Page 141 of Summertime Friends

“Okay.”

Chloe hugs me. “Congrats on tonight.” Then follows Emerson.

I head back inside, continuing to make my rounds. Give a couple of speeches. Hop in and help give a tour, and be the leading man Hayes Hotels needs me to be.

After a few more hours, as the night winds down, I know it’s finally time to head to the airport.

I find Cal to say goodbye.

“Are you sure you want to go?” Cal asks me.

“Yeah.” I nod, hugging him. “I’m proud of you. We wouldn’t be here without you. Enjoy the rest of tonight and this next week.”

“Thanks, mate.”

Patting my best friend on the back, I say a few other goodbyes and then leave.

I pause before the doorman opens the large glass door. Turning my upper body, I glance back one last time at the party. Immediately, my eyes find her. Standing there smiling, she drops one of the two cameras she’s using tonight at her side.

EMERSON

With my cameras slung across my back and hanging at my sides, I pick up two glasses of champagne from the waiter walking around with them. I make a round downstairs and then on the rooftop, searching for Liam to cheers the night properly.

Everything is going perfectly. Attendance, bookings, social media posts, and engagement—everything we worked on is surpassing our projected numbers.

I’m proud of my team, but I’m even more proud of Liam—of everything that he’s accomplished. The memory of the night he shared his dream with me lives rent-free in my head. The vulnerability in everything he dreamed up, his worry of never getting there, and the childlike excitement—it’s hard to think it wouldn’t happen. With Liam’s mind, he can accomplish anything. The pursuit of his dreams is relentless; me included in that list.

There’s Cal. I spot him across the pool, walking up to the bar.

“Did you know Cleopatra and Marc Antony had a drinking club while they were together?” I ask him as I settleup at his side.

“I did. Liam told me that.” Callum’s eyebrows raise peculiarly. “Is he going around telling everyone?”

“Oh no. Don’t tell anyone, but I kind of have a secret obsession with Cleopatra.”

“Huh, you do?”

“Yeah?” I reply hesitantly.

“Interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“I think this entire place is designed for you. The names and interior design. . . I think Liam created all this with you in mind.”

“But—but we weren’t—”

“I know,” Cal says in agreement.

This can’t be all for me. That doesn’t make sense. As I look around the bar and think about the rooms I photographed earlier, the lobby. . . I need to find Liam.

“Have you seen Liam? I came over here to ask you.”

“He left.”

“Do you know where he went? I need to speak with him.”

“London.”

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