Chapter 41
Hail Mary: An American football term for a desperate long-shot pass at the end of a game.
Translation: Buckle up, bitches.
Everly
“Welcome, everyone,” I say into the mic, holding my hand up to shield my face from the giant yellow spotlight shining right
at me. My eyes land on my grandma standing right by the stage and giving me a big, hearty thumbs-up. I glance around the rest
of the audience and see my dad and Cozy standing together in one area, Calder and Dakota in another, and Wyatt, Trista, and
Stevie propped against a nearby tree. Claire gives me a big wave from her area by the stage, and I exhale heavily.
The gang is all here to witness this ridiculously huge event I’m hosting, and the pressure is on.
I stare down into my furry notebook and begin to read my speech out loud. “I want to thank you all for coming this evening.
I’ve never seen Mount Millie look so good, and that’s saying something because she’s been showing off for centuries.”
The crowd laughs, thank goodness, so I press on.
“Tonight, every ticket, every drink you’re holding, every piece of pie you’ve already eaten or face you had painted all goes straight into helping Mount Millie continue to do what she does best. Which is find happily ever afters for animals who have had a rocky start.
Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to meet all our furry and wooly friends.
There’s one honorable mention that isn’t here tonight, and that’s Rugby, our bearded dragon, who lives up on Fletcher Mountain with me.
” I swallow the sharp pain in my throat over how abruptly our co-parenting ended.
“And speaking of Rugby . . . you are all in for a treat tonight. Come on up, boys,” I call out and hold my breath as five
giant, godlike rugby players come walking up onto the stage. They’re all dressed in flannels and jeans, per my request, and
they wave confidently at the crowd, who instantly start cheering.
My eyes linger on Wolf, who looks so much hotter than all of them. He’s at least two or three inches taller, broader, and
that brooding scowl he has on his face is just enough to make me forget everything I wrote in my notebook for these introductions.
I shake my head and turn back to the audience, forcing myself to focus on the task at hand.
“These are our mountain men friends, and they’re here to help us raise money for Mount Millie. They’re all players for the
Denver Grizzlies Major League Rugby team, and I hope you all put in a bid for the season tickets on the silent auction table.
I, for one, have seen one of these guys play, and it was . . . a memorable experience, to say the least.”
I fan my face, feeling suddenly flushed.
“Now, how are these guys going to help us raise this money?” I cup my hand by my mouth and lower my voice to really ham it
up. “With something very noble. Something very dignified. Something that’s going to make my grandma blush.”
The crowd laughs softly.
“Tonight, we’re auctioning off a date with a professional rugby player! Yes, you heard that right. Actual, living, breathing
athletes. Thick thighs included, egos sold separately.”
Whistles and cheers sound off, loudest of all from my girl Claire in the front.
“Every bid you make tonight goes to funding feed and vet care for these animals, operation costs for the facility, and so much more. So please, bid like the future of Mount Millie depends on it, because it does.
“And if you end up with a very handsome dinner date who can teach you what the heck a sin bin is in the process . . . don’t worry, Grandma, that’s an official rugby term, well, that’s just a good tax write-off.”
I wink and earn another round of laughter and applause. “Let the bidding begin!”
The past couple of weeks, I worked up a small bio for each one of the guys, adding colorful anecdotes like it’s a dating profile.
As I roll through the first few guys, I’m pleasantly surprised by how quickly the dollar amount rises. I purposely save Fergie
and Wolf for last because, well, arguably, they’re the most attractive. And . . . hot accents have to bring in more money
in these parts, right?
When Fergie steps up and I read off his bio, Claire’s hand shoots up again and again and again. I smile because my girl knows
how to take orders. However, when the price gets up over a thousand dollars, she gives me a despondent look, informing me
she is out of funds.
My heart breaks for her, but I don’t blame her one bit.
Fergie walks off the stage to join his date, a gorgeous twenty-something blonde who looks very excited about her win, and
then it’s just me and my lone Wolf standing there together.
“This is Conri Wolf Reilly, Trinity University’s former star player from Dublin, Ireland. Wolf is a recent recruit for the
Denver Grizzlies and looks forward to joining the community of Denver. He enjoys coaching youth rugby leagues, spending time
with his twin sister, and taking his bearded dragon for walks. Let’s start the bidding at one hundred dollars!”
I look out into the audience and am met with . . . nothing.
It’s complete silence.
I frown at Wolf, who shifts nervously on his feet.
“Can I get one hundred dollars?”
A lone goat bleats in the distance as everyone stands out in front of me, saying nothing.
“Sorry, is this working?” I tap my microphone, causing it to squeal loudly.
“It’s working, sweetie,” Grandma calls back and gives me a big thumbs-up.
I frown and say, “Can we get fifty dollars? Fifty dollars for a date with this six-foot-five, tall, dark, and handsome rugby
player who used to work right here at Mount Millie for us.”
When I’m met with silence again, I nearly throw the microphone off the stage.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
Wolf clears his throat, shaking his head in mortification, and I feel completely outraged on his behalf.
“What is going on with you people?” I say in a forced, joking tone. “Wait until you hear this Irish accent, and you’ll be
very glad you bid on him.”
More. Silence.
If it were winter, the scream I would scream to start an avalanche and wipe out all of these assholes would be earth-shattering.
I step out from behind my podium and walk toward the edge of the stage, flagging Claire down. I hold my mic to the side and
whisper, “Hey, bid on Wolf.”
She shakes her head from side to side, and I look at her with murder in my eyes.
“Claire, it’s fine. Bid.”
“No!” she squeaks back and then turns around to run away from me. Well, that’s weird as shit.
My cheeks puff out as I blow out a long breath and turn a pleading look to Wolf. His voice is low when he says, “Everly, it’s okay. Just end the auction early. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” I snarl at Wolf like a rabid dog, my heart hammering in my chest over the utter failure of this moment.
The failure to this man who doesn’t deserve this.
All I can see is the scrawny little boy who used to get bullied. This is so fucking wrong. We’re adults. We worked so hard
on all of this. He worked so hard on all of this. He’s the one who transformed this place into the beautiful facility it is, despite what a
disappointment I’ve been to him.
“You’re more than fine. You’re wonderful.” My voice comes out in a weird, breathy tone, and I feel my mind start to spin with
anger, sadness, resentment, and all the feelings I’ve been bottling up for the past several days.
I hold my hand up and stare out into the abyss of the crowd, ready to make my rage their problem because they deserve it.
They deserve all of it. Bringing the mic to my lips again, I say, “This person up here is extraordinary, and you should all
be so ashamed for not recognizing that. He’s a hard worker, showing up and doing any task that’s ever asked of him, even if
he’s never even seen an alpaca before in his life.”
I exhale heavily, my heart thundering in my chest.
“He pretends to be grumpy, but he really isn’t. Most fights he’s picked have been because he’s defending other people. And
he’s usually smiling if you take the time to really look at his face. He has a great smile.” My eyes turn back to him, and he’s looking at me in a way that makes me feel woozy. I love that look on him. It’s that way
he looks at me and makes me feel seen over and over.
“He listens more than he talks too, which is so rare in today’s dating standards. And he is fiercely protective of those he
cares about. If you find yourself in his inner circle, you can trust that he will always be looking out for you.”
I catch a glimpse of Stevie in the crowd, and my heart skips a beat. “And, oh, my God, he’s incredible with kids, but he does it in this cool, quiet way that’s effortless. He talks to them like they’re grown-ups, and he makes
them feel seen in a way I’ve never witnessed before.
“He’s insanely generous. So generous, he’ll play his heart out for a sport he would probably rather coach just because his
sister doesn’t want to play without him, and he wants the best for her, so he’ll sacrifice anything for her to succeed.”
My breath comes out labored and hurried, my eyes welling with tears over the unfairness of this whole situation. “If you all
knew him as I know him, then you’d love him like I do, and you’d know that he’s worth ten times more bids than all those other
rugby players.”
My lips part as I realize what I just said. What just stumbled out of my mouth as easily as breathing.
I turn on my heel to look at Wolf, who looks equally as stunned.
“Did you just—” he asks, but I cut him off.
“I love you,” I croak, tears falling down my face at the overcome look on his. “Oh my God, I’m in love with you.”
“Everly—” Wolf makes a move to step toward me but stops dead in his tracks when a male voice yells out.
“Three hundred dollars!”
I swerve to look out into the audience and see my uncle Luke holding his hand up. He has Levi in a carrier on his chest and
Addison holding on to his arm with a knowing smirk. I shake my head violently and then hear, “Five hundred!”
I snap my gaze over to that voice and see it’s my uncle Calder bidding.
He has his fucking tuxedo cat strapped to his front, and Dakota has their other cat strapped to hers.
They have been the talk of the event today, wearing their cats like their babies.
If I’d known what a spectacle they’d be, I would have put them in a booth and charged a cover . . . you know . . . for the charity.
I slice my fingers over my neck, silently telling Calder to stop so I can bid when another familiar voice calls out, “Eight
hundred dollars.”
“Wyatt, no,” I snap, my voice severe. “He’s mine.”
“One thousand dollars,” my dad says, stepping forward with a smug grin. Cozy and Ethan are near him, and they both cover their
conspiratorial snickers.
“You need to stop,” I stammer, my face flushed. “This isn’t . . . I mean, it’s not what . . .”
“Going once,” Luke says loudly.
“Twelve hundred dollars!” I squeal into the mic, my hand and voice trembling in shock.
“Thirteen hundred,” Wyatt calls out.
“Oh my God, you guys.” I stomp over to the side of the stage. “Grandma, you do this.”
“Do what?” she asks, her eyes bugging out of her face as I grab her hand and drag her up onto the stage.
“Be the auctioneer,” I hiss, shoving her toward the podium and into the spotlight.
“Everly, honey, I—”
“Work with me, Grandma,” I growl, my voice sounding positively possessed as I scuttle down the steps to take a place in the
audience in front of my uncles.
“Fourteen hundred.” I hold my hand up proudly.
Grandma jitters nervously. “Fourteen hundred, going once.”
“Fifteen hundred,” Calder says and shoots me an evil smile.
“I watched your cats for you two weeks ago!” I shriek, feeling the veins popping out on my forehead.
He shrugs like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“Sixteen hundred.” I swallow the knot in my throat because I don’t really have that kind of money. Like, I do, but it’s in a trust or something. I don’t really have access to it, but I’ll figure that out later, I guess.
“My Nana!” Stevie cries out, shooting me a big, pouty lip as she crosses her arms and scowls at me like I’m trying to steal
her boyfriend.
“Seventeen hundred,” Wyatt says and shrugs in the fatherly way about him, like he’s going to give his daughter whatever she
wants, no matter the cost.
“Trista, control your family,” I shriek when my eyes land on her.
She holds her hands up. “Payback is a bitch, kid.”
“What?” I exhale heavily, completely confused with everything in existence right now, before I yell out, “Two thousand dollars.”
“Sold!” Grandma sings, pointing a victorious finger at me. “Conri Reilly to Everly Fletcher for the highest bid of the night
at two thousand dollars!”
The crowd erupts in a riotous cheer as I buckle over, propping my hands on my knees, fighting to catch my breath like I just
ran up the mountain.
With a cursed mutter, I stand to walk over to my dad and Cozy and hold out my hand. “Dad, I need two thousand dollars.”
His shoulders shake with silent laughter as I wipe literal sweat from my brow. “I’ll get the checkbook out of my car.”
Cozy pulls me into a hug. “Oh, sweetie, you need a Fireball shot after all of that.”
“What the hell was that?” I ask, my eyes swerving around to all three of my uncles, who smile at me like the cat who got the
cream.
She bites her lip and sighs. “Your uncles spent this entire event threatening every person here not to bid on Wolf so that
you would end up having to bid on him.”
My lips part. “They what?”
She smiles. “Matchmaking runs in the family, I think.”
I shake my head, my mind swimming with the fact that those uncles of mine just nearly sabotaged my whole event just to get
me a date with the boy I was too scared to say I love you to just a few days ago. Those brooding, burly, maddening, lovable,
wonderful uncles of mine that I’m going to miss so fucking much when I move off this mountain.
Tears fall down my cheeks as I croak, “But why did they all start bidding against me?” I ask with a frown, sniffing my runny
nose.
Cozy’s brows furrow. “You know, I have no idea. I think maybe they’re just dicks.”
I erupt into manic giggles and fall into my stepmom in a hysterical mess of crying and laughing. “I am going to kill all of
you. But first . . .” I wipe my tears away and turn around to find Wolf standing just five feet behind me, like I conjured
him right where I wanted him.
He slides his hands into his pockets, looking perfect and boyish and so deliciously mine. “Hey, Stretch,” he says, his voice
low and dripping with something I recognize very well.
Love.
“Hey, Conri,” I say back, pushing my hair off my face. I sigh and lift my shoulders. “You want to go on a really expensive
date with me?”
His smile lights up his whole face. “I’m not sure I have much of a choice.”
“Yeah.” I wince and tilt my head at him. “That’s the funny thing about love. It makes you do crazy things.”
And this time, it’s me kissing him in front of my family.