Is this destiny?

Up in JoAnna's apartment…

Ellie could not hide her surprise. "Aiden is a player?"

"He was… before he met Sarah. He changed because of her."

Ellie nodded in understanding. He changed, but…"How did Sarah accept him?"

"At that time, she didn't know about his past. And even now, he is doing his best to keep that past hidden from her.", JoAnna explained without going into details.

"Why?" Ellie does not understand. Aren't good relationships built on trust and honesty? If he is keeping secrets from her, how can they have a good relationship? And why is JoAnna supporting that?

"Because it does not matter." JoAnna saw disbelief in Ellie's expression. She needs to explain…"The only girl in his eyes is Sarah, and he knows that if she finds out about his past, that will not change how he feels about her or who he is now, but she will be hurt… You saw them together. They are a match made in heaven."

Ellie agreed. "Yes. I called them relationship goals."

JoAnna was happy how Ellie accepted that Aiden went through transformation for Sarah… now she needs to draw a parallel between Aiden and Sarah, and Jasper and Ellie.

"And you see… if Sarah knew that he was a player when they met, she would keep her guard up… just how you are doing now with Jasper. And they would not even start dating. She would miss all this that she has with him now. When I look at two of them, the only word that comes to my mind is: soulmates. Do you think that what Aiden did before he even knew that Sarah exists has the right to jeopardize what they have now?"

Ellie realized where JoAnna is going with this. But her situation is not the same. Aiden treats Sarah like she is the most precious girl in the world… did he do that from the beginning?

"Did he… hang out with other girls in front of her?", Ellie reluctantly asked.

JoAnna took few seconds to organize her memories of what Sarah told her. "I remember her saying that he had an entourage all the time. And then she told him how she does not like crowds… and he dismissed them. Also, as their feelings grew and relationship progressed, they shared their likes and dislikes with each other, and adjusted gradually."

JoAnna saw that Ellie is wavering and decided to give one more extra push.

"Ellie, if you like Jasper, give him a chance. Not because of him, but because of you. Tell him what is bothering you and see if he is willing to change for you. Men can be thick sometimes, and you need to spell it out for them. They assume that if you don't voice your complaint, that you are OK with that. I know that you are afraid of getting hurt, but you are hurting already."

Ellie exhaled and shook her head. "I already told him to stay away."

JoAnna took Ellie's hands in hers. "Treat that as another test. If he can stay away from you, he was not sincere when he said that he likes you."

…

In one of the largest suites of the resort, where guys are having their fittings…

"I told you to snap out of it… How come you are still in a bad mood?", Jeff asked Jasper.

"It's because of this morning…" Bradley ignored Jasper's piercing gaze, but he stopped talking.

"What happened this morning?", Jeff looked at Bradley, and his glare was getting more dangerous by the second.

Bradley can ignore Jasper, but he is not able to ignore Jeff. Jeff's icy mode is much more intense and… scarier.

Within few seconds Bradley's resistance broke and he started talking: "We all crashed in his room for the night after coming from the club. In the morning, Millie and Sharon were on their way out, but then they called Jasper to thank him or something like that… Ellie saw three of them in the hallway. It seems that Ellie assumed that he spent the night with two of them, alone." Bradley was giving a suggestive look.

"How do you know about that?", Jasper growled at Bradley.

Bradley flinched. "We bumped into Millie and Sharon during lunch, and they told us about your morning encounter. They are not happy that you slammed the door in their faces."

"Go and play cards!", Jasper wanted Bradley to leave.

"And miss this?", Bradley innocently asked.

"If you don't leave in five seconds, I'm calling Paige to come here. I will even send my jet to pick her up… she will be here in time for the ceremony."

"You wouldn't dare!", Bradley snapped.

"Try me!" Jasper was already reaching for his phone.

Bradley exhaled through his nose loudly and went to the table where Vincent, Russel and Christopher played cards.

"So why are you sulking? Just talk to her and clear the misunderstanding.", Jeff told Jasper.

"It's not working.", Jasper mumbled. "I spoke with her, and it didn't turn out well."

"If it didn't turn out well, then you didn't say the right things." Jeff bluntly said.

Jasper frowned. "Right things? I told her that I didn't touch those two and that there were seven of us in the room. I even told her that I like her and that I don't see her as a one night stand... and she still told me to stay away from her."

"You are talking about Ellie?" Felix asked and when he saw Jasper nod, he continued: "You should realize that you said all the wrong things."

"What?" Jasper was confused.

Felix was happy to elaborate: "If you are serious about a woman, you need to show her and to everyone else that for you there is no one more important than her. You need to respect her and make her feel like the queen of your world. In last two days, I saw how you act… and you did almost everything you could to push her away. Honestly, I am surprised to hear you say that you like her."  

Jasper closed his eyes and sighed. It seems that everyone is telling him that his EQ is almost zero. He opened his eyes and looked at Felix. "OK. I know I messed up. I don't need to hear everyone rub that in my face. How do I fix it? … Is there a way to fix it?"

"You are at the right place, my friend…" Jeff hooked his arm around Jasper's neck and continued talking: "You are surrounded by relationship experts." Jeff gestured toward Felix, Steve and himself.

"But…", Jeff said after a short pause. "If you need an advice on how to get out of a sticky situation, the expert is that one." Jeff pointed at Aiden.

"I find that remark offensive!", Aiden was outraged. He was on the side, checking his super-handsome look in the mirror. Why is Jeff dragging him into this? And what was that about sticky situations?

Jeff raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Will you deny that you were able to mess up with Sarah more than once… but somehow you mended your relationship like nothing happened every time?"

"Don't jinx me!", Aiden snapped.

Jeff ignored Aiden's outrage. "And let's not forget that before Sarah you were changing girls at a higher frequency than putting clean underwear on… and you are a clean freak."

Aiden narrowed his eyes at Jeff. "You know that I am your brother, right? Why are you trashing me like that?"

Jeff shrugged. His wide smile showed how much he enjoys pushing Aiden's buttons. "I'm not trashing you. I am praising your capability to capture the heart of an exceptional girl like Sarah in spite of your shortcomings."

Aiden wanted to say something back, but at that moment door of the suite abruptly opened.. Everyone looked toward the door and they saw… Sarah.