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The weeks following Raelyn's birthday were complete bliss.

Even though she had to work her regular hours, she still saw Quinn during the day.

He would either bring her lunch or pick her up for lunch most days, and she would of course see him when he came in for his therapy sessions.

After working hours, they were inseparable.

Quinn would arrive at her house only minutes after she got home and either join her in the shower or start cooking them dinner so that they could eat once she was out and dressed and have the rest of the evening to themselves.

While much of their time was spent in Raelyn's bed or occasionally Quinn's hotel suite, they still made sure to get out and do things together on the weekends.

For the Fourth of July weekend they had taken a trip to Mackinaw Island and stayed at the Grand Hotel, another weekend they joined Amira and Brody on a bike and brew tour around the city.

Raelyn's dad invited them out on their pontoon, and they'd been on the lake the entire previous weekend, lazing around on the top deck and soaking up the sun.

The day of the bachelorette party arrived, and Raelyn was ready for a girl's day.

They were meeting at Amira's house to go over the itinerary, play some drinking games and take some shots- it was a solid start.

Amala passed out black tank tops for everyone with various Game of Thrones sayings on them, such as 'Hand of the Bride,' 'He bent the Knee,' and 'Hangover is Coming.

' Raelyn had requested the 'I Drink and I Know Things' design and started her day off with a strong mimosa and a tequila shot .

They had a two o'clock appointment for a Kayak, Bike, and Brew tour, in which they started on bikes and rode to different breweries, then hopped into kayaks and kayaked to several more.

As much fun as she'd been having with Quinn lately, Raelyn had forgotten how therapeutic it was to spend time with the girls and get a little rowdy.

It nearly felt like she was revisiting her wild party days from college, minus the manhunt.

A party bus which had been completely decked out in themed decorations picked them up for their dinner reservations on the Leelanau peninsula.

Raelyn was grateful for the food after drinking such a wide variety of alcoholic beverages all day.

Unfortunately, the large pasta dish hadn't quite seemed to absorb all the alcohol, so Quinn would likely be carrying her into her house again like he had several weeks ago.

The girls had been split into teams based on the family houses- Lannister, Stark, Baratheon, and Targaryen- for the themed scavenger hunt Amala had put together.

The hunt featured tasks such as finding men with hair like Jon Snow, or someone with a dragon tattoo.

They had to take a picture with a shirtless man- Raelyn suspected this was an ode to all the naked women in brothels that were featured in several episodes- and challenge someone to a sword fight with the fake mini-swords Amala had provided in their goodie bags.

Raelyn and Amira were completely killing the competition- Fifty points to House Stark! Or something to that effect.

The party bus dropped the loud, cheering and stumbling group of girls off at Amira and Brody's house around ten o’clock, where the guys already had the bonfire going in the backyard.

The previous summer, Brody had insisted on converting their unused garden shed into a mini-pub.

It was a full-on Irish style pub crammed into the shed, with an outdoor walk-up window to order drinks.

There were draughts on tap, a wine fridge, and fully back-lit liquor display with a wide variety of mixers.

Of course this meant someone had to play bartender, but the guys always seemed to have fun with it .

Amira was holding up her House Stark banner as she hopped, quite successfully, off the party bus and ran toward the makeshift pub, where Brody was passing out drinks to the guys.

In the dark with only hanging globe lights and the fire, Brody's bright orange hair made him easy to spot. Amira leapt into her fiancé’s arms and gave him a sloppy, drunken kiss.

"We won!" Amira cheered, thrusting her mini-sword into the air.

"Oh shit, that thing's not actually sharp, is it?" Brody asked, alarmed. He grabbed Amira's hand and pulled it down to examine the sword. Upon discovering it was both plastic and had a mostly rounded tip, he sighed with relief and set her back on the ground.

Raelyn stood next to the bar window and looked around for Quinn. Disappointed that he hadn’t shown up yet, she slunk back onto the small bar with a sigh. She snapped to attention and a tingle ran down her spine at the familiar deep, smooth voice that sounded from behind her.

"Congrats on the win." Emerson was inside the pub shed, behind the bar. He handed a drink out the window. "Tito's and tonic with lime? Or is it a wine night?"

As the sudden surprise of hearing her ex’s voice again faded, she was pleased to note that Emerson's presence wasn't bothering her nearly as much as she’d expected it would when she'd first received the email about this night.

And there was her new blissful happiness that she was finding with Quinn. That helped, too.

"Actually, I've been drinking since noon," Raelyn replied. "Any chance you've got some Tylenol and water back there?"

Emerson grinned his charming grin, all straight white teeth with a twinkle in his stormy blue eyes.

His sandy blonde hair was short, as if he’d recently gotten a haircut, but his beard was the same perfectly trimmed length as always.

"Actually, we stocked up on that for just this occasion.

" He ducked into the bar and came back moments later with a water bottle and a travel packet of Tylenol.

"Perfect, thanks." Raelyn grabbed the items off the bar ledge and ripped open the packet .

"No tip?" Emerson asked, a playful tone to his voice.

She wasn't drunk enough to not be annoyed by him trying to flirt. "Hmm...don't screw girls who aren't your fiancé on your office desk?"

"All right, I had that coming," Emerson said in an uncharacteristically humble manner. Then he attempted a charming flirt again, "Would it help if I said I'm sorry? Again?"

"Be sorry or don't," Raelyn sighed. "It's not going to change a thing now."

"Misssster Yates!" Amira slurred, bumping into Raelyn and slapping her hand down on the bar ledge. "Are you bothering my best friend?"

"Miss Jones," Emerson dipped his head. "I was just getting her what she'd asked for, with the side of an apology."

"Little late for that," Amira scoffed, then giggled drunkenly. "But it's fine because she's got a new man now."

"She does?" Emerson asked, clearly taken off guard. "That's news to me. Must be a new thing?"

"About a month," Raelyn shrugged, turning to scan what she could see of the road in hope of spotting a charcoal Bronco.

"Who's the lucky guy?" Emerson asked. He then set a shot glass on the bar, poured it full of Jameson and tossed it back. Emerson and whiskey were usually a bad combination. It completely negated his filter and he turned into a giant, testosterone-fueled mega-douche.

“He’ll be here later,” said Raelyn, watching as he poured himself another shot. “Don’t you think you should take it easy on the Jameson?”

“Why?” Emerson asked. “You used to like when we’d drink like this. We’d end up fighting and then fuck like the world was ending.”

Raelyn rolled her eyes, though she did indeed remember those nights. There was so much fire in their arguments, she often felt like Emerson would pick fights with her just for the steamy make up sex.

“Just try not to make an ass of yourself,” Raelyn finally said. She looped her arm through Amira’s and steered them toward the fire where the other girls were seated.

The fire pit was dug into the ground and there was a perfectly landscaped stone patio surrounding the now roaring bonfire.

There were four tall posts on each corner of the patio with globe lights strung from one to the other, outlining the space.

Raelyn and Amira sat on one of the live-edge wood benches that surrounded the fire.

Amira put her arm around her best friend and rested her head on her shoulder.

"This was so much fun," Amira sighed, words still slurred, but dreamy.

"I needed a night like this," Raelyn replied, "and I'm so glad you had a good time." She put her own arms around her friend and gave her a squeezing hug. Unable to conceal what was on her mind, she asked, "So, Brody didn't tell him about Quinn, huh?"

"Apparently not," said Amira. "I know he told James and Ethan because they're huge baseball fans and they almost wet their pants when they heard a major league all-star was coming to our house."

Raelyn smiled. "I wonder how Quinn will react to that sort of attention. He always acts so shy and humble when people recognize him in public. Nothing like how he's portrayed in magazines and on TV."

Amira lifted her head up and looked perplexed, "That's true. I wonder if it's an act… I totally thought he'd be all, like, cocky and full of himself. But every time we've gone out he just, like, smiles and waves all nice."

"In high school, he was cocky on the field. Sometimes around girls, too. Maybe that's why," Raelyn pondered. "He's not trying to impress anyone because he knows he can be himself with me."

"Aww, that's so cute. That's why I can't wait for you guys to get married," Amira cooed.

"Oh my God, Amira," Raelyn chortled. "We've been together for a month."

"No, no, no," Amira held up and wagged her finger, "You've been together since you were seven and just now realized it.

Everyone else knew it, by the sounds of it, but you finally just figured it out.

" Amira gasped suddenly, "Aww, Raaaaae! You guys are soul mates!

" Amira nearly sounded like she was going to cry.