Saving Ever After (Ever After #4) (6 page)

He took me
to a little local shop just off campus, frequented by college students. He
paid, we sat and talked. It was nice. He was nice. He was more than nice. He
was funny and charming and smart and easy to look at.

All week I
kept reminding myself of those things, pushing away all thoughts of Chris. Or,
at least trying to. Every day, Leland found a way for us to spend time
together, whether he found me studying in the library, or dropped by my room
and invited me to lunch. Every time he appeared, I waited for the flutters, or
just a little rush of anything, and tried not to be disappointed when it didn’t
happen. It was enough that I liked hanging out with him and he didn’t hide that
he was interested in me, or at least, I wanted it to be enough.

As much as I
enjoyed his flirtations, by Friday night, when he invited me up to his room for
a movie night with some of the group, I was coming to the conclusion that it
actually wasn’t enough, and whatever I felt for him wasn’t going to progress
beyond friendship. There was something holding me back and I couldn’t get past
it.

Derek was
there since he was Leland’s roommate, and so were Dawn and Heidi, so it should
have felt like any other time we all hung out, but there was something
different about that night. It felt more intimate than usual when he flipped
the lights off and pulled me down to sit with him on his bed in a very cozy
kind of way that resembled cuddling.

Heidi gave
us the occasional odd look, and every once in a while I thought I caught Derek
grinning at Leland, but that was the only reaction we got. Leland seemed very
relaxed and comfortable with the lack of personal space between us, but I just
couldn’t make myself feel as comfortable with it. I was stiff and awkward all
night. No matter how much I tried to tell myself that Leland was exactly the
guy I
should
want to be cuddling and having movie nights with,
should
didn’t matter.

What I should
want didn’t stand a chance against what I did want, and I wanted Chris. I
wanted him so bad it hurt.

I found out
just how much it could hurt at the engagement party the next day.

Mia

Saturday morning I woke
feeling excited and nervous.
All morning the
anticipation grew and that excitement bubbled up inside me. It was an
excitement that I hadn’t once felt around Leland, or any of the times leading
up to seeing him. That told me everything I needed to know, even if I wished it
wasn’t true.

 My eyes
watched the clock obsessively, waiting for it to be an acceptable time to start
getting ready. When it was, I cranked up the volume on my computer, hit play on
my Ashes and Embers playlist, and took extra care in my routine, ignoring all
the reasons why it was silly to get my hopes up over a guy who wasn’t even
single.

I climbed from
the shower, my skin tinged pink after thirty minutes under the hot spray and
all the exfoliating I did in there. After drying off, I lathered my skin in my
favorite honey almond body crème, and wrapped one towel around my body and
another around my hair. I spent the next hour carefully doing my fingernails
and toe nails in a pretty peach color.

When I was
satisfied with my almost professional looking mani-pedi, I went through the
process of blowing out my hair. That was probably the easiest part of my whole
routine. I was fortunate enough that, with a little low heat from my blow
dryer, I got silky soft tresses that didn’t quite fall to my shoulders, with
just enough body that it wasn’t pin straight and flat.

Then it was
time for my favorite part. Picking out pretty under things. It doesn’t matter
where I’m going, who I’m going to see or what I’ll be doing, something about
knowing I’ve got pretty underwear on gives me a little boost in confidence.

I selected
my favorite set, a sexy ivory satin bra embellished with a light turquoise lace
and a pair of matching lacy, turquoise boy shorts. I was smiling as I slipped
the soft, cotton party dress I’d chosen, over them. It was a creamy, not quite
white, color with a pretty floral pattern in different shades of peach and
light pink. It was just the right amount of feminine, cute and flirty, and it
made the color of my nails pop. I couldn’t help but do a couple of excited
little half twirls back and forth, watching the way the hem of the dress
swished around my thighs. Then my favorite song came on and I had to crank it
up even higher. It was one of the guys’ really upbeat hits that you just had to
dance to, so I started bouncing up and down and rocking out, until pretty soon
I was jumping on my bed and doing air guitar solos. In my head, I could totally
be a rockstar too. In reality, I needed to get my shit together and finish
getting ready for the party.

By the time
I applied my make-up and stepped into a pair of nude, patent leather pumps, and
stood in front of the full length mirror hanging on the back of my bathroom
door, I felt like a million bucks. I spritzed on my favorite scent, sweet,
lightly floral with a hint of vanilla, and then I was ready and more than
anxious to get to the party.

I plugged
the address Sadie had given me, for Jax and Ky’s home, into my GPS and it led
me to a very private, gated neighborhood. After I was checked off the guest
list, I was allowed through. As I drove through, it reminded me so much of
where I’d grown up. All of the homes were big, sitting on larger than normal
plots of land. They were all beautiful and they housed the upper-upper class. It
was easy to find the house with the party going on, and it was by far the most
beautiful home on the street. There was a string of cars filling the circular
drive. I half expected them to have a valet working, but I parked myself and
walked up to the front door.

I was greeted
excitedly by my sister as soon as I stepped inside.

“Oh good,
Mia! You’re here! Now I have all of my sisters here!”

“Cait and
Leila are here?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah. They
wanted to surprise me. Come on.” I followed her further inside, admiring the
tasteful and gorgeous interior, until we made it to the main room where the
party was going on. There were about thirty or forty people gathered around,
chatting animatedly and enjoying appetizers that looked to be coming from the
kitchen.

Right away, Sadie
was beckoned away by Ace’s Mom, who wanted Sadie to show off the rock on her
finger to her sister-in-law, Aunt Deb. Last year, in a failed matchmaking
attempt, Aunt Deb tried to steal Sadie away from Ace for her son. Christmas
with Ace’s family was the most fun I’d ever had at the holidays. For all their
craziness, they were awesome.

I hadn’t
seen any of Ace’s family since then. After my wreck, I got a ‘Get Well’ card in
the mail from his parents and Grandma Helen, but I’d been too ashamed and
embarrassed to reach out to them. I didn’t know what they thought of my stupid
mistake back then, and I didn’t know what Ace’s mom thought of me now, so I was
too nervous to go over there and hug her.

I looked
around for someone I could go say hi to. Immediately, I spotted Cait and Leila
in conversation with a woman I didn’t know. There were only a few unfamiliar
faces here. Most of the guests were people I knew, like Violette and her fiancé
Jake, and Chris’ brother Sebastian and his very pregnant wife, and a lot of
Ace’s family that I’d met at Christmas time last year.

“Here you go
Mia,” Jax came up beside me and handed me a champagne flute filled with bubbly.
“Just don’t tell anyone I’m supplying minors with alcohol.”

I smiled.
“Thanks, and I promise I won’t tell.” My eyes flitted through the room, looking
for the one person I had yet to see.

“You just
get here?” she asked.

“Mmhmm,” I
took a sip of my drink, still scanning the room. The moment I spotted Chris was
the moment the giddiness I’d been feeling all day was stamped out. I watched
him walk up and put his arms around the waist of the woman talking with Cait
and Leila.

So that was Katrina
Castell.

“There’s
lots of food in the kitchen and more drinks if you want a soda or anything.
I’ve got to go pull some tarts out of the oven, but make yourself at home if
you need anything.”

I thanked
her again, distractedly, and then moved to get a better look at Katrina. I’d
never seen her, or even a picture of her before, but just because I’d spared
myself the misery of Googling her in the past, didn’t mean I didn’t know her
name.

She was
elegant with her long dark hair pinned sleekly over one shoulder, and the deep crimson
cocktail dress she wore, made mine appear simple and childish. Her skin was
just bronzed enough to give her an exotic appearance and she had the curves of
a woman, which my more waifish figure lacked. Next to her, I would look like a
little girl playing dress up. I’d been so silly to think that anything I did
would make me stand out when someone like her was in the room. I think I’d
heard that she was some kind of photographer, but she could easily be a model.

I tipped my
champagne flute up to my lips and turned away from the pair and right into Ace’s
Grandma Helen, who was quite possibly my favorite person on the planet and the
grandmother I wished I’d had growing up. “Her eyes are too big for her face.”
Her mouth pulled into a tight line.

“Huh?” I
asked.

“That girl,”
she discreetly jerked her head toward Chris and Katrina. “Her eyes are too big
for her face. And who wears a dress that dark to an engagement party? What is
she a vampire? Just look at how dark that lipstick is that’s she’s wearing too.”

“I don’t
know. I think she’s kind of gorgeous,” I said, but Grandma Helen just hmphed.

“There’s
something not right about her, and her eyes are so dark, unnaturally so. I’m
going to throw holy water on her and see what happens.”

It was a
good thing I’d already swallowed my champagne, or I might have spit it all over
Grandma Helen’s dress, and that would have been a shame, because it was a great
dress. She was rocking a shimmery gold, strapless dress that matched the color
of her sparkly eye shadow and would have been more appropriate for a sixteen
year old going to Homecoming, but that was what I loved about Ace’s grandma.
She wore what she wanted and didn’t give a shit what anyone else thought about
it. She was pretty much my hero.

“I don’t
think there’s any holy water here,” I told her.

“That’s
alright, I always carry my own,” she said matter of factly and started digging
through her big, black, alligator skin handbag. “Ah, found it!”

Sure enough,
she pulled out a small clear bottle with a gold cross on it. “You can never be
too prepared,” she said, and then I watched as she casually strolled across the
room, and “accidentally” bumped into Katrina, splashing the entire contents of
the small bottle all over her bared arm. Chris and my sisters stood there as it
happened, not knowing quite how to react. I had to turn away and hide my face
to keep everyone from seeing how hard I was silently laughing, or trying to be
silent anyway.

“Damn, I
guess she’s not a vampire,” Grandma Helen muttered when she returned a minute
later.

“Yeah, I
didn’t think she was. The sun is still out after all,” I pointed out, not at
all surprised that she’d actually believed Katrina might be a vampire. Grandma
Helen had a thing for books of the paranormal sort.

“Yeah, but
you can’t trust that. Don’t you read Mia? Vampires nowadays don’t burn up in
the sun, they sparkle,” she said, dead seriously.

“I think I
did hear that,” I grinned.

“It’s
possible that she’s a succubus. I read a book about one of them too, but I
don’t know how we’d find out without letting her suck the life right out of us
with her slutty red lips. I’ll have to do some research,” I could see the gears
in her mind turning.

“It’s
possible that she’s not any sort of evil creature,” I suggested, although it
would have made me feel better if she was.

“Yeah, maybe
you’re right, but I still don’t like her. He could do better,” she looked at me
pointedly. As batshit as Grandma Helen could be sometimes, she was also sharp
as a damn tack and didn’t often miss anything.

“I’m not sure
what you mean. I’m sure she’s lovely,” I played dumb and the look she gave me
said she wasn’t buying it.

“Well if
that’s the case, come here Mia, I want to introduce you to my Grandson Matt.”
Next thing I knew, she was dragging me right past Chris, and into the kitchen.
I kept my head down so I wouldn’t have to look at him, and then forced a
friendly smile when she shamelessly introduced me to Matt as Sadie’s available,
younger sister. I tried to feign at least mild interest while Grandma Helen
took turns bragging on both of us to the other, but it was hard when I actually
had zero interest in being set up with him and he was looking around the room
like he was searching for an escape.

“I’m so
sorry. I apologize for my grandmother. She wasn’t exactly subtle,” he said
awkwardly as soon as Grandma Helen was distracted elsewhere. At least we seemed
to be on the same page as far as being set up. “She can be as bad as my mother.”
Aunt Deb was his mom, so I kind of felt for him. I figured this sort of thing
happened pretty often.

“Don’t worry
about it,” I told him, equally embarrassed that Grandma Helen had tried to push
the two of us together.

“Mia!” A
high pitched voice chimed right next to my ear. I saw Matt’s eyes light up, and
then Leila was hugging me before I had a chance to react, which took me by
surprise since she was usually about as affectionate as a porcupine with me. I
hugged her back, and then her intentions became clearer. “So who’s your
friend?”

She smiled
at Matt, stuck out her hand, did her Leila thing and he was a goner. I was
afraid his tongue might roll out of his mouth and he would start following her
around, lapping at her heels like a puppy. I excused myself, not that either of
them noticed, and then went to refill my champagne glass.

I’d lost
Sadie in the midst of the party and everyone else seemed otherwise engaged, so
for a while I just stood back, sipping my champagne and observing. When I
tipped my glass to my lips and discovered it was once again empty, I realized I
had been
sipping
a little faster than I’d thought.

I knew I
should cut myself off, I was already feeling slightly light headed from the two
glasses I’d downed, but I just wanted that buoyant feeling I’d had earlier to
come back. I didn’t want to feel self conscious and out of place, so I went
back for glass number three. Cait found me and chatted for a few minutes, but I
sensed her disinterest when I started catching her up on my college life, so I
trailed off and let her excuse herself to go track down Leila.

Like a
masochist, my eyes latched onto Chris and Katrina again, following their
movements, the way they touched each other, the smiles and intimate looks they
shared, and then I went back for glass number four. It disappeared as quickly
as glass three had, and by the time I got to glass number five, at least I
think it was five, it could have been six, I was buuuuzzzing.

I bumped
into Ace’s sister, Bree and another of their cousins. I liked Bree. She was
loads of fun, and she had her very own bottle of champagne. The three of us
found our own little corner to chat and sip. They were both so funny, and
laughing was a lot better than feeling disappointed because Chris hadn’t looked
my way all night. That was alright. I didn’t need Chris. I had Bree and . . .
and, crap I forgot her name, and champagne, lots of champagne, and this was a
party. It was supposed to be fun. I was going to have fun and celebrate.