Sunblock had become my closest friend since I moved down to Miami and bought a Jeep Wrangler with a soft top.

It was off as I drove it down to the Keys. The sun was bright and high up in the sky, but the breeze kept me from cooking myself. I bobbed my head to the music, a playlist that my roommate and I had been carefully curating ever since we established ourselves together in South Florida. It was mostly Latin music with the occasional pop bop, and it was the perfect soundtrack for the drive. The patch of road between the Keys was gorgeous, with the sea off to the side and palm trees next to the road.

Even better was my destination. Renting out a hotel with a private beach had been a stroke of genius, and the breathtaking views were only going to be enhanced by the decorations. And the alcohol. I knew for a fact that the weekend-long soiree was going to count on a customized menu of cocktails that I couldn't wait to sample. That was going to be the second order of events as soon as I arrived.

The first one consisted of making sure the wedding dress in my trunk fit. I'd labored for months to make sure that every detail was perfect and for the first time, I was absolutely satisfied with the result. The trim, the fabric, the stitches, the delicate pearls embroidered by hand... it was a confection out of my dreams. Vera Wang was going to have to step aside after this.

All that mattered though, was that it hugged the bride like a second skin.

I belted out into song, trying to copy the lyrics in one of my favorite raggaeton songs. A good portion of the past couple of years had gone by in attempts at learning Spanish, but so far this was the best I could do. And order tres leches cake, because yum.

Lucky for me the bride and groom had the same idea and one of the perks of this wedding was going to be an assortment of wedding cakes. That, plus cocktails, plus beach, plus the fact that it was one of my best friends in the world who was marrying, for whom I made the dress for the steep discount of zero dollars. I was happy with the arrangements.

The song cut off as a call came through. With the wind whipping in my ears it was going to be hard to talk using the car's speakers, so I plugged in my bluetooth to my ear and picked up.

"I'm so excited to see you," I heard Page say, and I laughed.

"The feeling is mutual, but I'm most excited to see you wearing your dress."

"Okay, I'm not gonna lie. I'm stoked for that," she said. "And also about the shrimp cocktail we'll be serving tonight."

"Preach!"

"Are you close?" she asked, and I glanced at my GPS.

"Roughly an hour away, but we should still be on schedule." I sensed some worry in her, so I assured her, "Don't worry. I brought half of my workshop with me, in case the dress needs some adjustments."

"Thanks, but-"

"It's going to be a magical weekend!"

Page had wanted me to be her maid of honor, being the oldest girl friend of the happy couple and all, but with the fact that I'd decided to make The Dress by hand I had no time or juice to be involved in any of the preparations. So the maid of honor ended up being a girl called Estelle, who was Page's BFF from college. Estelle was super cool and had been kind enough to let me in on the secret plans. That was how I knew about the cocktails and cake selection and also that the entire weekend was going to be one wild party.

Being the bride, Page had the right to become a bridezilla here or there, but there was no need for that when her maid of honor's intensity one upped her. This whole thing had brought out Estelle's true control freak nature and for months she'd made sure that every minutia was exactly the way she envisioned it. The bridal party suggested that she do this full time, because she kicked ass at it.

That, and the fact that Jace loved Page more than life itself, meant she had absolutely nothing to worry about. And yet, that was exactly what was coloring her voice.

"It's just-" As I drove over a bridge, the reception started to get patch. "I—tell you that-"

And then I lost her altogether. I tried calling her back a couple of times more, but no dice. Oh well, I was going to make it to the hotel soon anyway. I turned up the Caribbean jams all the way until I made it to the hotel. No one batted an eye at seeing a random, gigantic woman in a palm tree inspired sundress and soft pastel pink hair strewn all over her face, step out of a convertible Jeep that had been blaring Daddy Yankee down the streets of Key West.

A hotel employee met me at the entrance and together we hauled my three massive pieces of luggage. I felt kind of bad at letting him do all the heavy lifting.

"Careful," I told him about the one that looked like a vault. That was where I had my favorite sewing machine. As I checked in, I called Page again until she picked up with a squeal.

"You're here! Oh my God, you have to come to room 301 right away."

She couldn't see my grin as I replied, "See you there."

A few minutes later I'd left all my non important stuff in my room, and wheeled the suitcase with the dress. It was a special case I'd bought ages ago to transport delicate designs, perfect for the occasion. I rapped my knuckles on the 301 door and Estelle opened the door.

"The star is here!" she screamed into the room, and a cacophony of excited screeching greeted me. The bride made her way through to tackle me into a hug. I caught the definite whiff of happy juice coming from her.

As I hugged her I asked, "Where's my cocktail?"

The fitting transpired between excited chatter, music and free flowing mimosas. We all got tears in our eyes as Page donned the dress. She looked like an angel, if angels could come from under the sea decked in a tight mermaid style number that accentuated their best curves.

One of the other women wiped her face with a tissue and said, "Girl, I'm gonna hire you to make my dress."

"But you don't even have a boyfriend, Valery," another one piped in with a laugh.

Valery smacked her up the head. "I mean the dress to your funeral, Leigh."

All the women laughed. Even though I didn't know half of them, I could tell the banter was part of the fabric of this group in the way they all hugged and teased each other. I sighed. It would be nice to have such a solid group of friends share a momentous occasion like this. Page had to be so happy.

The bride grabbed my arm, "So, what I was trying to tell you earlier is that-"

"Okay, everybody," Estelle announced with her megaphone voice. "Let's pause the imbibing for a moment because we all need to get ready for the rehearsal and pictures."

That triggered a flurry of activity so violent that the next thing I knew, I was back to my room getting ready. I did pause for a hot second, wondering what Page had wanted to tell me, but I figured I'd see her tonight and she'd tell me then. The theme of the night was everybody in white, except for the groom and bride. They'd dress in the colors of the Caribbean. I decked myself in a lace dress from the summer couture of the fashion company I worked for. It was see through at the back, but otherwise elegant and favorable for large girls like me. I particularly liked what it did for my décolletage.

I arranged my hair in loose waves around my face, with the dainty flower crown that the bridal party had agreed to wear. The last finishing touch was a natural looking makeup with a bold, pink lip that played nicely with the hues of my hair.

I put on flip flops and twirled in front of the mirror to inspect the look. Great. I looked like half a million dollars tonight, just as planned. Tomorrow for the big wedding I was going to look like a whopping ten million dollars.

Page had been strict only on the color for the bridal party's dresses, a soft champagne. Trim, style and fit had all been up to each of the women. But because I was a fashion designer, I had to step up my game and show everybody what I could do. And I'd worked just as hard, with as many sleepless nights, as I did on Page's dress. It was the perfect opportunity to attract new clients.

The private beach was packed with wedding guests and the catering employees. As soon as I stepped onto the sand, a young girl came over offering some canapés, followed by a guy with champagne flutes. I snatched one and chewed on my mini quiche, looking at the scene in front of me. Initially Page's parents had objected to a wedding at the Keys. It was too common when they could've as well held it in The Seychelles. The bride and groom argued that this was a much friendlier location for all of their friends and relatives, not all of whom were as rich as their family.

I was very thankful for that. As cooler as a wedding in an Indian Ocean island might be, I wouldn't have been able to afford it. This was a short drive from my home base, and yet it felt like I was a world apart. More than mingling with the guests, I wanted to sit in the sand, dip my feet in the waves and just try one cocktail after the next. All the stress of my daily life, work, traffic, everything melted away at that moment.

I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of the sea.

"Addy?"

I turned to see who dared disturb my peace, and almost dropped my champagne flute.

"Charlie?" I asked. Was I seeing a ghost?

Her expression told me as much.

"Holy shit, it's been ages," she said. We both hesitated for a moment, because years hadn't cured our awkwardness with each other. But in the end we did give each other a hug.

"Don't get me wrong, it's great to see you but I wasn't expecting you here," I said and it made her grin.

"Well, we're close friends of the happy couple, after all."

I caught on to the we. As if pulled by strings, I looked around trying to see if I spotted the other possible member of that we. My heart started a trot in my chest, but I forced it to calm down when I didn't find the face I was looking for.

"Ah, there he is," Charlie said, and my whole body froze. She stretched on her tip toes, which I noted were bare in the sand, and waved at someone behind me.

I turned, but the guy parting the crowd wasn't the one I expected. This one was blond, to begin with, with eyes the color of a clear sky and a smile as blinding as the sun.

"Addy, this is my boyfriend." They shared a kiss before Charlie did the introductions. "I'm gonna have to ask you for help to keep an eye on Dean because he's Canadian."

I laughed. "What does that even mean?"

The guy rolled his eyes. "She's worried I'm going to melt like an icicle, but I keep telling her I've been living in Tampa for a while now and I've survived."

"Only because you spend most of your time in ice rinks," as she said this she poked his side. He draped his arm around her shoulders and looked down at her with such adoration that I felt new cavities developing in my mouth.

"I'm the one who is going to melt, you guys are so cute," I said.

"You wouldn't call them cute if you saw them fighting."

I whirled around at the new voice, too fast for my legs to catch up. I stumbled in the sand and he caught me.

He, the one I'd assumed was the other part of the we that Charlie had mentioned. The other friend of the bride and groom.

As his hands steadied me, I told myself every insult I could think of under the sun. How could I possibly forget that he would be here? I'd somehow assumed that because he lived in Canada, he might be too busy to make it all the way down here. But this was Florida, not Australia, and I was such an idiot. Because of course Miguel Bernal would be invited to his best friend's wedding.

I wheezed and after a second try I managed to squeak out a soft, "Hi."

The slow smile in response killed me.

I jumped back, trying to catch my breath, and suddenly the bride was next to me.

"So glad you guys were able to make it!" Page said, hugging the Bernals and Charlie's boyfriend. "We had serious doubts for a hot second."

"Sorry for confirming so late," Charlie said with a roll of her eyes. "It's really hard to pull the men of this family away from their work."

"Are you kidding me?" Miguel said, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his white linen pants that, oh my, didn't hide much of his goods. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Clearly I'd had too much alcohol. I had to be imagining the way his eyes settled on me. Like they wanted to undress me right there and then.

Oblivious to that little exchange, his sister said, "Dad sends his regards from the frozen tundra, by the way."

"Aww, it's a shame but please send him back our best wishes," Page said.

I wasn't too discrete as I clutched at Page's arm. "Excuse us for a second, the bride and I need to discuss some wedding details."

Charlie and her boyfriend, Dean, were polite enough.

Her brother though, wasn't. Not for a single second. Miguel smirked and mouthed later.

Who the heck was this guy?

The Miguel Bernal I knew was hot like the center of a star, and that had only intensified over the years from what I could see. But he'd been sweeter, friendlier. The guy in front of me had the air of a predator who had found his prey. Acting as if I were the prey.

As we turned and headed toward the tables set for the rehearsal, I sent a panicked look at Page. "Was this what you were trying to warn me about?"

She cringed. "They RSVP'ed last minute, and I know you and Miguel had some history-"

I gave out a hysterical laugh. "Non-history! A whole lot of nothing happened, and yet-"

"And yet you're shaking from head to toe," she finished. "I figured this might happen, but we had to invite him. He's Jace's best man."

"Of course," I said. Then I repeated it two more times for good measure. I grabbed Page's hands and looked her dead in the eye. "It's fine, I'm being my overdramatic self and like I said, Miguel and I were friends so this is no big deal."

"From the outside looking in? Sure," she agreed, squeezing my hands back. "But I know you. Your heart is big and your feelings run deep, and you've been weak for him since high school."

"Waters past," I assured her. "This won't affect the weekend one bit. Don't you worry, okay?"

There was a hell of a lot of skepticism in her pretty face, which hey, was actually a reflection of how I felt. Seeing Miguel again in the flesh, and not in old pictures, had rattled me. But whatever she was going to say about it was cut short as Estelle came and carted her away to begin the rehearsal. I glanced back and as if on cue, Miguel's eyes left his sister to find me.

There it was again, that heart stopping smile.

A waiter came in between our line of sight, offering me a cantaloupe and tequila cocktail. I grabbed two because I had the feeling I was going to need all the courage I could get to make it through this weekend.

and the table is set