Saving Ever After (Ever After #4) Read online

  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.

  Chapter 5

  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 si
mple 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.

  Chapter 6

  Chris

  “That’s Sadie’s other sister?” Katrina asked with raised eyebrows as she watched the scene before us.

  “Yeah, that’s Mia.” I cringed as I watched her start to stumble and then reach out with her hand that wasn’t holding an almost full champagne flute. She latched onto Ace’s sister for support. They laughed and then carried on dancing as if she hadn’t just about fallen on her ass. From the stories I’d heard about Bree, she was no doubt the instigator of their little dance party that was taking place in the dining room. Between the three girls, I didn’t want to know how much champagne they’d consumed, but Mia was undoubtedly the drunkest, barely able to stand, singing boisterously and not at all pleasantly. Not that she could get many actual words out between the non-stop giggles.

  “She looks like she can’t be more than seventeen. Shouldn’t someone do something about her?” Katrina said distastefully.

  I had to agree with her. I’d watched the past hour and a half as Mia progressed from lively right into drunk, and then piss drunk. Sadie had been distracted with her party, mingling and accepting congratulations as she entertained
everyone, oblivious to how out of control Mia was getting, or she would have cut her off a while ago. Honestly, I should have put a stop to it myself. Now there wasn’t a person here who wasn’t aware of just how drunk Mia was. Her other two sisters were standing there, watching Mia with contemptuous looks. They were her sisters. They should have done something besides stand there and stare.

  “She’s eighteen, and yeah, she’s a little wild sometimes, but she’s actually a sweet girl.”

  “Real sweet, I’m sure. And real classy. She’s not only embarrassing herself, she’s embarrassing Sadie.”

  I looked over to see Sadie watching her sister with concern, finally realizing that Mia had gone way past just having a good time. I knew Sadie didn’t give a fuck about what anyone here thought. She wasn’t embarrassed. She was worried about her kid sister.

  “I’ll be right back,” I told Katrina.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m just going to talk to her,” I said. “Give me a minute.” I walked up behind Mia, gently grabbing her shoulder to get her attention. She jerked, sloshing champagne out of her glass as she tried to turn on her heels to face me. She would have landed on her ass if I hadn’t steadied her. I grabbed the glass from her hand. “I’ll take that. You’ve had enough.”

  “Oh no I haven’t.” She tried to take it back from me, but I easily kept it away from her while still holding her upright with my other hand on her elbow.

  “Mia. You’re drunk,” I said flatly.

  “I’m having fun.” Hazel green eyes narrowed on me. “So don’t you worry about me. You just go back to Ellll-vira the vampire succubus over there and let me dance.” She yanked her arm from my grasp and turned back to the other two. They seemed to finally be getting that they were creating a bit of a spectacle and quit dancing. Mia didn’t, or just didn’t care.