Page 41 of Vegas with my Brother’s Best Friends

Chapter 15: Cassidy

For the first full day of our wedding week, I start things off strong with a planned excursion just off the beach in front of our resort.

Snorkeling and sailing on a huge, beautiful yacht.

Sarah told me to not hold back when it came to excursions and activities, so I took her advice and booked just about everything that I could. This will be a week to remember for everyone.

In one way or another.

While no one seemed to notice my absence last night during dinner, I won’t get so lucky if I get sick while stuck on this yacht. I’ve been on boats too much to use sea sickness as an excuse.

All I can do is ride this wave and try to act as normal as possible.

Dance music plays from a portable Bluetooth speaker as at least twenty people ride on the yacht farther into the Pacific Ocean. One group is already talking to the excursion guy who will help them properly and safely snorkel in the water, and the other group is lounging or dancing while enjoying the yacht’s bar.

I’m at a weird halfway point.

I can’t drink because I’m pregnant. I originally planned on trying something new and giving snorkeling a try, but I don’t think taking unnecessary risks is smart right now.

“Are you snorkeling, Cass?” Tyler calls out to me as he stands on the outskirts of the group huddled near the back of the yacht as it sails through the water.

“Um…” I trail off, mentally scrambling for an excuse to give that’s believable.

“Come over here!” Ryan says over the sound of the engine.

“Damn it,” I grit out under my breath before heading their way, passing by Sarah and some of the other bridesmaids as they tan on loungers with drinks in their hands.

When I get close, my eyes skirt off Jackson, Tyler, and Marcus as they stand there in just their swim trunks. I swear they look like underwear models or something. It’s ridiculous how hot they’ve gotten since high school.

“I think I’m going to pass and hang out with Sarah,” I tell them with a passive shrug.

“What? You said a while back you always wanted to snorkel,” Ryan says, making me curse my past self for opening my mouth.

“You can stick near us,” Jackson tells her as he holds a black snorkeling mask out to me.

Oh, now he wants to talk to me?

I purse my lips a little as I cross my arms. He has barely spoken a word to me since he arrived in Mexico. I get if he thinks Las Vegas was a mistake, but he doesn’t have to completely shut me out. We can all be friendly and civil.

I shake my head. “I’m fine staying on the boat. You guys have fun, though.”

“I think someone is nervous,” Ryan teases me as he drapes his arm over my shoulders.

Tyler chuckles. “Don’t tell me you’re scared, Cass.”

I’m certainly not too afraid to jump in the water with them, but if I need to act like a scaredy cat to get them off my back, so be it.

“There could be sharks,” I tell them. “I don’t want to get eaten.”

The guys chuckle. But not Jackson.

“If she doesn’t want to come, she doesn’t have to,” Jackson tells everyone before handing the extra mask to Tyler. “Let’s gear up and get ready to go. The yacht is stopping soon.”

I restrain myself from giving him a grateful look. After how he’s acted lately, I don’t know if he even deserves it.

“Have fun,” I say before walking away from their group and sucking in a deep, steadying breath.

How the hell am I going to get through this entire week and a wedding?