Chapter 10
EVERLEE – DON’T LET YOUR GUYS SEE YOU ON ANOTHER DATE
Those electric blue eyes stare at me from the makeshift stage, and my heart literally stops beating in my chest.
Callum.
What is he doing here?
And with Jax, Emmett, and Knox.
Knox looks the same, but Emmett.
Fuck me sideways and call me Santa, because damn. He has a beard now and looks like a mountain man. Like a sexy mountain man who has chopped wood all day. His shoulders are broader, his arms stronger.
I shake my head, desperate to quiet the torrent of thoughts pelting me like water drops off a waterfall.
After a moment, I realize I’m frozen with my hand still on Winston’s, and Callum’s eyes locked on us.
I quickly jerk my hand away, like I’ve just touched a hot flame, but must have jerked too hard, because the next thing I know, the chair legs buckle and I am falling backwards out of my seat, crashing to the floor.
Staring at the ground, I let out a string of curse words, no doubt making the ladies around me clutch their pearls.
I take a moment before I stand up, trying to regain my composure and process what’s going on.
Callum looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see him, so they didn’t come for me. But what then? For Mrs. Mary Mae?
Someone taps the microphone, pulling me back to the present, like a loud whoosh of air sucking me out of a vacuum. Beckett, through his fits of laughter, squats down and grabs my hand to help me up. Thankfully, only a few sets of eyes are still on me, four of them being my guys.
“Hubba hubba,” Beckett mumbles as he climbs back into his chair. He is drooling over my guys. My guys!
Jax takes the microphone from Callum, looking beautiful as ever in his dark blue suit with a white button-up underneath.
His pinched brow glances at me before settling on Mrs. Mary.
“Mama Mary. We wanted to come and wish you the happiest of birthdays. We don’t get to see you as much as we’d like, but we think about you all the time.
Your love and support gave each of us up here a life that we wouldn’t have had without you.
We are grateful and humbled to share this weekend with you. ”
“Was he in the navy? Hello captain, my captain,” Beckett moans from over my shoulder.
“SEALs,” I answer without thinking and then try to play it off. “Probably. Seems like the type.”
Definitely a SEAL. I remember the frog tattoo on his chest, over his heart. My thoughts drift back to the time in their hot tub and then afterwards in their bedroom. Fucking Niagara Falls near my lady bits right now!
“Do you need a fan?” Winston asks. “You seem a little flush.”
“No. I’m okay.” I swallow and lift the water to my bone-dry mouth.
I thought it odd that they had so many empty tables in the room when we first sat down, but now it makes sense. They had surprise guests coming, and I don’t think anyone is more surprised than me. How close had we been growing up? Several towns apart? What are the odds? Wait until Lizzy hears—
“May we sit here?” A voice booms behind me with a gentle touch on my shoulder that sends a jolt of electricity through me.
I look up and see Callum standing there, and my breath leaves my body.
Traitorous bitch. Mouth hanging open like a fucking fish, all I can do is nod.
But not like a normal nod, like a jerk, that leaves the other party questioning if you’re actually nodding yes or having some sort of neck spasm and need medical attention.
Thankfully, Winston chimes in. “Yes, yes, of course. Anyone who got to grow up with Mrs. Mary Mae is always welcome.” He fans his arm out to the table like a model on a game show.
Callum takes the seat to my right, with the others sit to his right. I look at each of them, still unable to remember how to use my tongue. Or my mouth. And apparently my eyelids, because the way my balls—eyeballs—are burning, I haven’t blinked.
Callum and the others were foster siblings?
Except Jax, who is his actual brother. No wonder they’re so close.
How didn’t I know this about them? I guess, to be fair, most of the times I was with them ended up in extraordinary fucking sessions.
But that’s what it was before. Just sex.
Only I got attached and stupidly left. But not again.
We plan to have a meeting in a few days to talk about that.
It hadn’t worked with them and Sophie years ago, but I’m different. We’re different.
Suddenly, I remember when I first met Sophie at the Valentine’s gala.
She was the celebrity chef they had brought in for a cooking demonstration.
She had seen us before the event and made a mention of Callum always supporting events with children, and I never thought to ask him more about it.
Would he have told me then? Would he have told me now?
The table is quiet as the guys stare at Winston and me. Jax is clenching his hand in and out of a fist, Emmett is biting on his bottom lip, Knox… he just looks confused and happy, and Callum. The anger emanating from him is almost palpable. His jaw continues to clench and unclench repeatedly.
How can I tell them it’s not what they’re thinking, without it coming out awkwardly?
Why would a girl who just met four random guys say, ‘Hey, I’m not on a date with this guy right here, even though you just saw me holding his hand.
It’s not what you think.’ Because that wouldn’t be awkward or seem out of place.
But it is getting increasingly awkward and unsettling to just stare at them, so I decide to speak up.
“Hi. I’m Everlee,” I say, playing the game, introducing myself to the guys who know me better than I know myself.
Who knows how I feel. How I taste. Who knows when I’m about to come based on how my body quivers.
But this is the game, because no one can know our secret.
“Knox,” he says, holding out his hand. As I reach out, he firmly clasps my hand and tenderly presses his lips against the top of it, making me inhale sharply. His eyes roll back briefly, and I can almost hear him thinking about how much he misses the taste of me.
“Emmett,” he says, reaching for my hand. He gently cups it in his paws, letting his pinky brush the inside of my wrist, causing me to freeze. There are so many emotions and thoughts flitting through my mind right now.
“Jax,” he says simply, followed by Callum. No touching, no kisses. Nothing. They’re pissed.
Nervously, I rest my hands on my lap, fiddling with the bottom edge of the tablecloth as my mind still tries to process what in the hell is going on.
“I’m Winston.”
Callum looks at him and nods. “Yes, you’re the individual who helped set all of this up.” His tone is cool, but polite.
“It was a team effort,” Winston cheers with a smile beaming across his face.
If a storm cloud suddenly appeared in the center of the table, it wouldn’t surprise me. Between the dark and brooding on my right and Winston’s bright and cheery on my left, coupled with all the turmoil I feel inside… like I said. I wouldn’t be surprised.
“Things are always better when there’s a team,” Jax chortles, making me choke on air.
“Sorry.” I run my fingers over my mouth, embarrassed by my reaction.
Winston rests his hand on mine, and the entire table tenses and stares at us.
A heat shoots up my spine as I catch the guys' predatory looks zeroing in on Winston, the way lions might track a clueless hyena bouncing into the middle of their meal.
With my other hand hidden beneath the table, I cautiously run my fingers along Callum's leg, careful not to attract any attention.
“Looks like I have to go back up to say a few words. Excuse me,” Winston quickly shuttles off, and I immediately lean forward, taking the opportunity. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Hey Ali,” Knox says. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you all, too. What are you—”
Someone sits to my left, filling the seat where Winston had just been, causing the hairs on my arm to stand.
Great.
My mother.
“You seem to be having a great time on your date.”
Fuckin’ aye!
The men bristle in their seats, but I fight the urge to look at them.
“Mom, I’ve already told you. I’m not looking for anyone.”
“Well, sometimes love comes along unexpectedly in places you wouldn’t expect to find it.”
I want to say something sarcastic about what she just said with the whole unexpectedly unexpected, but I just want her to leave so I don’t engage and simply say, “Okay.”
“I can’t wait for later.”
“Later?” I panic.
“Baby, this party is just getting started.” She shimmies her shoulders. “There will be dancing and cake and…” she claps her hands quickly to finish her sentence before scurrying off.
What does that mean? What is clapping code for? I need to know!
Once she’s gone, I look back at the guys.
“Date?” Jax repeats with his brow lifting before I can even get a word out.
“My mom. She set it up. I didn’t know.”
Callum’s lips pinch into a disapproving hard line.
“I’m back. What did I miss?” Winston asks, interrupting us.
It takes everything I have not to lose my shit. I just need two minutes to explain to my guys what’s going on.
“Nothing much,” Jax says coolly.
The men are all sorts of manly, protective, caveman-sexy right now. It’s written all over their faces. They don’t like the fact that I’m on a date with Winston and it’s driving them crazy. Hell. Driving me crazy.
My phone dings, so I look at my watch. Lizzy.
Lizzy: Bitch. What is going on?
“Excuse me.” I quickly push back from the table, and they all tense.
“Is everything okay?” they all ask in unison, then look at one another. I’m sure it’s very confusing for Winston to have men I just met be concerned about me.
My eyes scan over all of them, landing on Winston. “Yes.”
Sneaking out of the back of the tent, I stroll alongside the lake. Its calm waves lap against the shore, a juxtaposition to the turmoil boiling inside of me.