Everly
“Answer your phone.I’m trying to hear this!” I lean over and pinch G’s arm. “Did you hear me? Answer your damn phone, or turn it off.”
My whisper-shouting gains a glare from Henry across the large table that my entire family is all sitting around. With fifty tables spaced throughout the outdoor tent and ten people at each table, this year’s event is one of our biggest. My father started the annual tree-lighting event years ago when we were just kids, as a way to bring the community together and decorate our new offices for the winter season. It’s not just about the holidays, but about the most lucrative time of year for our town.
Each year it grew in both attendance and details. Now, instead of lighting just one large Evergreen Tree that stands tallest on our office property, we light everything green that touches Riggs Headquarters. It’s a lot. But that’s how we roll.
Our building overlooks our cute and quaint downtown of Strutt’s Peak. And though it’s a gondola stop from here to there, my father and the mayor decided to extend the lighting down the mountain to bring more attention to our town’s businesses. So now we light up half the town and it’s quite the sight.
“It’s not my phone, Ev,” she says.
“Then what’s buzzing?” G just stares ahead at the stage, purposely not looking at me, and sips her dirty martini. It prompts me to take a sip of mine. And the buzzing starts again. Louder this time.
“Nudge Law and see if it's his,” I tell her. She just looks ahead, ignoring me. “Never mind. Law. Law!”
Shushing echoes from the table behind us. Lenny McKenna doles out her best death glare and shifts to whisper something to her girlfriend that turns their attention back to me. Lord only knows what rumors that woman is wielding.
G just starts laughing quietly and leans back in her chair. “Tell me that noise is not coming from you, please?” I beg and then begin to realize exactly what that noise might be.
Leaning over, she smiles and whispers, “I didn’t want to be bored. I found a pair of underwear in a gift bag in the office of my shop, so I figured I might as well make this night a little more exciting. What? Don’t look at me like that. It’s not even that loud.” She shifts, uncrossing and recrossing her legs. “Oh, oh, oh!” She blows out a long breath. I watch as pink creeps up her neck and onto her cheeks. “I don’t even know where they came from, but I put them on, and they started vibrating. It was like a sign from the sex gods. Stop looking at me like this is surprising behavior! I need another drink. And to move around. Want something?”
“You shouldn’t be allowed out in public sometimes,” I grumble. “I’ll just come with you.”
We both get up quietly from our table and make our way to the back of the tent toward the massive bar. It's the perfect time to survey the space as everyone's attention gathers forward. The opulence of the tent rivals the most lavish of ballrooms. Law and his team have outdone themselves. Four oversized chandeliers float above the center of the space, and what must be yards of draped white fabric weave throughout it, framing the warm light which gives the entire space a romantic feeling. Collections of multiple-sized pine trees are arranged around the space, each bathed in twinkling white lights and flocked with fake snow. Actual snow started to fall outside earlier this evening, making the night feel as if a little touch of magic might be surrounding us.
I pull my phone out of my purse to check if I’ve missed a call or text from Jack. I was expecting him to arrive earlier this evening. A cocktail hour kicked the festivities off, but he didn’t show. I was looking forward to having him at my side before the event started. It’s time to let the gossips collect their rumors correctly and see us work the room together.
I see a cocktail waitress out of the corner of my eye. “Would you mind bringing another round to everyone at my table, please?” I know my brothers are equal parts anxious and excited about the next part of the event to begin.
“Sure thing, Miss Riggs. Are you all set?” she asks. I nod and smile. “I have a quick question if you don’t mind. Areallyour brothers up for auction tonight?”
“They sure are. You plan on bidding?”
“Nah, too expensive for me right now. Henry is looking rather good these days, though. Much better than when we were in high school, that’s for sure.”
G interrupts, “Those drinks aren’t bringing themselves over there, darlin’.” She pulls her eyes from the waitress and starts to survey the room.
I smile at the waitress, hoping to gloss over the snarkiness of my best friend. Then I turn back to Giselle, who is flirting with the bartender. “G, that was rude.”
G lifts her shoulder in a shrug and plucks a green olive out of her drink.
“There’s a tall and handsome photographer staring at you so hard right now.” G shimmies closer to me and nods her head toward the far side of the room. The sight of him elicits a full-body reaction. He looks incredible in an all-black Tom Ford suit, black shirt, no tie, with the top couple of buttons open. Black-tie be damned because that man right there does whatever the fuck he wants. And everybody pays attention. God, I feel like genuflecting, because I am so far gone for that man, ready to worship all of him. I can guarantee if I was able to pull my eyes away, there would be at least a dozen other people staring in appreciation. There are very few men built like him. Tall and fit is common, but not with his swagger and confidence. His dark hair is cut tight, and it accentuates the ocean blue eyes that I’ve been lost in for some time now. The smile that he wields as a reward for any daft human that might be brave enough to keep staring. He makes it impossible not to smile back. With one hand draped in his pocket and the other holding the lens of his camera, he is arrogantly very aware of what he does to me, and mouths, “Hi.” The artistic, casual photographer vibe he’s portrayed for weeks is completely gone. Now, he looks like a billion bucks.
A surge of excitement rolls through my body. If Jack was steel, then I was the flint. From the moment I saw this man, it was an attraction I couldn’t escape. And I barely tried. Now when I’m near him, I feel excited and nervous and ready to lay it all out for him.Let’s just call it forever.The moment we’re in the same space, these sparks kick up and it’s impossible to ignore. This fire that we’ve been playing with hasn’t died down, it's only gotten stronger.
I wasn’t sure ifthisexisted. The idea of connecting with someone in this way feels like I’m a little crazy. It isn’t something I was prepared to handle. Looking at a person and craving their touch as well as their time, wanting to spend hours together just to hear what else they have to say. It’s not organized or planned. It’s simple and chaotic, but even those contradicting words don’t do it any justice. When I think about it now, there was no way to avoid him. The moment Jack set foot in Strutt’s Peak, my life was irrevocably changed. Call it profound. Call it fate. Maybe even inevitable, but the most accurate, most right thing to label me is his. I am his.
I’m so in love with him, it’s dangerous. It’s a feeling that I haven’t had the privilege of knowing before him, but I know that’s what it is. Love. I have never thought about love this way. Logically, it wasn’t probable, but the hopeful romantic in me did just that, it hoped. I hoped I’d catch a piece of it at some point in my life. And right now, I feel almost certain that this man was designed for me, and I for him.