Saving Ever After (Ever After #4) (15 page)

It wasn’t
until we left the diner and were just walking around campus to kill time, that
I realized just how many people felt the same way. He literally knew like
everyone, and everyone wanted to stop and talk to him. He was Mr. freakin’
popularity, all easygoing and friendly. He was a damn people magnet, drawing
everyone to him like he was handing out puppies in the back of a white van, or
free Coach bags for all the females that smiled, waved and flirted.

It was the
same way when we met back up outside my dorm to go workout.

“You have a
lot of friends,” I grumbled when we finally made it to the fitness center.

“I know a
lot of people, doesn’t mean they’re all friends.”

“Sure seemed
like it, the way you were high fiving and bumping fists with everyone. And
those girls, I mean seriously,” I arched an eyebrow, “do people really love
hockey that much around here? They were practically falling at your feet.”

He just
laughed, “I can’t help it if people love me. In case you’re forgetting, you
threw yourself at me last night.”

“I did not,”
I huffed as I climbed onto the elliptical for a warm up. “You pulled open the
bathroom door when I was leaning on it. I fell on you. I did not throw myself
at you. There’s a difference.”

“Whatever
you say. Do fifteen minutes on here, but don’t push yourself too hard yet. I’ll
be on a treadmill over there. Come find me when you’re done and then we’ll do a
couple circuits.”

“What the
hell is a circuit?”

“I guess
you’ll find out.”

I did find
out. I also discovered that I hated circuits. My version of a workout was a
twenty minute jog. Kris’ version of a workout was to push me through every damn
machine in that place, timing me and counting my reps and testing my weight
limits. When we were done, my arms and legs were noodles. It was a good thing
for Kris too, because even though I wanted to murder him, I was too tired and
sore to do it.

Also, after
watching him workout alongside me, I knew I couldn’t take him. He pushed
himself twice as hard as he pushed me and didn’t look half as tired. He did all
this on top of the practices he had every day. He was a madman and I started
questioning if I really wanted to be friends with someone that insane.

We said
goodbye outside the fitness center and I dragged my sore butt back to my dorm. I’d
just plopped down on my bed, with the intention of not moving for at least a
good week, when my phone rang. Across the room. I had to get up. I did not want
to get up. At that moment, across the room seemed so far away. I groaned and
pulled myself up, my achy body protesting.

When I saw
that it was Sadie calling, I quickly reached for my phone before it sent her to
voicemail. “Hey. You’re back?”

“Yeah, we
got in a little while ago. What are you doing today?”

“I just got
done working out, so really my only plan was to lie down and not move for a
solid week, maybe longer.”

“Well I’d
hate to ruin your plans,” her amusement was evident even over the phone, “but
any way you could meet me for dinner in a couple hours? There’s something I
want to talk to you about?”

Oh shit.

Momentary
panic prevented me from responding right away. Had Chris filled her in on just
how low I’d sunk last night?

“Mia, you
there? Did I lose you?”

“No, I’m
here?”
Crap,
could she hear the shakiness in my voice brought on by my
nerves?

“Okay, then
can you meet me for dinner? I know you have classes in the morning and you
probably have homework or studying, so it can be somewhere close to campus. It
won’t take long.” I wasn’t about to tell her that yeah, I probably did have
homework, but I wouldn’t know for sure because I hadn’t made it to either of my
classes today.

“Um, sure,”
I said, hoping my reluctance wasn’t obvious. “That’s fine. There’s a really
good Mexican place I’ve been to,
The Cantina,
or something like that, if
that works.”

“Okay, meet
you there at five-thirty?”

“See you
then.”

I
disconnected the call and spent the next few hours worrying about what my
sister wanted to talk to me about. My stomach was in so many knots by the time
I pushed through the doors of the restaurant. I tried to steel myself for the
look of disappointment that I knew was about to hit me. A glimpse of red hair
out my periphery told me she was already here and had secured us a table. She
was angled slightly away from me as I approached, but she caught my movement
out of the corner of her eye and started to turn.

My stomach
clenched like I was a child being sent to the principal’s office to be
reprimanded. I couldn’t honestly say how many times I’d stood before my mother like
this, and I’d never felt such shame and admonition before. Sadie wasn’t my
parent or my disciplinarian, and I hated that I’d put her in this position. Most
days it felt like she was the only person trying to look out for me, the only
person who didn’t believe that just because I’d screwed up so much in the past,
that I was a screw up. Now I was going to have to look her in the face and tell
her I’d pushed the limits again and gotten myself in the position of needing
Chris to come rescue me.

When Sadie’s
eyes met mine though, all I saw was affection. There was none of the expected
disappointment, only a wide smile. I think my entire body might have sagged with
relief as she stood and embraced me. Maybe the lecturing would come later, but
I was just thankful she didn’t appear upset with me. After releasing me, she
dropped back in to her seat and I took the one across from her.

“I’m glad you could
come. I hope I’m not interfering with your studying too much.”

“No. Really, like I
said, I didn’t have much to do tonight other than rest after that brutal
workout.”

She grinned, “It’s good
that you’re working out. Not because I think you need it, but I’m glad that
you’re building a life here that’s not just classes and studying, or,” this
time her expression did take on a slightly worried edge, “partying.”
Here it
comes.

I swallowed dryly and
then grabbed the glass of ice water that was already on the table. I took a sip
and cleared my throat.

“Yeah. I’m trying,” I
said.

“I know, and I’m proud
that you’re doing so well. I know there’s been a lot of craziness. Moving to a
new city and starting college, things with Mom and Dad, my news. It’s a lot to
get used to, and I know that part of college is having a social life and
letting loose a little. Please know that I’m not mad about before, at my
engagement party. I understand it, I really do. I just want to see you pull
things together and succeed and it looks to me like that’s what you’re doing.” She
smiled and I was slightly confused. It sounded to me like Chris hadn’t told her
about last night.

She went on about how
excited she was for me, and how she knew I was going to kick ass at school and
that she knew when I figured out what I really wanted to do, I would be amazing
at it. Hearing her faith in me was almost worse than having her lecture me,
because I knew I didn’t deserve it. I wasn’t kicking ass at anything.

The waitress appeared,
putting a stop to Sadie’s,
Mia is so awesome,
pep talk, which was good,
because if she had gone on any longer, I probably would have cracked like a
guilty schoolgirl in a confessional and told her just how not awesome I was
doing, and that I felt like I was just floundering, barely keeping my head
above water.

After we ordered, we
smoothly transitioned into wedding talk when I asked about her trip. She told
me all about the gorgeous and charming location on Orcas Island they’d picked
for the ceremony and reception. She went on about her vision for the wedding,
and how detail by detail it was coming to life. They’d met with florists, and
dj’s and cake decorators, on top of coordinators all vying for the chance to
help plan this celebrity wedding. To me, it all sounded a little overwhelming,
but Sadie just sounded excited.

“I’m really glad you
brought up the wedding though, that’s actually why I wanted to talk to you.” By
this time, we’d been served our food and had been chatting wedding details for
a while. Like I said, she got excited, and she wanted to share everything. I
didn’t mind, even if it caused the slightest twinge inside me.

“Okay, what did you want
to tell me? Is it about the color of underwear you’re going to wear on your
wedding night, because honestly Sadie, I think that’s about the only thing you
haven’t already shared,” I teased her playfully.

“Actually, I was going
to ask you to be my maid of honor,” she shot back, grinning. I almost dropped
my fork.

“You want me to be your
maid of honor?”

“Who else?” she asked as
if it was a silly question.

“I don’t know, Jax
maybe?”

“Nope. I want you. Jax
is my best friend, but you’re my sister, and Mia, you and me were sharing
secrets and taking on the world together long before I ever met Jax. You were
the one who used to sneak into my room, after everyone else was in bed, for
secret slumber parties. You were the one who gave me your favorite doll to
cheer me up when you saw me crying over some boy and the one who went shopping
with me to pick out my prom dress. Then you waited up for me on prom night so
you could hear all about it. There might be eight years between us, and I know there
were a lot of years that I wasn’t there for you, but you have never just been
my baby sister.”

“Well, I guess when you
put it that way . . . of course I will.”

I didn’t know much about
being a maid of honor, except that it meant planning her bridal shower and
bachelorette party and helping her with all kinds of stuff. I could do that. I
would
do that, and I would get my shit together so that I didn’t give her any reason
to worry about me or doubt the faith she had in me. I wanted to be the sister
that she was so proud of, that she knew could succeed. I just had to push aside
the distractions and get my priorities straight. No more missing classes and
slacking on my studying.

I felt so much better
walking out of that restaurant than I had going in. I was determined and
optimistic for a change. It was a nice feeling.

Chris

“Come on
babe, we’re going to be late,” I hollered from the living room. Technically we
were already late, the Halloween party had started half an hour ago, but trying
to rush Katrina was rarely effective.

“Hold on.
I’m almost ready,” she shouted back. I considered just kicking back on the
couch and flipping on the TV. I knew
‘almost ready’
could mean anything
from five minutes to another twenty. I pulled the top hat off my head, setting
it on the coffee table and running a hand through my already sweaty and matted
hair. I was due for a cut soon, but Katrina insisted that the slightly longer
look was sexy, that she liked being able to tangle her hands in it. All I knew
was that under the weighty hat, it was warm and slightly itchy. Katrina had
styled my hair with a little bit of waxy product so that it would stick out
from under the hat in a sort of disheveled way to really give it that madman
look, but it only made the whole sweaty hair situation worse.

I drew the
line at letting her put make-up on me though. I didn’t care if Johnny Depp
looked sexy in eye liner, I wasn’t wearing that shit. It was bad enough that
she had me in this ridiculous jacket and bow tie. Of course I made this Mad
Hatter get up look good, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it. I’d tried
to talk her into going as Catwoman and Batman, but she had shot down that idea,
and insisted on this one instead.

I was
slightly less disgruntled about the whole thing when she finally appeared
before me in her tiny, corseted, black, red and white dress with hearts going
up the front of it. It reminded me of those naughty nurse and French maid
costumes. It was sexy as hell, and the icing on this delicious piece of cake
was the long black stockings that came up her thighs, edged with lace and
little red bows on top. I looked forward to peeling those down her legs. In
fact, I was starting to think to hell with the party, I was ready to go
straight to our own personal after party.

It was safe
to say things had been pretty good with us since she got back from California.

I stood,
stalking toward her, making my desire and intentions clear. She gave me a
flirty little grin. “You like?”

“Oh yeah, I
like. I like a lot.” I reached for her and tugged her body into mine. Her tall
as fuck heels made us about even. I stared into her dark eyes as my hands
gripped her waist tightly.

“I thought
we were late,” she breathed out. “Late for a very important date,” she tacked
on teasingly.

“Oh, we’re
going to be late alright,” I told her, backing her up into the wall.

She gave me
a little shove and giggled. “Behave, or it’s off with your head.”

“I don’t
think I can behave with you looking like that. In that costume, you’re body is
just begging me to do all sorts of wicked things to it.”

“After the
party,” she pushed me back again and this time stepped out of my embrace, going
right for her purse. I groaned and followed after her, enjoying the sway of her
hips.

The party
was in full swing when we arrived at Jax and Kyden’s. The number of guests had
to be somewhere around fifty. It wasn’t the big blowout that the tabloids would
no doubt be calling it tomorrow, spinning tales of drunkenness and debauchery
from inside sources who weren’t even at the party, but it was a Halloween bash
nonetheless. If any of those tabloid journalists actually knew Jax, then they’d
know she would be the last person to allow any sort of debauchery in her house.
Unfortunately, since she was married to Ky, nobody seemed to care. They just
loved raking those two through the media.

I led Katrina
through the house by her hand, looking for our hosts or any of the guys, but it
was hard to tell who was who with all the costumes. Wigs and masks obscured
faces, and the lighting in the house was dim, to create a spooky feel that went
with the haunted house theme and décor. I had to admit that Jax had gone all
out and nailed it. Everything looked and felt so realistic, like it was
straight out of a classic horror film.

The hallways
were filled with fog and music was being piped through the whole house by Ky’s
bad ass sound system. It was loud, but not the kind of loud that made it
impossible to carry on a conversation. We shuffled through the rooms,
recognizing and stopping to talk to several people along the way. Our agent and
his wife were here, a few other guys from the label and their girlfriends, some
of our good friends from the old bar scene crowd.

Shit, was
that Grandma Helen?

Yeah, I was
pretty sure I just saw Ace’s grandma dressed as Catwoman. Suddenly I was glad Katrina
had vetoed that costume idea. Seeing Ace’s grandma decked out in all that very
revealing, black spandex and tight leather had a way of killing that fantasy
quickly and brutally.

I nodded
when we passed Jax’s brother Shane, and a humongous Lucy. I wasn’t trying to be
a dick, but she was huge with their twins. I was concerned that we needed to
have paramedics on standby in case she popped here. She looked like she might.
The next people we bumped into were my brother and Lissa, who also looked ready
to pop.

“Nice
costume,” I smirked at Bas. He was dressed in referee black and whites, and
Lissa was dressed up as a basketball player in some sort of crop jersey, her
stomach painted to look like a basketball. It was cheesy as hell, but also kind
of funny.

“Hey!” Lissa
punched me on the arm. “Don’t make fun of our costumes. Not when you’re a crazy
lunatic who wears a bow tie and a top hat.”

“Touché,” I
laughed. “You guys know where Jax is? I wanted to say hi, but I can’t find her
or Ky.”

Bas just
rolled his eyes and Lissa chuckled. “Ky’s probably trying to drag her out of
the kiddie room again. The family room is set up with games and stuff for all
of the kids, and even though they paid a couple of teenage girls who live down
the street to watch the kids for the night, Ky can’t seem to keep Jaxyn out of
there.”

I laughed. That
didn’t surprise me at all. If there were kids around, that’s where Jax was.
“Hey, did you guys see Catwoman?” I asked.

“How could
we not?” Bas said as if he’d been as mentally scarred as I was.

“That woman
is strange,” Katrina commented.

“Strange is
one word for it,” Bas agreed, “but you gotta give it to her, she’s ballsy and
doesn’t take any shit. All the girls seem to love her too.”

“She’s
hilarious, and so sweet,” Lissa spoke up. “I hope that when I’m almost eighty I
have the guts to wear a cat suit.” Bas cocked an eyebrow at her. “Okay, maybe
not the cat suit, but I hope I’m not afraid to be bold like her.”

“Well we’re
going to go find drinks, and hopefully Jax,” I told them, taking Katrina’s hand
again as we made our way toward the kitchen where I expected to find
refreshments. We also found Jax and Ky in there. At least I assumed it was Ky
under that furry Beast head piece. If it wasn’t, some guy was going to get his
arms ripped off for having them wrapped around Jax. Not that there was any guy
besides Ky who would willingly dress up as the Beast to indulge Jax’s Beauty
and the Beast fantasies.

“Chris!” Jax
exclaimed when she spotted us. She pulled out of her husband’s arms just long
enough to throw hers around me. I squeezed her small frame back. It had taken
her all of five minutes to lose the baby weight.

“You look
awesome,” I told her truthfully. I’d never seen a prettier Princess Belle, if
Princess Belle had hot pink and purple hair. Jax’s colors of the month.

“Thanks,”
she said, pulling back. “So do you guys.” Then she moved to hug Katrina, who
awkwardly accepted it. Jax acted like she didn’t notice though. She was a
hugger. Katrina wasn’t really, but she would have to get used to it, because
Jax didn’t exactly give you a choice. She just hugged the shit out of you
whether you liked it or not. I don’t think she got too many complaints though.
“Oh my gosh, you have to come see Abel’s costume. It’s so freakin’ adorable.”

She grabbed
my hand and started yanking me out of the kitchen. “Babe, I’ll be right back,”
she threw over her shoulder.

“Mmhmm.
Right,” he mumbled good-naturedly, pulling of his head piece and looking
relieved to get out of it for a few minutes.

“You
coming?” I asked Katrina.

“I’m just
going to get something to drink. I’ll wait here for you.”

I let Jaxyn
pull me down the hall toward the back of the house, where I could hear the high
pitched laughter of little kids. “It’s pretty cool that you set up a party for
them back here,” I told her.

We stepped
into the huge room and it felt like we’d stepped right into Nightmare Before
Christmas. The movie was playing on a large screen for the kids and the whole
room had been decked out to go along with the theme. There were about ten kids
it looked like, ages ranging from baby Abel to about ten or eleven. A handful were
bobbing for apples in one corner with one of the babysitters. Another was
helping Izzy and some of the other kids paint on pumpkins while a few of the really
little ones crawled around, and Abel chewed on the decorations. Jax spotted him
and hurried over to where he was lying on his back on a blanket, slobbering on
a cardboard cutout Jack Skellington’s leg.

“I need to
go clean him up,” Jax said, scooping him into her arms. The dye from the soggy
cardboard had bled all over his mouth, face and hands. It had even stained some
of his furry little Gremlin costume.

“Take him,”
I chuckled. “You were right though, that’s a pretty great costume.” She smiled
and carted the little dude off.

I started to
head back and join the rest of the party, but a flash of short, pale pink hair
caught my attention. I assumed the girl kneeling on the ground with her back to
me, showing off her weapon to a couple of eight or nine year old boys, must be another
of the hired babysitters for the night. Even from the back, I could tell what
her costume was. That hair, the red cape, the knee high brown leather boots and
weapon were a dead giveaway, at least for anyone into Final Fantasy, which I
admittedly was. I had to tell her how awesome I thought her costume was.

“Is it a
real sword?” One of the boys asked her, and I was surprised to recognize the
voice that answered.

“No it’s
not. I wish it was real, but it’s just a prop, and it’s actually a saber, not a
sword.”

“What’s the
difference?”

“Mia?” I
said.  She jerked her head around and looked up at me cautiously from her
position on the floor. “Or I guess I should say Lightning.” I smiled and then she
returned it, rising to her feet. First thing I noticed was that she’d cut a few
inches off of her hair. Usually I was a long hair kind of guy, but she’d always
looked really good with her short hair, and this even shorter look suited her
perfectly, just barely reaching her chin.

“Yeah. I
think you’re the only one who knows who I am though.” She tucked the large saber
gunblade back into its black case hanging from her belt. The boys, having
realized they’d lost her attention, and their chances of getting her to hand
over her weapon, went off to another area of the room.

“If Marcus
is here, he’ll know who you are,” I told her, knowing Ace’s brother would
appreciate her costume almost as much as I did. She’d done an incredible job of
replicating the character’s look from the game. I didn’t know what she’d done
to her blonde hair to give it that light rose tinge, but it looked great,
almost as great as her legs in that damn tiny skirt. I had to force my eyes not
to linger there, but it was kind of hard when she was a sexy gamer fantasy come
to life. That was so not a good thing.

I hadn’t
seen her in the two weeks since I’d picked her up from that party and then
spent the night cleaning up her vomit. I’d pretty much gone off on her the next
morning, made her cry and then she stormed off, leaving me feeling like an
asshole. A confused asshole, because she’d deserved everything I’d said to her.
She’d needed a good harsh dose of reality, but still I’d felt like such a dick
for being the one to deliver it. Since then I’d done my best to just not think
about her, and focus on Katrina and our relationship.

 “Yeah, he’s
here and he knew who I was. He actually sort of commandeered my date.”

Date?

“Not that
it’s a real date,” she added almost as if she’d sensed my negative reaction to
that word. “I just brought a friend, well actually you know him. I brought
Kris. Not you obviously. The other one. From . . . well I’m sure you remember
the night. Anyway, uh yeah, he’s out there somewhere. He’s dressed as Cloud
Strike, because he already sort of looks like him.” She was rambling and it was
hard not to grin. “He doesn’t know anything about Final Fantasy, but I told him
he had to dress up or he couldn’t come, and he really wanted to, but now I bet
he’s regretting that since Marcus is, I’m sure, still holding him hostage to
discuss which Final Fantasy game is the greatest, and anyway I think you look
awesome too. Mad Hatter right?”

“That’s me.”
I tipped my hat at her. “Now I have to ask, did you just get this costume for
tonight, or is this something that’s been hiding in the back of your closet for
a while?”