Chapter Ten

Nora

The sun funnels heat into the back of my neck as Benji and I migrate toward the chipper activities coordinator to inform her of our finished match.

Sebastian and Gloria follow a foot behind as she chatters about her residency experience. Sebastian seems enamored by all things doctor and asks a lot of good questions.

I'm definitely not still eavesdropping when Benji grabs me above the elbow and pulls me out of earshot, settling near the wooden bench holding our stuff. "I'm going to go back to the room, drug myself into a stupor, and nap until I'm supposed to meet my grandfather. He asked me to ride with him to the airport to pick up one of his brothers. Did you want to tag along?"

I wave this off. "No, no. I don't want to intrude. I'm happy you two are getting quality time."

"You wouldn't be intruding."

"Not to you, maybe. But Santino may want to catch up with you without me there." I cut him off as he tries to protest. " Don't worry about me. I'll just stay here and finish the tournament. It'd probably mess things up if I bailed, since my team won."

My team, also known as me and the walking Adidas ad who has officially turned pickleball into a hot dude sport. His muscles bunch and flex in the most alluring way as he works the court. If the ladies out here saw him shirtless like I did in the steam room last night, they'd fall all over themselves—

"My dad is about three seconds away from shanking Enzo's dad," Benji notes. "Look at them."

We turn toward the men who are elbowing each other as they wait for their next game to start. Giuseppe's face is beet red. Whether that's from the sun or the restraint of not putting Vinny in a sleeper hold is anyone's guess.

"So yeah," he continues, "I'd say this tournament has bigger threats than your departure." He wipes his brow with the back of his hand. "Unless you want to stay?"

I chew the inside of my cheek. If I'm honest, the idea of going back to our room alone sounds depressing. The weather is the kind of beautiful that illuminates why rich doctors and businesspeople have dragged their kids and extended families out of the city to vacation here every summer for decades. There's an elemental magic in the air, the sway of the trees an ancient song.

Or maybe it's just my blood singing thanks to all the caffeine I've had today. I inhaled my iced coffee so fast this morning the cubes didn't even have time to sweat.

Either way, I can't bring myself to quit. My partner has Big Competitor Energy and I don't want to let him down.

"I think I'll keep playing." I scuff the toe of my sneaker against the ground. "Should you check in with Gloria about leaving, since she'll have to find a new teammate?"

"Yeah, I'll— Wait, where is she going?"

Gloria's form grows smaller as she waltzes down a path in the direction of The Sapling Spa.

I use my hand as a sun shield. "Huh. I guess she's a one-and-done kind of gal when it comes to pickleball."

"Well, we lost, so she's probably over it." Benji yawns, visibly done with this conversation. "You might as well see how far you get in the quest for ultimate domination. Text me later."

I shoot him two enthusiastic thumbs-ups. "All right, Sugar Cheeks. If you're sure."

He scowls. "I told you no—"

"—nicknames, other than Benji. That's right. I'd forgotten you hate them."

"You knew damn well."

I fluff my hair in his sunglasses. "Bye, Benji ."

"Bye, Sugar Hair ." His face screws up in a painful grimace.

Time halts as I roll back the tapes on what he just said. "Did you just—"

"No."

"Benjamino Tobleroni Ferraro." I place my hand over my heart. "Did you just nickname me?"

"Speak of this again and you're fired. And ‘Tobleroni' is neither of my middle names."

"You have two middle names? What are they?"

"Sorry, can't hear you over my pounding headache." He stalks off. If he had a cape, it'd be billowing in the mountain breeze.

I'm still laughing when I catch Rosalina watching me from the side of court one, a goofy smile on her face. My stomach turns over at how happy it makes her to see Benji interact with me.

And that's as far as I'll allow that thought to go before it boards the guilt turnpike.

Sebastian and Enzo, meanwhile, are wielding their paddles like lightsabers, battling and laughing without a care in the world, yelling bro, bro, bro back and forth every time one of them lands a hit. It'd be adorable if I wasn't worried about Ro's safety.

Sebastian turns toward me as I jog over, allowing Enzo to get in one last hit on the back of his head.

Sebastian smacks him back with an open palm. "Jackass."

I swallow a laugh. "Sorry to interrupt the duel. Or maybe you're welcome. Anyway, Benji isn't feeling good. Had to say goodbye before he went back to the room."

Ro's eyes widen. "Didn't you say Alessia was sick, Sebastian? Wait, you don't think there's a bug going around, do you? Because if a bug takes out the guests at this wedding, I will go scorched Earth. We've got enough problems with our families as it is."

"Alessia's stomach ache is, uh…different," Sebastian says uncomfortably. "Cramps. Not an illness."

"And Benji just has a headache because of his allergies," I add. "Nothing contagious."

"Poor guy." Ro turns to her husband-to-be. "I guess you'll have to spend time with him later. I need you and my brother to get along. Like, do some actual bonding. I have a hard time getting Benjamino to answer my texts as it is. If you guys aren't at least friends, he'll probably ghost me permanently."

"Why wouldn't we get along?" Enzo moves a lock of black hair out of her eyes. "Babe. Let's take a few days off worrying about what people think. We decided this week is about us, yeah?"

She wrings her hands. "That sounds great in theory, but now that we're all here at this resort with no escape and forced to deal—"

Enzo covers her mouth with his, trapping whatever she was about to say with a heated kiss.Sebastian and I look away at the same time, our gazes accidentally colliding.

Eye contact with Sebastian while those two make out is worse than just staring directly at the kiss.

When Enzo finally pulls back, he cradles her face in his hands like he's afraid she might fire off like a bottle rocket if he doesn't make his point. "It'll be over soon, okay? Then we'll go back to our normal lives ignoring them."

A beat of sadness passes through me. It'll be over soon is not how I'd like to feel about my wedding week, nor would I want to ignore family if I had one. As stressful as it is for Benji to attend this wedding, it must be access-to-the-nuclear-codes stressful being the bride and groom when your family trees are trying to snuff one another out.

Seemingly mollified, Ro points her paddle toward the court. The kiss must've worked. "We'll see. Just please try with my family, okay? Especially my brother. Now, let's take our aggression out on the court."

I side-eye Sebastian. If Ro's taking out her wedding week aggression on this game, we're not only going to lose, but possibly risk bodily harm.

Enzo sprints past her to get in position. "Now, not to alarm anyone, but my fiancée and I take this game very seriously. And, Rossi? You may have beaten my ass in soccer, basketball, baseball—basically all the sports—when we were young, but pickleball is my game now."

Sebastian just laughs. "To be fair, you always had me at video games." His voice takes on a gruff edge as he turns my way. "You ready to show them how it's done, Nora?"

I mirror his posture. "Let's do this thing."

…

My dream of winning the whole tournament lasted the length of three intense games.

Ro and Enzo won the first, we dominated the second, and they narrowly defeated us in the third, which means the match—and my erstwhile Olympic ambitions—are over.

But despite the loss, it was fun. Almost too fun. Enough that I forgot everything and laughed my butt off. Enzo and Sebastian are hilarious together. They quickly fell into an easy, comfortable rhythm, lobbing jokes back and forth much more gently than the wiffle ball.

I shake my fist at the future Mr. and Mrs. Mazzelli. "You guys are too good at this. I chalk it up to fiancé telepathy. That last play was pure witchcraft."

Ro's hair flops forward as she doubles over to catch her breath, both from exertion and laughter. "I gotta say, I never would have pegged you for a trash-talker, Nora. I'm impressed with what you did on that court."

"The trash-talk was the only impressive thing I did on the court."

"Hey, we did our best." Sebastian lifts his hand and waits until I give him an air-five, which has quickly become our go-to celebration move. "And our best was to let the bride and groom win as an early wedding present."

I'm punch-drunk on endorphins. That's the only excuse for the giddy laugh that slips out of my mouth. "You were supposed to take that to the grave!"

He holds my eye as we grin at each other, the moment sticky like city air in summer.I clear my throat and shift my focus to the sky.

I'm supposed to be pining for Benji.

We wander closer to the net, gathering in a loose group. It's cool to get the attention of the bride and groom at an event this size. They're like mini-celebrities this week.

Enzo's grin is good-natured. "Rossi, I expected better. Your game needs work if you want to go pro. We should play when we're back home so I can teach you a thing or two."

Ro shoots a look at her fiancé. "Please, Enzo. You've been playing only a few months."

Enzo gives his chest a halfhearted gorilla pound. "And now I eat and breathe the sport."

"Oh no, this is going to be like bowling all over again, isn't it? You're going to have shirts made."

His shoulders slump at this. "Man, I miss the Gutter Boys."

Ro extends her hand and wiggles her fingers until he takes it. "C'mon. Shall we find our next victims?"

He nods once, his expression very much you say jump, I say how high.

Ro aims her blindingly white grin at me. "Nora, my brother told you about my bachelorette outing tomorrow night, right?"

My eyes widen. "He did not."

She lets out a frustrated groan. "Why is he the worst at acknowledging a schedule of events? Or maybe he's just gatekeeping you, which is also something he'd do. Anyway, you have to come. It's nothing fancy, we're just escaping to a dingy bar in town where the locals get down. But I really want you to meet my maid of honor, Gia."

"I'd love to! Thanks for thinking of me."

A smile lights her up. "Fabulous. And Benjamino will join the boys for the bachelor party, right Enzo? That can be your chance to bond."

Enzo shrugs. "Sure, if he wants to. I can't promise it'll be fun. Sergio was supposed to plan something but we both know he's useless."

"Oh Lord. Cousin Sergio is your best man?" Sebastian shakes his head and adjusts the brim of his cap. "Good luck."

"Yeah. I wanted Alessia, but…" He shoots Ro a look.

" But ," she continues, "we knew Benji would never want the pressure of a title, and it felt wrong to include only one sibling. So we wound up with my best friend as maid of honor, and some cousin Enzo barely likes as best man."

"More like Nonna Gloria thrust Sergio on me," Enzo grumbles. "It was weirdly important to her that I include him."

Sebastian's laugh is dark. "Well, he hasn't reached out to Alessia or me, so odds are he hasn't invited anyone to whatever bachelor party he's planned. I'll check in with him. You deserve a good celebration."

"I'm depending on you," Enzo says sternly. "Don't make me party with Sergio alone."

"Don't forget my brother," Ro adds. "Nora will convince him to join you. She'll use her girlfriendly wiles"—she gestures directly at my boobs—"to get him to agree."

I swallow a laugh. The last thing my boobs can do is make Benji agree to anything. I make a mental note to punch him in the arm next time he complains about his sister, though. She may insert herself in his business more than he likes, but she clearly loves the crap out of him. "I will do my very best."

Enzo throws the wiffle in the air and catches it again. "Sounds good. Alessia will go with the bachelorette crew so you can bond with her, too."

Rosalina squeals and claps. "Yay. Nora, I hope you're ready for a wild night with the girls. God knows Gia will be down to party, and she's in charge."

"Totally. I'm ready."

Truth be told, I can't remember the last time I had a "wild night" with any sort of group. Probably early college, when I briefly rushed a sorority until I figured out how much it all costs and dropped out. There seems to be a natural order when it comes to lifelong relationships. You make friends young, party down in high school, expand your horizons in college, burn bright like a dying star in your early-to-mid-twenties with friend trips and bachelorette parties, and then watch your friend group fall into easy but trusting neglect when you get married and life gets busy.

I should be well on my way to lovingly ignoring my robust friend group by this stage in life, but it wasn't in the cards for me. Not with so many moves. And the odds of Ro remaining my friend after Benji and I "break up" are below sea level, so I shouldn't get attached to this group, either.

But I'd never turn down her offer. She's the bride, after all.It's my job this week to support Benji so that he can support her, ergo, I'm here for her.

"We're off," Ro says with a wave. "See you at dinner. Can't wait to see your costumes!"

Right. Those dress-up dinners I didn't know about until we showed up here. Tonight's is nineties themed.

Speaking of supporting Benji, I'll be buying him the most absurd nineties outfit from the nearest store as punishment for not telling me about the itinerary much sooner so I could pack ahead of time.

And he will be wearing it, no matter what it is.