gone with him, if I wasn’t so afraid.