“Thanks.” Andie reached out to take the keys back. “For grabbing those,” she added, tugging gently when he didn’t let go.

Luke shook himself. “No problem.” He released his hold on the key chain. “Isn’t that from TrendList?”

“It is.” Julia slid between Luke and Andie and inserted herself into the conversation. “Those are our friend’s keys. She’s a big fan of all the Bachelorette quizzes they do.” Julia turned to Andie. “Did you need help bringing in our bags?”

Andie shook her head. “All done. Kat’s checking us in now.”

They were here for the rom-com week, of course. Questions gathered in the back of his mind. But before he could attempt an interrogation, Andie beat him to it with another question of her own. “Are you staying at Notting Hill, too?”

“Ah…” Luke frantically tried to think of a plausible explanation for his presence on the beach. He could lie, but it’s not like he could hide from them at the hotel forever. Besides, he was the game master. They’d be meeting him tonight at orientation.

Luke winced internally. He’d been worried about his sister causing trouble, but he was the one potentially screwing things up. Penelope was the event planner. She created the rom-com aesthetic and set the stage. As GM, he was the director. His job was to figure out where to place the characters on the stage, and when. His participation was limited to arranging the guests’ experiences, not experiencing them himself.

At least, that was how it was supposed to work.

Luke’s brain whirred. Options lined up like dominoes, possibilities spreading out before him in a network of potential scenarios. Swap one element and the web shifted, the path changing. Leading to new options, new possibilities. An idea took shape in his mind, and as Luke surveyed the formation of this new path, his plan clicked into place.

“Ah, yes.” He grinned down at them. “Yes, I am.”

CHAPTER 5

LUKE

The next few minutes passed in a blur as Luke walked back to the resort with Julia and her friend Andie. Her very chatty friend Andie. He should be grateful. All of Andie’s talking saved him from having to say much of anything and risk screwing things up worse than he had already.

He reset the line of dominoes in his head. Pause. Analyze. Redirect. You can make this work.

It wasn’t a screwup, or at least it didn’t have to be. It was a change in plans. And since he was the one in charge of those plans, he could rearrange a few things. He just needed to act fast.