We stop at a few houses to pick up more people before finally getting on the road.
“How are you two not hungover this morning?” Haven asks Lizzie and Amelia. “I saw how much you both drank last night, and you look way better than either of you have the right to.”
“We’re beyond hungover. We passed out fully clothed at three and woke up to Henry jumping on the bed at six. We’re so hungover we’re almost normal.” Lizzie points a finger at Amelia. “And you didn’t even toss a blanket over me when I fell asleep on top of all the covers.”
“I did! You kicked it off.” She laughs. “You literally just face-planted and started snoring and drooling. I had flashbacks to spring break two years ago. And last Christmas. And—”Lizzie reaches out and covers Amelia’s mouth with her hand, then pulls it away with a shriek.
“You licked me!”
Tiffany turns around in her seat, glaring again. “God, are you two ever going to grow up?”
“Probably not. Seems boring.” Amelia shrugs.
“Oh, leave them be, Tiffany. These two will still be teasing each other and having each other’s backs when they’re my age,” my mom says as she drops into the seat in front of Amelia.
“See, now that sounds like fun,” Amelia says, nodding.
Mom starts chatting with Amelia, Lizzie, and Haven, and I just sit back and enjoy the moment.
The resort is gorgeous,which I expected given the cost of things I’ve seen so far. We check in about an hour before some of us are set to meet up at the clubhouse, while others meet in a room for the bridal shower.
Lizzie finally introduces me to Calvin when that hour is almost up.
“Hey, man. Thanks for paying for all this.” He moves his beer around to indicate…all this, I guess. I don’t think this is his first drink of the day.
“Lizzie’s happiness is worth every penny.”
“Aw, thanks, Dad,” she says with a bright smile.
“I can’t wait to see what you got us for our wedding gift,” Calvin says. “Lizzie wanted us to rent an apartment together, but I thought we should wait in case you got us a house or something. Moving just to moveagain is dumb.”
Lizzie’s face falls. “Wait, that’s why I’ve been stuck living with Mom still? You thought Dad would buy us a house?”
Oblivious to her distress, he grins and raises his hand with his fingers crossed. “Here’s hoping. Hey, Peter, hold up!” And he’s off, chasing down his friend. It’s probably for the best—my fist was itching to meet his face.
“Shit. Dad, seriously, don’t buy us a house. I don’t expect you to do stuff like that,” Lizzie says, shaking her head.
“It was on a list of possibilities, but I wanted to talk to you first and see what you really want, kiddo.”
“We can talk about all that later. Try to have fun on the golf course, okay?”
The round of golf should take about the same amount of time as the shower and pampering at the spa. Except I don’t think Calvin or any of his friends have ever played golf before, and they all call it quits on hole seven after complaining about it being boring.
“Do we want to finish this out? Or go back to the hotel and try to relax?” I ask.
Grant, Dax, Leon, and Travis are technically in a foursome behind me, my dad, Barry, and Matt, but we’re all together because Calvin’s group caused a traffic jam.
“I don’t want to go hang out with those assholes, that’s for sure.” Grant looks over his shoulder at the guys racing golf carts back toward the clubhouse. I can already see damage fees racking up.
“Let’s at least finish the front nine, then decide if we want to play the back nine,” Dad suggests.
Once it’s just our two groups, we’re able to actually enjoy ourselves and continue playing. Calvin and his friends are at the bar when we return to the clubhouse hours later.
There’s platters filled with fruits, veggies, and a variety of other snacks set out in the dining room. I grab a plate of foodand approach the little table where Lizzie and Amelia sit. “Mind if I sit?”
“Of course not, Dad.”
“How was the bridal shower?”
