I was convinced that every room in this hotel was going to astonish me.

The bar was unexpectedly luxurious. The room was huge, the lights were tinted blue and the chairs were made of some expensive leather. The bar counter was so long that it took up half the length of the wall. The counter was made of black marble and the cabinets where the drinks were stored were lit by tinted yellow lights. The several bartenders who were tending different sections of the counter looked impeccable in their uniforms and I, once again, felt out of place.

"This whole hotel is crazy," I decided.

"Agreed," Elliot said beside me.

Ally and Jonah went and sat together on the long leather couch that ran the length of the opposite wall and we were all wise enough not to join them. Faizah went to the other end of the room and, having no intention of drinking anything, she comfortably set herself on a leather chair and whipped out a book. She was the only person I knew who would bring a book to a bar.

Serena and Reed took a seat on the leather chairs by the bar counter and a bartender tended to them in no time. I, however, walked around the space of the bar. Admiring all the different coloured lights, the furniture and the art posted on the walls.

"Who knew a bar could be so... aesthetic?" I wondered.

"It is quite a wonder," Elliot said from beside me.

Eventually, we made our way to the other end of the counter and took a seat on the leather chairs. I would have liked to sit with Serena but she was in her flirting element, and Reed looked like he was genuinely interested in her. I wondered if he could break through Serena's walls and get her to open up again. I hoped he could, and if he did he'd better not break her heart in the process or else I might just commit a crime.

A bartender approached us and I had to admit that she was really pretty. I wondered how many men hit on her in this bar. Probably all of them.

"What are you having?" She asked us with a strong Spanish accent. Was everyone who worked here foreign?

"Piña colada," I said.

"Good choice," she approved, "cocktails are my speciality." She looked at Elliot now, "and what about you, sir?"

"I'll have a Tom Collins," Elliot said.

"Copycat," I teased. "I order a cocktail and now you order one too."

Elliot snickered, "I was thinking Tom Collins before you even ordered."

"I was thinking Piña Colada before you even thought Tom Collins," I retorted.

Elliot responded with a shake of his head and a crooked smile, and my goshness that smile did questionable things to me.

Yep, it was definitely going to be a long night.

****

I may have had one Piña Colada too many. The coconut and pineapple sweetness deceived me into drinking more than my body could handle.

My mouth opened and the words that came out would have shocked the sober me, but alas, I wasn't sober, nor was I tipsy. Nope, I was drunk. I was sure of it.

"Why are you engaged?"

Judging by the way Elliot choked on air, I had caught him by surprise. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, you're too handsome to be engaged," I explained, thinking I made complete sense.

"Too handsome?"

"Reed should be engaged," I decided.

Elliot laughed, "are you saying he's not 'too handsome'?" He added air speech marks, quoting me.

"Not as handsome as you."

"Thanks, I guess," Elliot lowered his head to hide his smile.

"You're so cute when you act all timid," I admired.

"Alright," Elliot signalled the bartender, calling her over to us. "Please may I have some water?"

"Coming right up," she said and brought us a bottle of water.

Elliot opened it for me and I made to take it but missed it by an inch. Elliot took that as his cue to help me drink it rather than leaving me to drink it on my own and risk spilling it on myself. I finished half the bottle and a loud burp suddenly surfaced. Elliot looked around and apologised for me, but he was smiling, and I couldn't help but smile at the gesture.

I couldn't help but feel envious of whoever his future wife was. She was probably drop-dead gorgeous with a killer personality and sense of humour. Not average and awkward like me.

"How did you propose to her?" I suddenly asked him.

He looked at me and I didn't think he was going to respond but he finally said, "she proposed actually."

"She proposed to you?!"

Elliot placed his palm against my lips to quiet me down, "no need to shout."

I removed his hand from my mouth, "So, I'm guessing you're attracted to confident and bold women?"

"I—I don't know," Elliot admitted. "I guess so. The thing is we had been dating since high school."

"Since high school?!" I grabbed his hand and placed it against my mouth just as he had done before.

Elliot grinned a heart-stopping grin. "The last year of high school," he specified, dropping his hand to sip his drink.

"High school," I considered. "That's a long time. I'm guessing you've already done everything."

Elliot choked, and when he finally stopped coughing he shot me a look, "can you not say things like that when I'm drinking liquids?"

"So that's a yes?"

"No," he coughed again. "No, we're waiting until we're married."

I nodded, "I respect that. I respect you," I pointed at him then brought my hand to my chest. "I'm also chaste. All of us are," I told him, referring to the girls. "We're all waiting." Elliot looked at me for a long moment. I continued. "But at this rate, I might just die a virgin," I laughed. "But is that so bad? The last thing I want to do is give my body to someone who isn't going to be my forever, you know?"

"I know," he understood. "I respect that."

"So do I. Now," I started, moving back to our earlier topic of conversation. "Continue telling me about your fiancé."

Elliot took a moment to continue, trying to remember where we last picked off. "After high school was college. She moved to Australia and did her studies there."

"You were in a long-distance relationship for that long?" I asked, and when he nodded I asked, "Had you seen her once after she left?"

"No," he told me.

"And you managed to stay together? That's impressive."

"I suppose." Elliot looked away from me and at the drinks. "The thing is, things weren't working out in college, but I couldn't bring myself to end it. It didn't feel right dumping her on the phone, and I was convinced things might change when she came back, that it was just the long distance that was the problem, but then she came back, and nothing changed." He looked at me again, "don't get me wrong, I care about her and all but—" he ran a hand down his face then shook his head. "Nevermind."

"Na-ah," I complained. "You can't not finish. Please finish. I might not remember it tomorrow anyway. I'll even drink another Piña Colada if you want."

That got a small smile out of him, "there isn't much left to the story. Some months passed and she proposed to me on my birthday." He sighed, "I hadn't even said yes when she jumped on me, cheering as if I'd accepted. Then when everyone else had calmed down, I took her to my room and—

"No thanks," I pressed a finger against his mouth. "I don't want to know those kinds of details."

He removed my finger, a grin threatening to spread across his lips, but it instantly disappeared when he continued. "I took her to my room and asked for an explanation. She didn't explain but instead told me that she had planned a surprise trip for me, this trip, and that she'd even paid for Reed since the trip clashed with a work event of hers, so she couldn't come. 'Your birthday gift,' she had said. 'Think of it as an early bachelor party.'"

"So she paid for the trip?"

"Well, her parents," Elliot told me. "They know the owners of this hotel, the relatives of Jonah, so it wasn't a problem for them."

I blinked and blinked before gasping, "wait, are you a gold digger or something?"

"No!" Elliot exclaimed. "Gosh, no. I always tell her not to get me anything expensive but she never listens, and the last time I turned down her gift she broke into tears so... I kinda had to accept this, especially because she'd already paid and everything."

"You know what that sounds like?" I considered. "It sounds like you have communication issues."

"You think so?"

"You don't seem like you're ready to get married."

"I hope you don't remember any of this," he mumbled before confessing, "I'm not."

"So do you know what your problem is?" I thought. "You're too nice."

"Too nice?" He cocked a brow.

"You don't want to hurt her," I examined. "But in being nice you're also being inconsiderate and fake. You should tell her straight-up how you feel about everything."

"I know."

"Before she goes ahead and pays for a whole wedding venue and buys a house and a dog," I warned him. "Because once she gets a dog there's no going back."

Elliot laughed at that. "You're funny when you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk," I denied, despite the obvious. "I'm just over-tipsy."

Elliot laughed again but then suddenly sobered up, "You want to know something crazy?"

"Always."

"I only started dating her because of a dare."

I gasped, "really?"

"I hadn't had a girlfriend before and my friends dared me to ask her out because she was hot and all, and from all the hype of being on the verge of finishing high school, I did, and she accepted," he laughed at the memory, but his expression was nothing near amused. And his attention was someplace else. "We dated for some time but I began to lose interest in her, and then the news got out that I was going to break up with her. I invited her out to dinner the day I planned to end it but she decided to bring her parents along. When she went to the bathroom they told me that the last time someone broke up with her she fell into a deep depression and that they had been worried for her life." He looked at me again, returning to reality. "That made me feel guilty, and I didn't want to be the reason that happened again."

I didn't have an answer for that and could only look at him at this point. His gaze began to burn through me and I lowered my eyes, "Well, as long as you love her."

Elliot only hummed, and a long silence followed, one that I eventually broke when I said, "when you start a family, make sure you at least keep your kids. Don't be like mine who gave me away."

Elliot's expression shifted, "your parents... gave you away?"

"Yes sir," I told him. "And then I was adopted by a very wealthy family. They couldn't have children so they adopted one, but eventually, the love they had for me faded away, but I was still their responsibility. So they sent me to boarding school miles away from them, then to college even more miles away from them, and then I got a job and an apartment even farther away from them. It hurts, you know, to know that your biological and your adopted parents didn't really love you. I think that's why I don't date. I don't want to fall in love only for that person to fall out of love with me. If not even my parents could love me, then who can?"

A long silence followed as Elliot processed my words.

"You're not picky," he decided softly. "You're just afraid."

I looked at him then, and it was as if he could see right through me. I had just laid myself bare before someone I barely knew, and it felt relieving, but rather than keeping quiet I continued talking.

"Exactly," I admitted. "My friends call me picky but I know that they know the real reason why I don't date, and the reason they continue to encourage me to date is to help me get over my fear, but every time I begin getting close to a guy I turn them down before they even have the chance to ask me out."

Elliot's eyes didn't leave mine for a second, but the intensity of his gaze had me looking down. "I think that's why I like you so much," I found myself saying, and Elliot shifted in his seat. "You're engaged, so you would never ask me out," a dry laugh escaped my lips. "I know there are some guys out there who would cheat, but you don't seem like one of them, which is why I like you so much. If you were single, trust me when I say that the last thing I would be doing is talking to you."

I stayed silent then, controlling my breathing. Finally, I forced my eyes to meet Elliot's again, but decided to go back to our earlier topic, "my friends are the only family I have left. Even though I'm not a part of their families I feel like I am. That's why I love them so much, they're the only people I've risked loving because I know they'll never stop loving me."

Only when Elliot wiped my cheek did I realise that a stray tear had rolled down my cheek. I took a deep breath and looked away from him. "Well, that's enough opening up for today." And with that, I grabbed my half glass of water and downed the rest.

"Zara," Elliot said urgently, grabbing the glass from me.

"Oh crap," I slurred, suddenly feeling woozy. "I think I just downed your Tom Cruise."