Chapter 6
Evelyn
A month ago, when Hailey asked in the group chat what kind of budget she should keep in mind when planning the bachelorette party weekend, and Addy and Melissa both said a figure with one too many zeros out of my comfort zone, I shouldn’t have tried keeping up with the Joneses by agreeing with them like an absolute idiot.
I should have reminded the three of them back then that I’m still a college student, and I’ve already spent so much money on the flights and hotel, and that my budget will not stretch to restaurants where the steak alone without any sides is eighty dollars.
The filet in front of me is so expensive I can’t even enjoy the fucking thing.
Instead, I’m sick to my stomach, doing the math in my head every time the table orders another round of drinks, wondering how much this one meal alone is going to cost me.
I’m not confident I’ll get to the end of the weekend without maxing out my credit card, and my debt to Michael Montgomery feels like the devil lurking over my shoulder, pressing down on me like a crushing weight, and I’m making the whole situation worse by not having enough of a backbone to advocate for myself.
But it’s my sister’s bachelorette, and I can’t make it about my own financial woes.
I glance at Adelaide at the opposite end of the table.
She’s like a princess with her veil on, her smile so radiant and beautiful it lights up every single room she walks into.
Always has. I’ve never known anyone in life who didn’t instantly warm to her and wish to be her friend.
Addy’s selfless and kind and soft, and it’s for those reasons she has allowed Liam to gatecrash her weekend.
Despite her reassurances, I’m not sure she’s totally on board with the idea.
Liam sits by her side, chair slightly angled toward her, eating with only a fork because his other hand refuses to detach itself from her thigh.
She’s smiling, of course. She won’t ever stop smiling.
But I can’t shake the feeling I get sometimes when I watch her closely, this weird intuition that her smile doesn’t quite correspond to the look in her eye, and then I convince myself I’m just bitter and jealous and a terrible sister.
Jealous that Addy is older and therefore a few chapters ahead in life—jealous that she’s already establishing her career, that she’s already met the love of her life, that she has the luxury home, that she doesn’t lie awake at night, worrying if she’ll have both her legs broken by the University of Florida’s most feared alumnus if she doesn’t repay him soon.
My gaze travels down the table to the other end where Theo is still handcuffed to Hailey.
The pair of them are in their own bubble, too busy figuring out how to eat that they’ve barely gotten involved with any of the other conversations going on around them.
You’d think Theo had just won the lottery, the way he’s been grinning for the past hour, but I suppose in his mind he has—he’s handcuffed to Hailey Clark, the girl I’ve had to watch him dote on my whole entire life while Addy warned him to leave her alone.
And of course, Hailey has been none the wiser over the years, because she’s kind of like that.
Obvious things go straight over her head and she completely misreads people.
I wish she’d read between the lines for once and ask herself why my brother loves poking fun at her so much so that I don’t have to sit here and roll my eyes at the way she turns Theo into complete mush.
I catch my expression shifting in time to put a stop to my grimace before it can materialize.
I’d much rather hit the casino and drink away my anxieties than sit through this expensive dinner making small talk, and by the time the check arrives on the table and Hailey announces the damage to the tune of two thousand fucking dollars, I realize that in fact I’d much rather simply be dead.
Because when I pay my share, I actually feel the tears prick the corners of my eyes.
“Hey, so my phone is about to die,” Theo announces to the table once the check is settled. “I’m going to go grab my charger, which means Hailey is also going to come grab my charger. We’ll meet you guys back downstairs in the casino.”
“You’ll find us camped around the roulette table,” Connor says, “where I’ll be throwing a hundred bucks all on red.”
“Good luck,” Hailey says, right before Theo whisks her away, their connected wrists swinging awkwardly between them.
As the rest of us follow out behind them, Melissa sidles up next to me. “You’ve been super quiet during dinner, which is a far cry from the obnoxious idiot who drank too many mimosas and was singing karaoke songs on the flight this morning.”
I stare at her as we walk. “You don’t know me well enough to call me an obnoxious idiot to my face yet.”
“But you’re Addy’s little sister and by the time this weekend is over I’m sure we’ll be best friends too!” she drawls, throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a cuddle against my will.
“How many drinks have you had?” I ask, pushing her away.
“Too many, so you need to catch up. I think you’re sobering up.”
“I’m a perfectly acceptable level of drunk,” I counter. “I’m just eager to hit the casino and start winning some money.”
Liam and Addy lead the way through the hotel, hand in hand, back down to the casino floor where suddenly all of the guys become animated at the prospect of hitting it big in Vegas. Same, honestly. I’m excited to finally solve all of my problems.
“There’s space at that table over there,” Liam says, gesturing across the heaving casino to the live roulette tables.
“I think us girls will find some cheap slot machines . . .” Addy says, and thank God, because I do not wish to sit at a live table with actual dealers.
That’s way too intimidating for my first ever (legal) casino experience.
“You guys go ahead. Do your roulette or your poker or whatever, and we’ll be wherever the bright screens and cute jingles are. ”
“Addy, it’s Vegas,” Liam says, squeezing her hand a little tighter and encouraging her in the direction of the roulette tables. “Slots are boring. Let’s try our luck together on the roulette. I’ll let you pick out the numbers.”
Melissa and I exchange a look of irritation. Slots are not boring.
“It’s Addy’s weekend too,” I point out. “If she wants to play the slot machines, then let her play the slot machines. We’ll take good care of her, Liam. Swear on my life.” I dramatically press my hand over my heart and fix my future brother-in-law with a trustworthy smile.
“It’s okay,” Addy says, wrapping her arm around Liam’s bicep and snuggling in close to him, like he’s the oxygen she requires to breathe. “I’ll watch the guys at the roulette table for a little while, then I’ll come join you at the slots.”
I glare at my sister through narrowed eyes at her betrayal, though I shouldn’t be surprised by how easily Liam influences her decisions. Whatever Liam wants always ends up being what Addy wants, too, because she will never put her own needs and wants first.
“Whatever. C’mon, Mel,” I huff, hooking my arm through Melissa’s, because she is my one and only comrade for the evening now that Hailey is stuck with my brother, and my sister is a total pushover. “Let’s go win some money.”
Melissa and I weave around the casino, seeking out the cheapest games, and finally settle side-by-side at a pair of machines with charging buffalos.
I slip a crisp fifty-dollar-bill into the machine and wince.
Melissa throws two hundred bucks into hers and leans back in the chair, one leg crossed over the other, mindlessly pushing the button to keep her spins rolling while I’m a lot more patient and controlled.
I need my fifty bucks to last long enough to win me something big.
“She does that all the time. Have you noticed that?” Melissa asks after a few minutes.
I’m trying to ignore the frustration bubbling inside of me when yet another spin of mine wins me precisely nothing. I glance at Melissa. “Huh?”
“Addy,” she clarifies. “Liam wants a joint bach in Vegas, so suddenly Addy wants a joint bach in Vegas. Liam wants to play roulette, so of course Addy wants to play roulette, too. I’ve told her so many times . . . just tell him no. Do you like him?”
“He’s all right,” I say with a shrug, one eye locked on the giant LED screen in front of me with the stupid fucking buffalos that have yet to bring me any luck. “Bit of a pretentious jerk sometimes. I don’t hate him, but I don’t love him either.”
“I think she could do so much better,” Melissa mumbles under her breath, and I’m so taken aback by such unfiltered honesty that when a cocktail waitress struts over to offer us drinks, I contemplate telling Melissa that perhaps she’s had enough for tonight. We order two vodka sodas anyway.
I focus back on my machine, ignoring the fact I’m already twenty bucks down. “We’re here on Addy’s bachelorette. Maybe we shouldn’t spend it bad-mouthing her fiancé.”
We play for a while on these machines without much talking going on, and small wins now and again are the only thing still keeping me afloat; meanwhile Melissa is eighty bucks up.
After my fifth spin in a row without hitting anything, I smack the cash-out button, grab my vodka soda and get to my feet.
“This machine doesn’t want to pay out for me, so I’m going to go find another one,” I grumble, and Melissa wishes me good luck just as she wins the mini jackpot on her game.
I’m grumpy. Severely grumpy, and that’s not exactly how I should be spending this weekend, but Hailey has yet to join us in the casino and Addy is held hostage at the roulette table, and I need to repay Michael Montgomery sooner rather than later before I get blackout drunk and forget all about his threats.