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Nina moved toward the front. Noah was still there among a crowd—but no Isla. She glanced up just as Cam looked down into the VIP zone. Their gazes locked and, for a second, she was rooted to the spot, her pulse throbbing in time to the music as he pressed his headphones to his ear, not seeming in any hurry to take his eyes off her.

There was a tap on her shoulder, and she wrenched her sight off Cameron, expecting to see Isla standing there. Her heart sank when she took in Zac. He flashed his brilliant white smile, complete with dimples. “Hey, are you following me?”

She sighed, though it wasn’t audible above the music. “Nope.”

He continued to grin, seemingly undeterred. “Can I get you that drink?”

Nina glanced back at the stage. Cam was engrossed in the decks again. “No thanks.”

Zac stayed put. He shrugged. “I don’t usually get a no.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, I can tell. But don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

He shook his head and turned away. “Look me up and you’ll see what you’re missing.”

As he turned, she put her fingers in her mouth in a mock gag for nobody else’s benefit but her own. Scanning the area, she still couldn’t spot Isla so she approached Noah and tapped his shoulder. “Have you seen Isla?”

He nodded toward the nearest bar. “She went to get a drink.”

“Thanks,” Nina said. She started making her way over, but it was slow going amongst the heavy throng, especially when people kept dancing with her along the way. She liked the spirit of the place.

Nina arrived at the edge of the crowd. Isla was leaning against the bar, talking to Zac. Nina rolled her eyes and started to rescue her but stopped in her tracks because Zac leaned in to kiss Isla and she reciprocated. Nina watched for a moment, unhappy that Isla was going for that guy but realising that she was an adult who could make her own choices. She certainly had seemed pretty infatuated with him.

Nina turned to head back to Noah. The set would finish soon, and she had a compelling desire to watch Cameron for the last segment. She reached the front and leaned against the barrier. Noah nudged her. “Did you find her?”

“Yeah,” said Nina. “She’s with Zac too-cool-to-have-a-surname.”

Noah laughed.

They watched Cam as the climax of the set built. Jets of smoke went into overtime and the laser show intensified to culminate in spurts of fire erupting from the stage. The crowd loved it.

Noah smiled. “Wild by name, wild by nature. He knows how to get them going.”

Nina nodded, mesmerised by Cameron’s movements at the decks. How did he know exactly what to do in order to get everyone riled up? And the nuances of the sound must be so intricate, judging by the array of buttons and dials on the equipment in his basement. She could identify with the fine tweaking of an initiative in order to get the best results. There was a science to Cameron’s art.

The crescendo built and culminated in huge cannons spraying the crowd with a glittering flutter of confetti. Nina reached out to grab a piece. It was the word ‘wild’, adorned in gold.

Cameron waved and walked off stage. Noah turned to Nina. “Are you guys moving on to a club?”

“Not sure,” Nina said. “I don’t want to cramp Isla’s style.”

Noah smiled. “I’m going to call it a night, but I’ll phone Isla tomorrow. We’re all going to meet at the beach. Do you want me to accompany you back to your hotel?”

“That’s okay, thanks. I’ll go see what Isla wants to do.”

“No problem.” Noah waved and headed toward the exit.

Nina went in search of Isla and found her at the back of the crowd, still playing tonsil hockey with Zac. She went over and cleared her throat loudly.

Zac unstuck himself from Isla’s face. “Changed your mind, honey? You’re too late.”

Nina rolled her eyes and looked at Isla. “Okay?”

“Yep,” Isla said, snuggling into Zac.

Nina swallowed hard to suppress the urge to gag. “Are we heading back? I assume we want to be fresh to meet Noah and Cameron tomorrow.”

“Or,” Zac interjected, stroking Isla’s hair from her face, “you can come with me.”