“I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to come to this wedding with me,” I say to Everett in the back of our rideshare.

“I’d be an idiot to turn down a free trip to Hawaii,” he says, as the driver swings around to the front of the resort. “Plus, it’s nice to see you, Piper. It’s been a few months since you’ve called.”

“I’ve just been busy with work. You know how it is.”

I don’t make it a habit of hanging out with my brother’s best friend, but our paths do cross from time to time.

Upon entering the resort, we’re greeted with purple-and-white flower leis and two plastic flutes.

“Oh my god, what is this? It’s delicious,” I say, wiping the sweet flavor from my lips.

“POG juice,” the employee says. “Passion fruit, orange, and guava juice.”

“It’s amazing. Thank you.”

Check-in is a smooth process and Everett accepts the room keys from the concierge. “I still don’t understand why we can’t tell your brother we’re pretending to date,” he says over his shoulder.

“Because,” I whisper,