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8
OLIVIA
“The Seven Wonders of Dublin Exploration Game,” Isabella reads from her phone after clicking on the link Vincent just sent us all. “Sounds interesting. What’s it all about?”
Adrian grins before he looks up from his phone. “It says we’ll discover all the popular places and uncover hidden gems of the city. Since it also asks if we’re ready for an adventure, I’m going to say it’s about seeing Dublin in a way that’s a little unconventional. There’s also a pub crawl game that we do after if we want.”
“I’ve already got something booked for us for after,” Vincent says, grinning in that way that makes him look like he thinks of himself as an abundantly generous king who’s doing something nice for his subjects. “It’s a surprise, but I hope none of you are scared of ghosts.”
Emma leans forward, her eyes lighting up as she looks at her future brother-in-law. “Ghosts? Tell me more, Vince. I’m seriously considering a paranormal book next, and this might tickle my inspiration. Do I need to take my notebook along for whatever you have planned?”
Maxim snorts. “You always take your notebook along, baby. Don’t pretend like you need him to tell you that you should. You’re just curious, and you don’t want to wait for the surprise. If it helps, I know what it is, and I could be convinced to give you a hint.”
“Yeah?” She turns to him, one corner of her mouth lifting in a mischievous smile. “How do you want me to go about convincing you?”
He waggles his brows at her, then slings an arm around the back of her chair and dips his head closer to hers, speaking into her ear. Her cheeks flush while she nods, but Vincent clears his throat so loudly that I jump. When they part, he rolls his eyes at them.
“No. There will be none of that today. It’s our first full day in Ireland, and it’s the first day we’ve all taken off together on the entire tour. The show is tomorrow night, the fans are psyched, everything is set at the venue, no one has a test or exam coming up, the parents are doing their own thing, and unfortunately”—he glances at me—“there are no security threats that require Olivia’s attention, so we’re all free. Do you guys have any idea how rare that is? Even Ashley’s taking a break today. You two aren’t slipping away to fornicate somewhere when we all get to spend the day together.”
Maxim sighs and turns his head away from Emma’s to face his brother, but his arm is still around her and they’re sitting really close together. “Fine. Jeez. We weren’t going to slip away. We’re all in on today. Trust me. I was just suggesting a slightly prolonged shower before we head out.”
He smirks, James laughs, Mason glances at me and gives me an apologetic smile, and Jaylinn huffs out a heavy breath. “It’s official. My brothers are both sex-obsessed maniacs.”
She slumps back in her armchair and pouts dramatically, sending another wave of laughter through the room before she winks to let us know she’s joking. As I look around, chuckling along with everybody else—because I’m not a complete prude even though my brother is right about making me uncomfortable when they talk about sex so much—excitement flares through me.
It really has been a long time since we’ve all managed to spend an entire day together with nobody missing out, and it feels good to have the whole group together again—all the Full Moon kids gathered in the sitting room at the small B&B where we’ve taken up all the rooms.
Vincent shakes out his arm so his watch drops to his wrist. It’s a big, industrial-looking black and silver one that he got for his birthday one year, and although I’m loath to admit it, there’s something very sexy about a good-looking guy with a nice watch. Like it… rounds him off somehow.
Internally shaking my head at myself because of the thought, I reach out for Isabella’s phone instead, wanting to get us back on track while simultaneously distracting myself from him. She’s sitting next to me, and when I motion for it, she hands it over without hesitating.
“This says it’s a mix between a tour, an outdoor escape game, and a treasure hunt. We can start anytime since it’s self-guided, and it will take us up to two hours to complete.”
Vincent narrows his eyes at me before pointedly holding out his watch. “Which was why I was about to say that it’s nine a.m. now, and none of us have had breakfast. What if we all go back to our rooms, get ready to head out with quick showers”—he sends a warning glare to Maxim—“and meet at the front door at ten? We can stop for brunch somewhere and divide ourselves into smaller teams. We can play as a group, but it’d be more fun if we compete.”
“That gives us an hour.” James grins at Maxim. “You should have time for a prolonged shower after all.”
Maxim gives him that chin nod thing that guys sometimes do and holds out his hand for a fist-bump. James happily knocks it, but Emma shoves at both of them playfully before glancing at her fiancé.
“What if we meet at the door at nine thirty instead?”
Vincent nods, and Maxim groans, turning back to look at her with his best puppy-dog eyes. “Is this about the fist-bump? I’m sorry, okay? Can we please leave at ten?”
“Nope,” Jaylinn says decisively, already getting up. “We’re leaving at nine thirty. Prolonged showers be damned. As Vince said, this is the first day we’re all getting to spend together in ages, and I’m starving, so the sooner we leave, the better.”
“Hear! Hear!” Emma says, reaching back for Maxim’s hand after she stands up. He places his fingers in her palm, and she pulls him up. Once he’s standing, he wraps his arms around her waist from behind and walks them both forward, whispering in her ear as they go.
She giggles as they leave the room, and Adrian sighs. “They’re not going to be back by nine thirty, are they?”
“Nope,” James says, patting his friend on the shoulder before looking at Jaylinn. “You might want to grab a snack from the bar if you’re that hungry.”
She scowls in the direction they disappeared into. “Nah, I’ll go get them if they’re not here by nine thirty on the dot. I don’t care what they’re doing. I won’t stop banging on their door until they come out.”
“Well, someone will be banging all right,” Adrian teases her, ducking when she takes a swing at him and laughing as he jogs backward out of the room.
The rest of them eventually follow, but I pull Vincent aside before he can leave. He glances down at where I touched his wrist but doesn’t yank away from me immediately.
Something passes between us again, something intangible that makes my hand tingle where it’s making contact with his arm. His gaze comes up to mine, the bright-blue orbs momentarily soft before they harden again.
