She stared in the bathroom mirror at the fruit dancing on her pyjama top, and decided that Alex couldn’t have been serious.
Pretend like it never happened.There was no point in embarrassing herself over a silly compliment. They’d sworn to stay friends for a reason. No hurt feelings – most importantly,herhurt feelings.
After getting ready she left the bathroom, to find Alex awake. He was sat up in bed frowning at his phone, but quickly put it aside with a thump when she walked in. He’d slept in just his boxers, or at least she hoped he was wearing boxers beneath the covers. The bare chest on display was enough to short-circuit her brain for several seconds.
‘Hey,’ he said brightly, almost guiltily.
‘Everything okay?’
He glanced back at his phone on the bedside table, and groaned. ‘I’m falling into the alert trap.’
‘Eh?’
‘I get alerts sent to my email whenever my name is used online. You know, gossip columns, tabloids, that sort of thing. Iusually put them in a separate folder and forget about them. But now I’ve read a few, I can’t stop.’
Ellie nodded understandingly. ‘How about we leave your phone here for the day? Go cold turkey.’
‘Good idea.’ He pulled back the covers and she was only a little relieved to see he was indeed wearing boxers. Averting her gaze, she hurried into the lounge of their suite, feeling a lot like a Victorian Miss who’d just been scandalised. ‘I’ll just be waiting in here for you!’ she squeaked.
Breakfast was a delicious buffet served in the ‘casual’ dining room, which looked a hell of a lot like a formal dining room in Ellie’s humble opinion. Everyone was already eating when they arrived, which was surprising as it was so early, and the room was buzzing with excitement for the rehearsal dinner that evening.
‘I thought you had the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding?’ Ellie whispered to Alex, wondering if she’d misunderstood.
‘Not always. Besides, this is more of a welcome barbecue.’
Ellie relaxed. Alex had said the island they were staying on didn’t have any fancy restaurants, and she’d presumed that meant no fancy clothes, so she’d only brought one formal outfit for the wedding. Now she was here, surrounded by luxury on a private island, she was beginning to think she might have made a mistake with her packing. Today she’d put on a pair of long linen cream shorts and a khaki vest, with a shirt, also in cream linen, open over the top. She didn’t want her shoulders to burn and was conscious that Holly had threatened a tennis tournament, and this was the sportiest outfit she’d packed.
Holly was literally dressed for Wimbledon, in one of those tennis dresses she’d seen famous players wear, a little visor cap on her head with her ponytail sticking out of the back. The rest of the group seemed far more casual, and Alex’s mum was wearing another spectacularly bright and stylish kaftan.
‘Ready for tennis?’ asked Holly expectantly as people began to push aside their plates or prepared to leave the table.
Savannah leaned towards her sister. ‘Perhaps not everyone—’
‘Oh, come on. It’s going to be so boring if we don’t do anything to break up the day. Just a few quick games and then we can start getting ready for later.’
Savannah looked helplessly at Liam, who opened his mouth to speak, but Ellie interrupted him. She had a feeling they were conscious of what Alex had said last night. ‘I’ll play. But not too many games – the hammock on the beach is calling me!’
Holly smirked like the cat that had got the cream. ‘Still don’t want to play, Alex? Yourgirlfriendapparently does.’ Why did she say the word girlfriend like an insult?
Alex shrugged and grumbled. ‘Fine.’
A short time later they were gathered at the tennis court, preparing for the tournament. Savannah and Liam had also decided to join, despite Savannah’s fear of flying balls, and Ellie suspected it was to try to keep Holly in check.
Caitlyn frowned as they all lined up. ‘It’s not very fair, there’s all men on team groom, except for Ellie.’
Holly shrugged. ‘Not everyone will be good at tennis. It’s a skills game really, so I’m sure it’ll even out.’
Ellie let the comment wash over her. She could tell Holly had been thinking of her as the weakest link in team groom.
Alex was the first to pick up a racket. ‘So, who am I up against? You, Holly?’ he asked with a lift of his brow.
‘Keen to go against me, Alex?’ She giggled, and then shook her head. ‘Age before beauty. Robert and Jessica first.’
Alex’s parents dutifully did as they were told. Jessica didn’t know how to serve, so by default Robert had to. The match was quick, with a lot of good-natured ribbing and laughing at the expense of their parents’ equally bad skills.
‘My parents only built the tennis court for their friends and us. They’re useless,’ explained Alex, but Ellie was pleased to see that he was enjoying the tournament despite his earlier reservations.
Robert was declared the winner, and Jessica gratefully bowed out of the tournament. Tony and Caitlyn played next – Caitlyn was delighted when she won. Tony was apparently more of a running man, the type to enjoy silence and solitude rather than team sports.
