They loved the wedding fineries and swirled in front of the mirror, admiring themselves. Somehow, Skylar couldn’t erase the wish to see Christian’s reaction to seeing her in the turquoise dress she bought at his insistence. Would he find fault with this one, too?
Eva asked for the jewelry that Sienna would wear the next day. Sienna went to her closet to get the jewelry, but to her horror, the velvet box containing the family heirloom wasn’t there! She searched the entire closet but couldn’t find it anywhere. Tears fell from her eyes out of panic. “What happened? Hey, why are you crying?” asked a bewildered Eva walking towards her.
“I lost the antique jewelry that mom gave me to wear tomorrow,” gasped Sienna, crying more. Everyone was worried, and they all helped look for it. Lucas’s mom, Claudia Donnelly, walked into her room.
“What happened? Sienna, why are you crying, dear?” she asked, rushing to Sienna and pulling her into her arms.
“Aunt Claudia, Sienna can’t find the jewelry you gave her to wear tomorrow,” said Skylar. Lucas’s mom froze and released Sienna. At that moment, Cara entered the room with Sienna’s drink and Claudia Donnelly suspected Cara’s hand in it.
There was utter chaos as Sienna fell sick of stress and Aunt Claudia insulted Cara and had her bag searched. She left the house in tears while everyone was busy with Sienna. The doctor arrived, and so did the men. Skylar went downstairs to allow the doctor to check Sienna up.
Christian was alone in the living room with a grim look on his face. Lucas and his brothers had gone upstairs to Sienna’s room to handle the situation.
“What’s going on?” he asked on seeing Skylar.
She explained what had happened when Eva joined them.
“I knew Cara was innocent in all this. Lucas admitted having stored the jewelry in his closet since Sienna had left it lying on the bed,” she informed them.
“Aunt Claudia should have investigated before insulting Cara,” whispered Skylar.
The mystery was solved, but Marcus, Lucas’s brother, was upset that they unnecessarily insulted Cara. He stormed out of the house and went in search of her. Aunt Claudia felt guilty, but slowly everything settled down. However, Marcus didn’t return at all, and Lucas was worried about him.
Skylar was sharing a room with Hayley, much to Christian’s disappointment. He had expected them to get a room since they were engaged! They had just arrived here, but he was eagerly waiting for the event to be over! How had he grown so used to her within such a brief span of time? Was she missing him the same way as he was?
He hated to share with Nicholas, who disappeared all the time! Only he knew what he was always up to!
However, ever since they had arrived here, there had been no moment to plan his wedding with Skylar. Life was a roller-coaster ride at Preston Island!
After lunch, the crazy Nicholas played a dance number and seized him as his partner!
“Are you burning for Skye the same way as I am for the stubborn Alyssa?” he whispered in his ear.
Christian raised an eyebrow at the goofy guy. He liked him and his brothers. So Nicholas Donnelly was burning for Alyssa Van Every! It was an interesting revelation indeed!
“Yes, I am!” he whispered back, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “Now what?”
“Let’s dance with one another and show them what they’re missing, bro!” he suggested excitedly.
“Done!” said Christian, twirling Nicholas as they danced. The girls froze at first and then burst into giggles as they approached the duo.
“Gosh! They’re laughing at us!” muttered Nicholas.
“Let them! They’ll soon want to join us,” comforted Christian, as they did a slow number.
“You guys are such lousy dancers.” Lucas rolled his eyes, seeing them stamp on each other’s feet.
“We’re bored dancing with each other,” said Nicholas, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he eyed Alyssa.
“If I get another partner, I can prove my dancing skills,” said Christian, his glance going straight to Skylar who looked away.
Somehow, she wanted him to burn for her the same way as she was for him. But he looked like he was having the time of his life with the Donnelly brothers. He didn’t look like he was missing her at all! Not once did he protest having to share a room with Nicholas Donnelly. She had expected him to speak to Lucas and arrange a room for the two of them. They were an engaged couple, after all! But he didn’t! Was she the only one who had gotten used to sleeping with him?
“Go, dance with him!” Alyssa pushed her towards Christian, but she shook her head vigorously.
“Lucas, dance with me,” said Sienna, grabbing his hand. Nicholas chuckled, knowing how clumsy his brother was.
“You won’t be able to walk down the aisle if he does,” he teased.
“C’mon, I’m not that bad,” protested Lucas. Eva and Hayley danced with one another and Alyssa and Skylar too joined in while Nicholas eyed them with jealousy.
Sienna practiced her dance moves with Lucas, and with every false move, the girls giggled more. “Lucas, you’re doing it all wrong,” said Sienna with despair.
“I’m trying to do it right. Why did you choose such a hard song? It has no melody, no rhythm,” said Lucas. “We should dance to a fast number.”
“What’s wrong with this song? It’s a slow, romantic number. Perfect for weddings,” said Sienna. So the argument went on and on until they all got bored and started a peppy dance number. Soon it turned into a group dance.
“Move a little away and dance, Christian. You’re all over me!” scolded Skylar.
“Then dance with me.”
“No, I’m fine dancing with my friends.”
Suddenly Alyssa froze as she looked towards the door to see her brother, Alexander Van Every, and his best friend, Ashton Pierce, walk inside.
“What happened? Why aren’t you dancing?” asked Eva, following her line of vision. She too froze, seeing the duo walking inside the house angrily. They had sneaked out to attend the wedding without Alexander’s permission and he was mad at them.
“Enemies! Enemies!” yelled Nicholas. It made them look towards the two enemies walking into their territory. Lucas stopped dancing and walked towards them, with Nicholas alongside him. Everyone froze. No one knew what would happen now. They all knew about the old enmity between them since they were in high school together.
“What brings you here, Alexander, Ashton?” asked Lucas, with a grave look on his face.
“We’ve come to take away Alyssa, Eva, and Hayley,” said Alexander.
“We’re not children that we will quietly go back with you, Alex,” said Alyssa defiantly.
“We will return only after the wedding,” said Eva, her eyes challenging an angry Alexander.
“Sienna means more to us than your silly, immature enmity,” said Hayley.
“So? Have you heard them? What do you have to say now?” asked Lucas.
“I won’t let you stay here a minute more,” said Alexander.
So the fight continued, and granny intervened. She requested them to stay until the wedding and they agreed. Alyssa led them upstairs to their room, and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
They sat on the rug on the floor and opted to play a game of truth and dare to relax.
“We’ll start with you then,” Hayley said to Nicholas, who shook his head. Alyssa came down right at that moment and Eva called her. But Alexander and Ashton came down and sat watching them angrily, following their every move.
Alexander glared at Nicholas sitting beside Alyssa and was about to force them apart when at that precise moment Lucas appeared and rolled his eyes at him.
“Lisa, come here right now,” growled Alexander.
“Don’t f*cking control me, Alex,” she growled back.
“Okay, cool down, Alyssa. Come and sit with me,” said Skylar, making some space between her and Christian. He glared at her, quite frustrated by now. Was she avoiding him on purpose?
“Let’s start with Christian,” announced Skylar, while Christian rolled his eyes at her.
“You have to sit beside me to get anything out of me,” he shrugged determinedly. Skylar and Alyssa exchanged places, and the game started. Christian opted for a dare and they dared him to climb up the stairs to the top floor and down in two minutes. They cheered him on as he completed the task in 100 seconds, impressing them all.
He waited patiently for Skylar’s turn, knowing what he would dare her to do. If she chose truth, then also he was prepared! She couldn’t lie in front of her friends, could she?