Saving Ever After (Ever After #4) (16 page)

She bit her
lip and gave me a quirky smile, “I may have worn it to Comic Con last spring.”

I shook my
head and laughed, “You know, this whole gamer side of you is not something I
ever would have guessed at.”

Her playful
smile fell away. “The one time I mentioned in front of my mom and the twins
that I thought it would be interesting to check out Comic Con, just to judge
their reaction, they laughed and said those people were freaks and losers with
no lives. So no, I don’t let many people see this side of me. It’s just not
what people expect from me.”

“Screw
everyone else’s expectations, and I have it on pretty good authority that
Boston’s Comic Con is pretty awesome during the summer.”

Her brilliant
smile came back, and I wished she could see herself like this, as someone who
was interesting and fun, and know that she didn’t have to pretend to be anything
else for anyone.

“It was a
step just for me to wear this here,” she admitted.

“It’s good
that you did. You’ve easily got the coolest costume here. I’m just wondering
what your position is on the greatest Final Fantasy game debate? Thirteen?”

“Obviously
I’m partial to the bad ass chick with pink hair, and I loved the spin offs they
did with her. I think she’s an awesome character. I know everyone argues that six
is the best, and I agree that the story, the characters and plot, and the
scenes and graphics were great, but I mean, come on, have you seen my saber?”
She grinned and partially unsheathed it from its case again.

I laughed,
not at all surprised that she felt that way. “I agree that she’s pretty bad
ass, and easily one of the hottest female characters out there,” I added before
realizing I probably shouldn’t have, and then quickly moving on. “But, I have
to side with the majority and say that everything about six was brilliant for
that time when it came out. I think the story for six was awesome. The
characters had good back stories and I think they were more original and unique
in that one. Everything was just done so well and so detailed considering it
was the nineties, and then there’s Kefka. He has to be one of the greatest
villains from any of the games.”

“I won’t
argue that,” she said animatedly. “No other game of that time had the detail
and awesome visuals. And the story was really unique with so many characters,
and it actually dealt with real world issues.” I chuckled and she blushed. “Sorry,
I’m completely geeking out on you.”

“It’s
alright.” I wanted to tell her that I loved when she “geeked out,” that I felt
like I was seeing the real her, but I didn’t think that was a good idea. “So
what has you hanging out in here with the kiddos? Party not crazy enough for
you out there?” I joked, but when her face flamed and she dropped her eyes, I
realized how that probably sounded. “I didn’t mean it like that, Mia.”

“It’s okay.
I know I deserved that. I’m actually hanging out in here to avoid the temptation.
I never go to a party with the intention of getting drunk, but it always seems
to happen anyway. I swear I really am trying.”

“Look Mia,”
I started to apologize for being so harsh with her before, but I didn’t get the
chance to finish.

“Hey bro, there
you are.” I turned to see Sebastian standing in the doorway. “Katrina is
looking for you. Jax came back with Abel. We thought you might have gotten
sidetracked. I told her I’d come look for you.” His eyes quickly shifted to Mia
and then back to me. It was enough that I could tell he didn’t approve.

“Well, I
better go rescue my date from Marcus,” Mia said, slipping past Bas and out of
the room. He just eyed me carefully from his position, leaning against the
frame of the door with his arms crossed.

“If you’ve
got something on your mind Bas, just say it,” I sighed.

“How close
are you and Sadie’s sister?” There was so much implication in his question.

“Geez, fuck,
not that close. We were just talking about a video game, man. That’s it. She’s
dressed up as a character from a game we both play.”

He
straightened and uncrossed his arms. “But you know she has a crush on you
right? I mean, the whole group knows it, so you have to know it.”

“Yeah, I
know she did, or does, or whatever, but it’s nothing,” I insisted. The
skeptical look in Bas’ eyes told me he had his doubts. The problem was I wasn’t
even sure if I believed it entirely. It should have been nothing. Everything
between Mia and I should have been nothing, but it never felt that way, and that
meant things I wasn’t willing to consider.

“Just be
careful, Chris. She might not be jailbait exactly, but she’s trouble.”

“Don’t tell
me what she is Bas. You don’t have a damn clue. You don’t know her at all,” I
said as I pushed my way past him, ready for this conversation to be over.

“What
worries me, Chris, is that you seem to.”

I ignored
his words and kept walking. I needed to get back to Katrina. She was waiting
for me. For the first time though, I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I cared
about her, a lot, but I couldn’t remember the last time we had a conversation
like the one I’d just had with Mia, where we both got so excited about
something we enjoyed. Katrina had her passions and interests, and I had mine. I
valued and respected our differences; they weren’t the defining part of our
relationship, but lately it didn’t feel like we were having very many real
conversations about anything. So maybe things weren’t as good between us as I
wanted to think they were.

Then there
was Mia, and every time I was around her, it felt like there was always so much
I wanted to say to her, like everything just flowed naturally between us. Even
when I was angry at her, I knew with certainty that the reason I felt so
strongly about what she was putting herself through was because I ultimately
cared about her. Caring about her was something else that seemed to come so easily.
It wasn’t like I had to try. If anything, I tried not to.

I just
didn’t know to what level I cared about Mia. Was it just because I saw so much
in her that reminded me of myself? Was it because she was just such an easy
person to like? Was it worth throwing away my relationship with Katrina?

No,
I told myself. I was not
my mother.

Katrina and
I were more than that, she deserved better than that. Maybe we’d been drifting
for a while, but it didn’t mean we shouldn’t be together or that somehow it
meant Mia was better for me. I just needed to stop taking Katrina and our
relationship for granted. I needed to remind myself of all the reasons I fell
for her in the first place.

I would not
ever be my mother. I would not do to Katrina what my mom did to my dad. I
didn’t ever want to betray someone that way.

Mia

My stomach
grumbled loud enough for Sadie to hear across the table. I just smiled at her
sheepishly.

“Don’t
worry, she should be here soon. Since having Abel, she’s always running a few
minutes late it seems.” Sadie was meeting Jaxyn for lunch and had invited me to
join them. We’d arrived a few minutes early and had been waiting for about
fifteen minutes, which really wasn’t that long, but I was hungry. I’d already
eaten all of the chips and salsa the waiter had set on our table, and had yet
to flag down out waiter for a refill. Finally, I spotted Jaxyn’s bright pink
and purple head bobbing in the door just over the hostess’ station.

“There she
is.”

Sadie
shifted in her seat, sticking her arm up in the air to capture Jax’s attention.
She spotted us and made a beeline for our table. She looked every bit the
rockstar’s wife in her faded skinny jeans, bad ass, black leather boots and
cute leather jacket. She did not, however, look like she’d just had a kid a
little over two months ago.

“Sorry I’m
late guys, you do not want to know about the diaper I had to change. I’m
talking defcon status, had to bathe Abel afterward. Ky tried to take care of it
so I could leave, but you should have seen him struggling.”

Ky changing
dirty diapers was something I had a hard time picturing. It was actually pretty
funny to imagine the intimidating rocker cleaning up baby poop. Somehow it made
him seem more human and less like the scary Adonis who made me want to pee my
pants when he was around. I wouldn’t believe that he had a softer side if I
hadn’t seen it come out myself any time he was with Jax.

“The perfect
topic right before we eat,” Sadie joked, wrinkling her nose.

“Sorry,” Jax
laughed and picked up her menu to peruse.

Our waiter
finally returned to take our order, bringing with him a refill of chips and
salsa, much to my delight. We all snacked while we waited for our food. This
was the first time I’d been around Jax outside of a group setting, so I’d never
had the chance to really get to know her. She’d always struck me as being one
of those rare, genuinely kind and sweet people, who was interested in everyone.
I was glad to find out that I was right.

Even though
I had sort of crashed their lunch, she acted like she was glad I was there, and
I was pretty sure it wasn’t an act. After the engagement party, I worried about
what everyone’s opinion of me was, and had been slightly intimidated when Sadie
invited me to join them today. I’d imagined it going much differently, with me
sitting awkwardly, nibbling on chips while the two of them visited. That wasn’t
at all how it was.

They both
included me in their conversations, and Jax asked me a lot of questions about
school and my interests. Then she started telling me stories she’d heard from
Bas and Chris about their days at Boston University. I listened intently,
soaking up every word from the person who had known Chris since he was a kid. I
laughed at a lot of her stories, making a mental note to bring some of them up
the next time I talked to Chris online.

Two days after
the Halloween party, he’d texted me for my League of Legends username and added
me so that we could play together online occasionally. It was my favorite
online game, and now I was more addicted to it than ever, or I guess I should
say I was addicted to the feeling I got every time I saw his username blink
online, or a message popped up from him in-game.

It had been
over a week since I’d experienced that feeling. He hadn’t been online because
the band had two shows in California this week and were shooting a music video
on the beach while they were out there. Chris had actually texted me a couple
pictures from the beach a few days ago, asking me if I missed the West Coast. I
told him no. There were things I missed, like the beaches, but ultimately I was
glad to leave everything there behind.

I’d hoped to
see more messages from him after that, checking my phone a thousand times a day,
but he didn’t send anymore and I wasn’t brave enough to initiate a text with
him. Obviously if Ky was home though, it meant they were back now, so I hoped
Chris would login to the game tonight.

It didn’t
take long for Jax to move the conversation into wedding talk. Jax was almost as
excited as Sadie for this wedding, throwing out all kinds of ideas and
suggestions. I’d seen the pictures from her gorgeous Hawaiian wedding last year,
and even more it made sense for Jax to be Sadie’s maid of honor. I had no idea
how to plan anything, but very sweetly Jax gave me her number and said the two
of us should get together some time and she would help me with anything I
needed when it was time. There was nothing pushy or obtrusive about it that
implied she was trying to take over. It was just that kind side of her coming
out, and it made me feel a lot better about being the maid of honor knowing
that I had Jax to turn to for suggestions.

Sadie showed
us so many pictures on her phone of the venue and the ideas she’d found online,
and all through the meal we brainstormed everything from cake flavors to song
ideas for the ceremony and reception. At one point, I pulled out my phone and
had them listen to this awesome, stripped and slowed down, acoustic cover of
Stevie Wonder’s
As,
that I’d heard a while back. They both fell in love
with it.

“That’s
amazing,” Jax said.

“Yeah, I
think I want that to be our first dance,” Sadie said and I beamed, so excited
that I’d helped her find it.

When we’d
wrapped up the wedding talk and were just sitting, waiting for the check, Sadie
asked Jax how things were going being a mommy and if it had been hard while Ky
was gone in California. It was the guys’ first time away for more than a day
since Abel had been born.

“Of course
it was hard. I don’t know how single moms do it. I mean I always had so much
respect and admiration for my mom raising me by herself, but now, even after
just a week of doing it on my own, that respect and admiration has grown
exponentially. It’s also hard because I miss him so much. I love Abel, and our
little family is so much more than I ever dreamed of, but it’s definitely an
adjustment not having as much alone time to just focus on us. I feel like we
didn’t really get the chance to bask in our newlywedness, because I ended up
getting pregnant so soon.”

“Yeah, I can
imagine how a baby might detract from your guys’
married fun time
.”
Sadie joked.

“Seriously,”
Jax groaned. “If we want any married fun time, we have to be ready to go at the
drop of a hat. The second Abel falls asleep for a nap, Ky is usually dragging
me upstairs and tearing my clothes off, because we know that by bedtime we’re
both going to be too exhausted and we need to cherish every second of sleep we
can get before one of us has to get up to tend to Abel. Sometimes he’ll sleep
through the night, but those are rare nights.”

“Sounds like
you guys need another date night,” Sadie said.

“Yeah, but I
don’t want to ask you and Ace to take him again. You guys need time together
too now that he’s back, and Bas and Lissa have their own hands full with a
newborn.” I’d heard Lissa had gone into labor the day after Halloween, so their
new baby girl, Abby, was just two weeks old. I think we were all lucky that she
hadn’t gone into labor at the party. That would have made for an unforgettable
night.

“Lucy is on
bed rest now and could have the twins any minute, so she and my brother are
out, and Vi and Jake are swamped with work. As much as I love Spade, I don’t
know if I want to hand my baby over to him for a night. I’d be afraid of what
those two might get up to in his bachelor pad. My son would probably come back
to me tattooed, and I know his first word would be ‘fuck’.”

All three of
us laughed and then I thought about her not having anyone to watch Abel. It was
Friday and I didn’t have any plans so I said, “I could watch him for you
tonight if you want.”

“Really? You
would? That would be awesome Mia.”

“Yeah, umm I
could watch him at Ace and Sadie’s if that’s alright with them since babies and
dorm rooms don’t really mix. Then you guys could all go out and you and Ky
would have a quiet house to go home to after, unless you don’t want to leave
him with me all night, which I would totally understand.”

“No, Mia, I
trust you, so if you’re willing to keep him all night, we will absolutely let
you. Of course you can call us at any time if there’s a problem.” I smiled when
Jax said she trusted me. It felt really good to have her trust.

Sadie had no
problem with me watching him at their place either. “I don’t know if Chris will
be home or not, it will depend on whether or not Katrina is in town or away for
work, but I don’t think he would mind even if he is there.”

“I’ll call
Bas and see if he and Lissa can get her sister to watch Abby so they can go out
with us. I know they probably need it too,” Jax said. Then we made a plan to be
at Ace and Sadie’s at five so that Jax could go over everything with me before
they went to dinner at six. I was a little nervous. I liked kids, at least I
was pretty sure I did. I hadn’t been around very many. Hopefully I hadn’t
gotten myself in over my head by volunteering my babysitting services.

I was also a
little excited, and I couldn’t deny that some of that excitement was due to the
possibility that Chris could be there tonight. I knew it wasn’t healthy to let
myself become so wrapped up in him, but with a guy like that, there are just
some things you can’t help, and as much as I knew it was wrong, I wanted to be
all
wrapped up in him. Every day I became more convinced that he was all I
would ever want.

When we were
gaming together, there was nothing else. For a short time we were in that
world, and I didn’t have to share him with Katrina or anyone else. I felt like
that Chris, was my Chris, even if it was only a small part of him. And that Mia
was who I wanted to be all the time, and she was his.
I
was completely
his, at least for a little while.

Outside of
those moments I treasured, I’d done a good job of keeping myself out of trouble.
I finally felt like I was finding a balance that worked for me between focusing
on school and having a social life, and surprisingly, but maybe for the best,
it didn’t really include Jillian’s group. I hadn’t even talked to her much
since learning that they were into harder stuff than alcohol. We texted occasionally
and she came by my room sometimes when I wasn’t in class, but if I wasn’t
studying or preoccupied with thoughts of Chris, I was usually hanging out with
the other Kris. Most of the time, I was doing more than one, or all of those
things.

Neither Jill
nor Kris bothered to hide their dislike of each other, and Jillian was being
almost competitive about who I spent my time with, so it was no surprise that
two minutes after I got back from lunch, she was there, knocking on my door.

“Hey hooker,
where have you been?” she asked when I pulled it open.

“I was at
lunch with my sister,” I told her, letting her into my room.

“We haven’t
hung out in weeks. You’re always with my cousin,” she said it almost
accusingly.

“I guess we’ve
sort of become friends.” I didn’t tell her that by sort of, I meant that we’d
pretty much become attached at the hip. He regularly showed up at my dorm to
drag me off to the fitness center, or the library to study with him. We ate
lunch or dinner together at least a few times a week, some weeks it was almost
every day.

She’d been more
than a little bitter since she found out I took him to a Halloween party she
hadn’t been invited to. Imagine if she found out who’d thrown that party. I really
didn’t want to hurt her feelings more and make her think that I was blowing off
our friendship for Kris, even though I kind of was, but I didn’t get into
trouble with him like I did when I partied with Jillian, and that was all she
ever wanted to do.

“Well
there’s a great party tonight going on at one of the frats. You’ve got to go
with us.” Case in point.

“Wish I
could,” I lied, “but I have to babysit tonight.”

“Babysit?
Who the hell do you know in Boston with kids?”

“One of my
sister’s best friends. I promised her so that she and her husband could have a
date night.”

“Boo. Lame.”
I doubted she would be saying that if I told her I was watching Kyden McCabe’s
kid. She’d probably pee herself, and then she’d beg me to introduce her to the
band and that would be a nightmare, which is why I just shrugged.

“Sorry.”

“Whatever.
Text me tomorrow. Maybe we can do something then. Have fun babysitting.”

She let
herself out, and I didn’t bother to tell her that tomorrow night I already had
plans to go to Kris’ hockey game. It would be the first game I was able to make
it to, so there was no way I was passing it up.

That
reminded me that Kris and I had tentatively said we might get together tonight.
We hadn’t made definite plans, it was just sort of assumed that if we both had
nothing going on, we’d end up hanging out. He always said it was because he was
taking pity on me and that if he didn’t get me out, he was afraid I would shut
myself in my room listening to Ashes and Embers and pining for Chris. He wasn’t
entirely off base.